Ten Theses for Seminaries - George Sumner
Ten Theses for Seminaries
By George Sumner
www.virtueonline.org
April 29, 2013
Almost half a century ago, the Pusey Report in the Episcopal Church foretold, among other things, consolidation and radical change among the denomination's theological seminaries. Such change in finally upon us. Several schools in the United States and in Canada have closed, a number are alive in name only, and others in each country approach their demise. Several years ago I was surprised to hear that a majority of Episcopal ordinands had attended none of the established eleven.
In the face of this dire climate, the Episcopal seminaries' effort at cooperation did not touch on core tasks; similarly in 2010 in the Anglican Church of Canada, when all the stakeholders were gathered in Montreal, the life-and-death institutional issues had to be bracketed and left aside. Simultaneous with a major reordering of our parishes and dioceses is this a turning-point for theological education, but we should not expect some grand compromise or new deal.
This is as it should be, since the network of schools was never planned systematically. In the midst of this crisis, the remedies sometimes float about as well=meaning generalizations: diversity, lay empowerment, the missional, etc. True enough, but such themes do not get to the heart of what is afoot.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
By George Sumner
www.virtueonline.org
April 29, 2013
Almost half a century ago, the Pusey Report in the Episcopal Church foretold, among other things, consolidation and radical change among the denomination's theological seminaries. Such change in finally upon us. Several schools in the United States and in Canada have closed, a number are alive in name only, and others in each country approach their demise. Several years ago I was surprised to hear that a majority of Episcopal ordinands had attended none of the established eleven.In the face of this dire climate, the Episcopal seminaries' effort at cooperation did not touch on core tasks; similarly in 2010 in the Anglican Church of Canada, when all the stakeholders were gathered in Montreal, the life-and-death institutional issues had to be bracketed and left aside. Simultaneous with a major reordering of our parishes and dioceses is this a turning-point for theological education, but we should not expect some grand compromise or new deal.
This is as it should be, since the network of schools was never planned systematically. In the midst of this crisis, the remedies sometimes float about as well=meaning generalizations: diversity, lay empowerment, the missional, etc. True enough, but such themes do not get to the heart of what is afoot.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
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