Looking Forward With Hope

Reflections on the Present State and Future of Theological Education

edited by

Benjamín Valentín

LOOKING FORWARD WITH HOPE

Reflections on the Present State and Future of Theological Education

Copyright © 2019 Wipf and Stock Publishers. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

Cascade Books

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

www.wipfandstock.com

paperback isbn: 978-1-4982-3013-1

hardcover isbn: 978-1-4982-3015-5

ebook isbn: 978-1-4982-3014-8

Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Names: Benjamin Valentin, editor.

Title: Looking forward with hope : reflections on the present state and future of theological education / edited by Benjamin Valentin.

Description: Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, p. ; cm. —Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: isbn 978-1-4982-3013-1 (paperback) | isbn 978-1-4982-3015-5 (hardcover) | isbn 978-1-4982-3014-8 (ebook)

Subjects: 1. Theological seminaries—United States. 2. Theology—Study and teaching—United States.

Classification: BV4030 .L54 2019 (print) | call number (ebook)

Manufactured in the U.S.A.

Table of Contents

• Title Page

• Contributors

• Introduction

• Chapter 1: First But Not Finished

• Chapter 2: America’s Changing Religious and Cultural Landscape and Its Implications for Theological Education

• Chapter 3: Embracing a Greater, Higher Calling

• Chapter 4: A House Built on Sand?

• Chapter 5: From Resistance to Resurrection

• Chapter 6: A Reform Amounting to a Revolution

• Chapter 7: The Change We Need

• Chapter 8: Why Seminaries and Churches Should Welcome Religious Diversity in the USA

Contributors

Daniel O. Aleshire served as executive director of The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) for nineteen years until he retired from that post in June 30, 2017. A frequent speaker worldwide, Dr. Aleshire has written extensively on issues of ministry and theological education. His works include Earthen Vessels: Hopeful Reflections on the Work and Future of Theological Schools (Eerdmans, 2008). Dr. Aleshire taught at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1978 to 1990.

Nancy T. Ammerman is Professor of Sociology of Religion in the Sociology Department of the College of Arts and Sciences and in the School of Theology at Boston University. She also serves as Associate Dean of the Faculty for the Social Sciences in the college. Dr. Ammerman’s influential works include Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes: Finding Religion in Everyday Life (Oxford University Press, 2013) and the well-known Bible Believers: Fundamentalists in the Modern World (Rutgers University Press, 1987). Her most recent research has focused on the social structures and practices of everyday lived religion. ...