Auburn Theological Seminary,
New York, N.Y.
In January, Auburn Seminary launched an innovative program for eight Christian and eight Jewish seminarians to learn how the other relates to the Holy Land, in terms of the ancient sites and the contemporary conflict. The program culminated in a 10-day trip to Israel and the West Bank; speakers and experiences were chosen to represent a wide range of voices. In the process, participants learned how to have respectful yet honest dialogue: “We must embrace the other to give them the opportunity to challenge us,” a Jewish student summarized. Auburn hopes to repeat the program in the future.
Austin Presbyterian Theological
Seminary, Austin, Texas
The College of Pastoral Leaders at Austin Seminary seeks to enhance pastoral excellence by offering $10,000 grants annually to pastor cohort groups for self-directed study. Robert T. Priddy has offered a $1.3 million challenge grant, which, when combined with a matching amount to be raised by the seminary, will enable the college to be self-supporting. This fall Austin Seminary welcomes the Rev. K.C. Ptomey, retired pastor of Westminster Church, Nashville, Tenn., as the Zbinden Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Leadership. Ptomey and his wife, the Rev. Carol Tate, have made their home in the seminary’s newly opened Anderson House residence.
Columbia Theological
Seminary, Decatur, Ga.
When 55 students arrived in July to begin Greek School at Columbia, a new $9.6 million residence hall was ready for its first occupants. Built with gifts to the seminary’s capital campaign, it blends into the existing classic gothic architecture, but this structure is different from every other on campus. It is a “green” building, designed and constructed upon the value of environmental stewardship, using regional and recycled materials as much as possible, and environmentally friendly geothermal HVAC and electric systems. Columbia expects 50 percent lower carbon emissions and energy consumption than that of a conventionally constructed facility.
Evangelical Seminary
of Puerto Rico, San Juan, P.R.
The seminary will launch a series of events to celebrate its 90 years of service to the church in Puerto Rico, Latin America, and the Latino community in the U.S. mainland. The seminary began the celebration by welcoming more than 200 pastors and lay leaders to the bi-annual PC(USA) National Hispanic Pastoral Seminar. Lectures and workshops were offered in honor of the 500-year anniversary of John Calvin’s birth. In the fall, faculty will engage conversations with local congregations in regional areas of the island to address issues of social and cultural concern around the topics of hope, joy, and liberation. In an effort to be present to the larger faith community and to be an agent of church and social revitalization, the seminary will establish joint seminary-congregational projects. A public fair will kick off this cycle of conversations/joint projects and will include health clinics, discussion panels, workshops, musical performances, theater, games and crafts. The seminary continues to be a vital agent of theological creativity and social commitment in the island.
Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary,
Atlanta, Ga.
Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary is part of The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC). The Center will be hosting its Inaugural Career Fair on November 4, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the ITC campus. We would like the graduating seminarians and seminary alumni especially to take part in this event. We anticipate more than 350 students will be looking for permanent, part-time, internships, and summer employment. If you can be a part of this event please contact the seminary.
Louisville Presbyterian Theological
Seminary, Louisville, Ky.
This fall, Louisville Seminary launches its new Black Church Studies Program that will allow students to more fully understand all aspects of the black church, utilizing the wealth of knowledge available from faculty whose scholarship includes the black church perspective. The program, the first of its kind at a seminary in the region, offers three tracks of study – a certificate program for students not enrolled in a degree program; a concentration in the Master of Divinity and Master of Arts (Religion) degree programs; and a concentration in the Doctor of Ministry degree program.
McCormick Theological Seminary,
Chicago, Ill.
The seminary is excited about a new learning opportunity, the Executive Leadership Certificate Program. This new program, to begin in September, focuses on equipping clergy and lay leaders of Christian institutions, both congregations and the broader church or non-profit systems, with the skills and abilities necessary to lead effective ministries in today’s rapidly changing landscape. It draws on McCormick’s recognized excellence in providing theological education, and on the seminary’s thirty-five years of experience in organizational development and leadership education.
Pittsburgh Theological
Seminary, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary has announced title changes for two professors: Andrew Purves and Scott Sunquist. Purves became professor of Reformed theology while Sunquist was named professor of world Christianity. Their new assignments allow them to teach what they are passionate about while also enhancing the Seminary’s curriculum. “This appointment is my heart’s delight and my mind’s provocation. It gives me the wonderful and refreshing challenge to teach new courses at the point of my deepest theological enthusiasm — to explore what it means that we confess Jesus Christ as Lord to the glory of God the Father,” Purves said.
