Our current moment in theological education is a mix of hope and uncertainty — a mix that inspired the inaugural address I delivered at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago.
What did this large African-American Pentecostal congregation on the Southside have to do with a PC(USA) seminary? Everything. McCormick Seminary is preparing leaders for the church of the 21st Century in ways that are cross-cultural, urban, Reformed and ecumenical.
The inaugural theme was “The View from 2040: the Futures of Theological Education.” Most census experts believe that beginning around 2040, our society’s population will no longer have a racial-ethnic majority. My use of the year 2040, however, also served as a place-holding date for imagining the future. Where do we hope to be in about 30 years?
I shared around three themes: 1) the next step beyond diversity; 2) a spirit of technological innovation; and 3) the hope of a new generation.
Beyond diversity
By 2040, our challenge will be how to live into diversity in ways that reflect God’s intention.
We certainly have a lot of catching up to do. The statistics from the Association of Theological Schools indicate their numbers of African-American, Asian-American and Latino/a students are growing. Faculties at these schools, however, remain majority white. Therefore, one challenge in theological education will be to train a generation of faculty who better reflect students’ diversity.
Diversity, however, will not be enough. How do we build understanding across radical difference? How do we imagine ways of learning that cultivate diversity as a gift from God rather than a quota?
I believe we have signs all around us of how this can be done. In the Chicago area, the Interfaith Youth Core, founded by Eboo Patel, brings together young people of different faith backgrounds to participate in community service, using their core religious values and dialogue to build toward a common good. We must figure out similar ways to build understanding by engaging difference in theological education.
Technological innovation
Seminaries and divinity schools have developed models of distance education that provide students flexible options for fulfilling their degrees.
The Khan Academy represents a more disruptive and, I believe, more substantial innovation likely to shape the future of theological education.
Salman Khan, a graduate of M.I.T. and Harvard, was tutoring his cousin in basic mathematics over the Internet. He posted short video lessons for her to follow. Khan’s cousin eventually told him she preferred the videos to live lessons. She was able to learn at her own pace, rewinding or pausing the video if she failed to grasp something.
He began to post more videos. Teachers discovered they could use them to “flip” the classroom. Students who might have been embarrassed to stop a teacher in the middle of a lecture could now study at their own speed. Teachers could then use face-to-face time to work on “homework” exercises in class.
The Khan Academy and experimental ideas such as Massive Open Online Courses, in which tens of thousands of students have signed up for courses from elite educational institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, and M.I.T, are just the tip of an innovation iceberg that has the potential to break open education in ways that were hard to imagine even 20 years ago.
A new generation
A generational seismic shift has begun. The baby boomers, born between 1945 and 1965, shaped the current atmosphere of leadership. The millennials, born after 1982, have surpassed the boomers as the largest generation in our nation’s history.
It is exciting to think about what they will do if their creativity and collaborative spirit is unleashed on theological education. So my word to the church is simple: Let them lead!
FRANK YAMADA was inaugurated in February as the 10th president of McCormick Theological Seminary.
