Series This Week: Liberating the Future of Seminary

Last week, Patheos.com held an online symposium on the future state of Seminaries/Divinity School. Given the number of posts, almost every ideology was covered from conservative evangelical to emergent Christian to Catholic. You can find the conversation here The Future of Seminary Education (Protestant) and here the Future of Catholic Seminary Education. No doubt while each writer brought a unique perspective on the current and future state of theological education, there was much left unsaid that I was hoping would be discussed.

So, rather than just screech and complain about that, I have decided to use most of my blogging superpowrs this week to sharing my hopes of what I see as the liberating potential that divinity schools and schools of theology hold. Please join me in this conversation if you like.

Part 1a: Diversity Matters: Will focus on issues of cultural, racial, gender, and religious diversity in the seminary arena, and dealing both with student concerns

Part 1b: Diversity Matters: Continued focus on issues of cultural, racial, gender, and religious diversity in the seminary arena, and dealing both with FACULTY concerns

Part 2: Vocational Concerns And Academic Interests: Thoughts on how intellectually rigorous the seminary challenge is and its often conflicting nature (in some people’s eyes) with being irrelevant to ministry concerns.

Part 3: Church/Academy Cooperation: A reflection on the current and hopefully the future relationship between churches, temples, as well as religious communities and theological educational institutions.

Part 4A: Praxis: A deconstructive questioning of current practices in the bible colleges now that are heavily informed by the business culture in North America rather than the Gospel

Part 4B: Praxis: A constructive guide to possible future practices taken up by the seminary of the future, I call The Seminary of the Oppressed.

Part 5: Concluding thoughts

RodtRDH

Formerly known as Rod of Alexandria, Rod the Rogue Demon Hunter Preacher of Hope | Black Scholar of Patristics | Writer for Nonviolent Politics. Destroyer of Trolls. It must be that angry puppy.

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