Princeton Theological Seminary,
Princeton, N. J.
With Princeton Theological Seminary’s new Science for Ministry Institute, discussions about God and science will move out of the classroom and into the pews. Funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, the initiative will bring together scientists and ministers to talk, examine questions of origins and human nature at the intersection of science and theology, including topics like human evolution, the creation of the universe, neuroscience and cognitive science, and human morality. Dr. Wentzel van Huyssteen, the Seminary’s McCord Professor of Science and Theology, will co-direct the program, which will pair scientists and pastors from churches in courses beginning in November 2009.
San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo and Pasadena, Calif.
San Francisco Theological Seminary’s Program in Christian Spirituality and the Office of Advanced Pastoral Studies will offer a new concentration for the Doctor of Ministry degree with an emphasis in The Pastor as Spiritual Leader, beginning in January 2010. Pastors will study the dynamics of Christian spirituality and spiritual formation and how these apply to their ministries as congregational leaders. The new D.Min. emphasis is under the direction of the Rev. Sam Hamilton-Poore, director of the SFTS Program in Christian Spirituality and assistant professor of Christian Spirituality.
Union Theological Seminary-PSCE, Richmond Va. and Charlotte, N.C.
Recent travel seminars at Union-PSCE provided 19 students a cross-cultural exploration of the Christian impact in Latin America and Asia. Drs. Richard Boyce and Fernando Cascante-Gomez led 11 students into churches in Costa Rica and Guatemala. Drs. Ken McFayden and Syngman Rhee led eight students who interacted in churches in China and South Korea. The Project Burning Bush Institute, the youth ministry initiative of Union-PSCE, brought 27 students to campus in July. The program included visits to service centers around Richmond. Worship experiences included contemporary worship, a Celtic Evensong, and Taizé in Baptist and Episcopal churches as well as an ecumenical center.
University of Dubuque Theological
Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa
University of Dubuque President Jeffrey F. Bullock has announced a $30 million gift from Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Chlapaty. Specific projects to be funded include: an Academic Chair Endowment whose return will support the teaching and research of an academic chair each in mathematics, in the sciences, and in the theological seminary; up to a $20 million lead gift for a Fine and Performing Arts, Worship, and Campus Center and funds that will provide support for construction of new or renovation of existing university student housing. “The Chlapaty’s gift will have a positive impact on everyone in the University community,” stated President Bullock. “We are richly blessed — blessings that are perhaps only outweighed by our gratitude.”
Other Seminaries
Fuller Theological
Seminary, Pasadena, Calif.
Fuller Seminary has a new library, the David Allan Hubbard Library. “Ideas live in libraries. To walk into a good theological library is to enter into a great cloud of witnesses — voices past and present, the din of faith seeking understanding. What better place to sculpt a theological mind? At Fuller, our students count among their must-have friends rows of bound journals, robust book collections, and space for reflection and creativity. And they find this new space, the David Allan Hubbard Library, a welcome home for their work among us,” says Joel B. Green, Fuller’s Professor of New Testament Interpretation and Associate Dean for the Center for Advanced Theological Studies. (The David Allan Hubbard Library is named in honor of Fuller’s third president, who served from 1963-1993.)
Gordon- Conwell Theological
Seminary, S. Hamilton, Mass.
Gordon-Conwell recently welcomed several new faculty members. Frank James (Ph.D., Westminster Theological Seminary, D.Phil., Oxford University) was named Provost in the spring, having most recently taught at Reformed Theological Seminary; Adonis Vidu (Ph.D., University of Nottingham) was named Associate Professor of Theology, and had been teaching at the University of Bucharest in his home country of Romania; Patrick Smith (Ph.D. cand., Wayne State University) began teaching this semester as Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Theology on the South Hamilton campus.
Luther Theological Seminary,
St. Paul, Minn.
Luther Seminary’s student body experienced growth during the 2008-09 academic year with 848 students enrolled. Notably, our distributed learning program is allowing 78 students, who otherwise would not be able to attend seminary, to respond “Yes!” to God’s call by taking courses online and coming to campus for periodic intensive study. The Web site, https://www.WorkingPreacher.org celebrated its first anniversary and now receives tens of thousands of hits each month. Enter the Bible, www.enterthebible.org, a new, cutting edge, online Bible resource was developed and released in August 2009.
