Summarizing the Seminary Discussion

Thanks for all who participated in the seminary discussion last week! Here is my summary of the discussion.

1. First, Wesleyans continue to feel at home at Asbury, which is still the primary place to go to seminary if you are Wesleyan. There are 77 Wesleyan students at Asbury, more than twice as many as in 1990.

As a subpoint, Asbury is not going liberal (at least not in the vast scheme of things). Asbury has some world class scholars and top quality mentors. Certainly Asbury is primarily oriented around broader Methodism, but we've always known and expected that. It may be more empowered than ever in that direction. But it does not thereby undervalue its students from kindred denominations.

However, in relation to IWU, Asbury has attracted less than 35 percent of IWU's Wesleyan religion graduate students over the last 3 years, and only about 30% of our total students going on to grad school. IWU grads, including Wesleyans, are going to an increasingly diverse selection of schools. They are increasingly getting into schools traditionally thought of as "upper academic" (Duke, Princeton), and these institutions are courting our best students.

I would agree with Drury that IWU students are getting a product of increasing quality from our religion department. We have at least had some comments to the effect that seminary here or there has at times been "more of the same" or even less of the same. At the very least, most seem to agree that Asbury has tended to take IWU students for granted and is increasingly losing out on the market share here.

Logical Outcome 1: Since we apparently have more undergraduate religion students in our division than any other CCCU school, it would make sense for Asbury to court our students more aggressively, both Wesleyan and non-Wesleyan alike.


2. Secondly, another area for improvement would seem to be communication between the Wesleyan Church and its graduate students at non-approved seminaries. This could be done either on the general or district level, or perhaps better, both.

I personally agree with the idea of a favored seminary list. But I agree as well that the most basic list should be of Wesleyan students at seminaries, regardless of where they are at. Indeed, in some respects it seems more important to keep contact with those at non-approved places than approved ones.

Logical Outcome 2: I believe there is already a blog for Wesleyan students at non-approved seminaries. I think a great idea is to create some overarching "fellowship" of those at seminary somewhere. Maybe have yearly social gatherings for all called Wesleyans doing graduate work (there is already a graduate seminar, but it is pan-Wesleyan and mostly doctoral level).


3. Thirdly, and this is a really tough one. Neither Asbury nor the Wesleyan Church has made Asbury competitive in terms of finances (this may simply be a harsh reality). Many people will go elsewhere for financial reasons alone, especially if they are accepted at places like Duke or Princeton. This has apparently been a deal breaker for several.

Here I have no practical suggestion. The logical outcome is to get more money to our seminary students, but I have no specific ideas. If the WC starts a seminary, cost to students should be a major consideration.


4. Most pertinently, there is broad support for the idea of a Wesleyan seminary.

It is generally agreed that such a seminary should not be forced on Wesleyans. We are enriched by those who go to pan-Wesleyan institutions like Asbury and Wesley Biblical. We are enriched by those who remain in our fellowship after going to places like Gordon-Conwell or Princeton.

On the other hand, Drury and I have expressed strongly that having or not having a seminary at this point of our existence will be a good indicator of whether we have a distinct identity or not. "Real denominations have seminaries. If we are not a real denomination, we should hook up with one."

Someone else suggested that the current trend in American Christianity is away from centralized bodies... Will the Wesleyan HQ evaporate away into an association-like collection of individual churches? I would say that even if this were to happen (far from certain), we would even then have two very similar options: 1) we evaporate away as a denomination or 2) we invest our identity in a focal point of training rather than in central leadership.

Nate has suggested IWU all by itself is point in its development where a seminary (or at least a robust graduate school in religion) would be an appropriate next step. Houghton is already well underway to form a more academic graduate school.


So What will happen next?
Here are my predictions and you can see if I'm a false prophet (which means you can stone me).

1. I think we're ready as a denomination for this. I think it will actually happen this time. I think the general education level of the church has increased and so we are ready to have a seminary level identity--rather than seminary being an odd thing that a few egg heads do.

2. Somewhere in the Wesleyan Church a study committee will form. It shouldn't be some typical "see you in 4 years" committee. From an objective standpoint, IWU is really where it should start (although it doesn't have to end up limited to IWU).

a) for accreditation, the General Church can't be the base--it has to be an educational institution,
b) IWU has the largest operating budget (more students now than even Notre Dame, the largest private institution in the State of Indiana),
c) IWU has the most business-get-things-done people around (can you say satellite campuses in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky and indeed online all over the world),
d) IWU's religion division has the requisite "supply side" brain power to get things going, with corporate unity and synergy to boot (not to say our other colleges don't have this component as well).

I would like to see a group of Wesleyan, seminary level content experts sit down and create a master list of seminary outcomes. They should detail the total knowledge, skills, and dispositions that a Wesleyan seminary graduate should have.

Then I don't think such a seminary should reinvent the wheel. It should be genuinely innovative and intended to capitalize on non-traditional formats, online and satellite campuses. In particular, problem based learning seems to be a heafty part of the future.

3. This committee should start assembling a dream team of Wesleyan-Arminian thinkers and practioners, "google thinkers" rather than classic medievalists. The next generation is emerging from PhD programs everywhere now...

Let's see what happens!