ATS Colloquy

I had not been to the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) site in several months, but I looked in today to check it out. ATS has a very useful website with great information on America's theological schools. I noted that the publication Colloquy was online -- something I had apparently missed in prior visits to the site. The Fall 2008 edition has some great articles on the relationship between theological schools and churches, and on financial stewardship. It is worth checking out, as is the entire site.

Next steps

I apologize for this hiatus from maintaining the blog over the past year. I have been trying to discern what to do with it next. As it stands, the blog is very limited in what it can do, and in how much discussion it can facilitate. I have considered starting a stand-alone website for this subject, one which could allow for article postings, discussion boards, and other avenues for people to connect and share ideas. My own inexperience with web administration has kept me from moving forward with the idea much.

I would love to hear your suggestions and ideas about a next step. What can we do together to help raise awareness among America's congregations about the financial needs of our seminarians? Please share your opinions.

Presbyterian Funding Needs

"Each year I'm on pins and needles, wondering whether or not I'm going to meet that budget." That's how one adminsitrator at a PC(USA) seminary puts the dilemma in this 2006 article.

WOCATI

I recently came across news about the 2008 Congress of the World Conference of Associations of Theological Institutions (WOCATI). The key theme of the congress was "Theological Education: A Radical Reappraisal." Attendees looked at the modern challenges of theological schools and offered recommendations. Among these recommendations were for funding partners to "increase financial support for ecumenical theological education," while churches themselves must "strengthen their sense of responsibility to and ownership of their institutions of theological education in terms of regular support, accompaniment and encouragement."

A Christianity Today article about the congress can be found here, as well.

Going to seminary.com

Here's a great site I just stumbled upon: http://goingtoseminary.com/. The site is administered by an anonymous seminary student who shares his own experiences with making the difficult decision to attend seminary. It includes a blog, info on finances, etc. Check it out!

New Post for a New Year

Sorry for being quiet for so long, but with a new year opening I am ready to get back into this issue and share thoughts with “all of you” out there. Be sure to speak up by leaving comments on this site!

I recently came across a few things which made for interesting reading. First is at http://www.lstc.edu/etsfm/index.html, which is about The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago’s campaign, Equipping the Saints. The campaign’s goal is $56,000,000. Also, read the interesting article, “Who Pays for Seminary Education?” at http://www.lstc.edu/resources/publications/epistle/fall_06/fall06-sec5.pdf.

Also, think that the high cost of a theological education is a new problem? Far from it. The Christian Century has an archived article online at http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=982 which is nearly 21 years old now, and makes clear that even in 1987, “Several students confided that money was the main question for them in deciding whether or not they could indeed attend seminary.”

Studies from Auburn Seminary

I was recently happy to exchange e-mails with Dr. Sharon Miller of New York's Auburn Seminary, and she brought my attention to some studies Auburn has done on theological student debt and on the funding of theological schools.

I would encourage everyone to visit http://www.auburnsem.org/study Click on "Publications." I was especially interested in "Manna From Heaven," a 1995 study done by Auburn on student debt (and available as a PDF), as well as the 2005 follow-up study, "The Gathering Storm."

For more information on funding of theological schools, check out the studies "Lean Years, Fat Years," and "Seek and Find?"

My thanks to Dr. Miller for pointing out these useful publications.

Interesting report on "Our Common Calling"

I just ran across this document from the UCC on providing resources for seminarians: http://www.ucc.org/synod/resolutions/pro24-1.pdf This is a General Synod document from 2003 which addresses the critical problem of seminary costs and graduate debt load. Does anyone out there know if this document has made any impact on the UCC or its theological schools?

Christian Century Article

Here's an interesting article I have run across concerning this topic. It happens to come from a 2004 issue of Christian Century and certainly describes the continuing financial pressures on our new clergy: http://calbears.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_16_121/ai_n6159321

Introduction

When I was in my first year of the Master of Divinity program at Duke Divinity School, my wife and I met with an insurance salesman to set up a life insurance policy. It turned out that he had attended the Divinity School as well, for about a year, in the early 1980s. As a Presbyterian at a United Methodist school, he had basically no funding, and his part-time work as a UPS driver didn't make ends meet. He told us, "When we got to the point where we were eating one meal a day, I knew it was time to quit."

Theological education can be a prohibitively expensive endeavor. It has crippled many thousands of pastors with debt, driven other graduates away from occupational ministry due to debt, and kept countless more qualified candidates from completing or even starting a program of theological education.

When I first applied to divinity school I assumed that thousands of people had left money in their wills or made other plans to help endow schools like mine. I was wrong. Seminaries and divinity schools of all denominations struggle to make ends meet, find themselves at the low end of funding priorities for churches, individuals, and denominational bodies, and can rarely give their students the financial help that is needed.

This is a major problem because without well-trained clergy and lay leaders, churches suffer from a lack of leadership. Without this leadership local churches are less able to confront the daily ministry needs around them, from spreading the Gospel to caring for the sick and poor.

It is because of this problem that I have initiated this forum for conversation. I believe that we need a grassroots program to raise funding for theological schools. The question is, how and where to begin? I invite readers of this blog to share their ideas and, I hope, their enthusiasm. We'll work from there.