FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

contact:  Rebecca Wilson,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 330-524-2067

SEABURY AND BEXLEY FORM PARTNERSHIP

Theological center in the Midwest offers full continuum of education

COLUMBUS, OHIO, February 11, 2011—At a joint meeting at Trinity Lutheran Seminary yesterday, the joint trustee consultation of Bexley Hall in Columbus, OH and Seabury Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL, ratified a joint operating agreement to begin immediately and extend through June 30, 2012. During that time, a joint trustee committee will draft proposals for a permanent partnership between the two Episcopal seminaries.

“This partnership forms an innovative, flexible theological center in the Midwest,” said Robert Bottoms, interim dean and president of Seabury. “We will educate clergy and laypeople to lead a rapidly changing church and realize efficiencies from streamlining operations while preserving our distinctive traditions and characters.”

“Together Bexley and Seabury provide the full continuum of theological education,” said Robert Reber, president pro tempore of Bexley. “Between us, we offer Anglican Studies courses, a three-year residential Master of Divinity, and Doctor of Ministry degrees in congregational development and preaching. To complement these academic programs, together we have already begun an innovative Partnership for Lifelong Learning that provides high-quality theological education for laypeople and clergy alike.”

Through the new partnership, Bexley and Seabury plan to share personnel in financial services, fundraising, communications and other operations. Institutional budgets will remain separate, though closely coordinated, and faculty will work toward joint operations. From July 1, 2011 until June 30, 2012, Bottoms will serve as the interim joint president of Seabury and Bexley. During this time, the boards of the two seminaries will study the model of having a single president with the intent of searching for a permanent joint president.

At the meeting, Seabury trustees promoted the Rev. Elizabeth Butler Jameson ’97, who has served as the school’s vice president since 2006, to be Seabury’s vice president and chief operating officer.

“Laypeople and clergy across the Midwest will benefit from this partnership that makes the full spectrum of graduate level theological education and enrichment available more widely and efficiently,” said Bishop Catherine Waynick of Indianapolis, a member of the Bexley board of trustees and the joint trustee consultation. “As Seabury and Bexley thrive, so will our congregations and communities of faith.”

The two seminaries began discussions in 2007, facilitated by a team from Auburn Seminary’s Center for the Study of Theological Education led by former Virginia Theological Seminary President Martha Horne. After an initial 2008 report from Auburn that indicated “compelling reasons for each institution to consider a closer alliance with the other,” a group of trustees from both institutions met during 2008-2010. In May 2010, the boards of both schools met separately and endorsed steps toward a strategic alliance recommended by the trustee group, and in October 2010 the boards met jointly to take further steps toward formal partnership.

The planning process included a review of financial viability by Auburn Senior Research Fellow Anthony Ruger. Ruger said: “Each school is financially stable and viable.  Their alliance clearly comes from a desire to combine their strengths and extend the reach of their mission of theological education.”

Officials of the two schools stressed that their existing partnerships with other institutions would continue and remain strong under the joint operating agreement. Bexley’s MDiv program is offered in partnership with Trinity Lutheran Seminary. Seabury’s DMin programs are offered in partnership with Church Divinity School of the Pacific and the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS), and the school shares its library with Garrett Theological Seminary.

Bexley Hall offers the M.Div. in partnership with Trinity Lutheran Seminary and seeks partnership with others to educate and form clergy and laity to explore the meaning of the Gospel, provide leadership for the Church, and to share in Christ's work in the world. It provides an ethos rooted in Anglican thought and life and respectful of diverse traditions in theology, liturgy and spirituality. Learn more at www.bexley.edu.

Seabury is what's next in a seminary: Our theological education—from single classes to certificates and doctoral degrees—embodies generous Christianity and is open to the intellectually and spiritually curious. For church leaders, for seminarians and for seekers, Seabury’s innovative programs are rooted in the Episcopal tradition and presented with academic rigor. Find out what’s next at www.seabury.edu.

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
contact: Rebecca Wilson, 330-524-2067

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, February 9, 2011—Business savvy and theology dovetail this summer in an innovative one-week leadership program offered by Seabury Western Theological Seminary in partnership with the Kellogg School Center for Nonprofit Management at Northwestern University.

The Seabury Nonprofit Management Institute is a custom educational program tailored to meet the distinctive needs of lay and clergy leaders. It is taught by tenured and core professors and practitioners at Kellogg, which is ranked among the top five business schools in the United States and is known throughout the world for its emphasis on teamwork, collaboration and interactive learning.

