At This Time: Dialogues in Theological Education
Corwin Malcolm Davis and Ted A. Smith, editors
Eerdmans, 311 pages
Published January 6, 2026
As the board chair of a theological seminary, I eagerly perused the “Theological Education between the Times” series, hoping to find that “just right” book to read and discuss as a board. Unfortunately, I am still searching — but that’s not necessarily bad news. At This Time, the final installment, looks beyond many of the issues facing traditional theological institutions (enrollment, budgets and the like) in order to think more broadly about faith formation.
The opening chapters tackle topics ranging from an online community of progressive Asian American Christians to the formation of Catholic sisters within a vowed community and to a church that grew out of the belief that members were healing the sick through prayer. With over a dozen contributors, each chapter concludes with a dialogue in which colleagues respond and invite further questions.
The standout contributions run the gamut. For example, Julian Davis Reid shares “Notes of Rest,” a program that grew out of his Emory studies and service as a prison chaplain. Reid aligns his own musical gifts with a theology of rest, sabbath, sanctuary, silence and more, illustrating how to support faith formation in congregational and educational contexts. The subsequent dialogue with John Kartje and Matthew Wesley Williams captures their engagement and the “a-ha” moments that emerge.
Other contributions are more broadly applicable, particularly those of Angela Sims, Colgate Rochester Crozer’s first Black female president, who does a lot of heavy lifting, covering everything from student use of Zoom to the need to speak candidly and theologically about White Christian nationalism, as well as her experiences as a new leader tasked with relocating the existing institution to a new space. While Eerdman’s series on theological education has concluded, the dialogue-driven approach to its final chapter provides a thoughtful blueprint for ongoing conversation.
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