The crisis in our seminaries

Publicado: noviembre 28, 2011 en 3DM Discipulado, Sociedad
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Doug Paul

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One of the really exciting things I get to do as the Content Director for 3DM is work with Mike on leading out initiatives on problems that many people see facing the Western church, start some discussion and actually do something about it. About a year ago, I met with a guy named JR Rozko, someone I’d met once or twice, but someone who since that fortuitous meeting has become a very good friend. We grabbed some coffee as he was in Richmond, talked a bit about our church, what he was up to in Chicago, etc. Eventually, our conversation drifted towards theological education…and the seeds of that conversation has led to some pretty amazing things as 3DM, TOM, Northern Seminary and other future partners are all in on this ongoing conversation. (All that to say…it never ceases to amaze me how something as small as one conversation can lead to something quite significant).

Here’s our schtick:

Undoubtedly there is a crisis facing the institutions that train our leaders for work in the church. Students leave seminary with crippling amounts of debt, leave feeling unprepared to lead the people of God in discipleship and mission in an increasingly post-Christian world and a staggering number of them will have left the ministry entirely within 5 years. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

However, the predominant thought is that because we’re shifting from Christendom to post-Christendom, our seminaries simply need to adjust to that cultural change and do a better job making seminary more affordable and accessible (which they definitely do) and probably change some learning styles (this is a gross-oversimplification, but these are probably the biggest ideas on their part). But what if there is something much bigger happening that we’re not seeing? What if we are missing the forest for the trees? What if we are the ones who created the crisis we’re in and not a shifting culture we must catch up to?

3DM and The Order of Mission are launching an initiative exploring some of these questions and offering a couple of preliminary steps forward (I say preliminary because it is impossible for one or two entities to fix all that ails the world of theological education, it will take a movement of various entities). We have written a formal whitepaper on this subject as well as a video to spark this much needed discussion.

Both can be viewed at: TheFutureofTheologicalEducation.com.

But here is the video that’s kicking it all off! Feel free to embed it anywhere you’d like to push the conversation out.

http://dougpaulblog.com

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