During the five-day summer program participants will gain confidence and new skills in church leadership. Through lecture, case examples, interactive exercises and classroom dialog, participants will

• gain an understanding of general management principles and how successful nonprofit organizations operate, including marketing and branding their congregations;
• explore new ways to empower church members and create dynamic ministry teams;
• learn strategies for successful conflict resolution and negotiations;
• develop their personal leadership skills;
• examine how to be the best stewards of the human and financial resources of their parishes; and
• network with colleagues from across the United states and share best practices and management challenges.

"Leading congregations in today's world requires much more than being a skilled teacher, lay leader, preacher or pastor," said Robert G. Bottoms, interim dean and president of Seabury. "It requires the kind of strategic planning, conflict resolution, marketing and leadership skills that are critical to congregational health and growth. This is exactly the kind of program religious leaders have been seeking,"

Donald Haider, director of Kellogg's Center for Nonprofit Management, said, "Good management isn't just good business; it's good stewardship. This program is designed to enhance the leadership skills of clergy and lay leaders, provide them with new management skills, and help them make the most of church resources."

The program begins at 10 am Monday,  June 13, and ends at 2 pm Friday, June 17. It will be held at Wiebolt Hall, 340 East Superior Street, on Northwestern University’s Chicago Campus.  Enrollment is by application only; the deadline for applications is April 15. The cost of the program for non-degree students is $1200 and for degree students is $1440, excluding dinners, lodging and travel.

Interested lay leaders and clergy can apply at www.seabury.edu or can receive an application form by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phone at 847-328-9300, ext. 44.

Seabury is what's next in a seminary: Our theological education—from single classes to certificates and docto ]]>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

contact: Rebecca Wilson, 330-524-2067, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

CHICAGO, IL, September 28, 2010--Today the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released its U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey. The data reveals that many Americans, especially Christians, are unfamiliar with basic religious tenets—their own and others.

In response to the survey’s release, Ruth Frey, director of continuing education and development at Seabury Western Theological Seminary said:

“It’s tempting to look at this survey and prescribe a program of lectures and rote memorization for the American public. Shouldn’t adults at least be able to know as much about faith as they know about the National Football League or American Idol?

"Wringing our hands about ignorance of basic religious facts, however, misses the point. Adults seek out new knowledge when it is important to them and connected to what they do everyday. If we want to reverse the trend of religious illiteracy, we must take religious knowledge off the shelf, dust it off, and make it pertain to people’s lives.

"It’s notable that people surveyed by Pew who talk regularly about religion with friends and family answered more questions correctly than people who don’t. Adults learn best in settings where they can ask questions and debate ideas. That’s true in churches, synagogues and mosques, and it’s also true over the water cooler at work. But we know that religion can be divisive and contentious, and so often when we have the chance, we don’t discuss it.

"To get smart about religion, our religious and civic communities need to convene people from different religious backgrounds to learn together and learn from each other. It’s one thing to learn that the Dalai Lama is Buddhist, as more than half of Americans need to do; it’s another thing entirely to understand what that means in the lives of our neighbors who are Tibetan refugees, Chinese immigrants, or American Buddhist converts.

"This research is a call for us to expand religious education beyond the walls of our own congregations. True religious literacy comes when we learn not only the facts of our own and other faiths, but also what those facts mean in our lives and why they matter to our communities.”

Bexley Hall and Seabury-Western Seminaries

Status Report on Potential Partnership, May 2010

It is the nature and gift of institutions to find ways of changing to meet what the future needs, whatever that turns out to be. The future will be multidirectional, and schools will reflect more varied and variegated educational forms than they do now. I am convinced, however, that among these many changes, theological schools will have a recognizable presence in the future, that their educational capacity will be enhanced, and that they will be educating ministers and priests, lay persons working in parishes and congregations, and persons who long to learn in depth about the faith that gives them life.

--Daniel Aleshire, The Association of Theological Schools, October 2008

Background:   2007-2010 at Seabury and Bexley Hall

As ATS Executive Director Dan Aleshire was writing these words, both Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and Bexley Hall Seminary were making the kinds of changes he described. Bexley Hall graduated its final class of students at its Rochester, New York campus in 2008 and directed the entire focus to its three-year residential MDiv program on the campus shared with Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. Seabury-Western, meanwhile, declared financial exigency in 2008, emerging in 2009 as SeaburyNEXT, a seminary in Evanston, Illinois, offering the DMin degree, Anglican Studies courses, and a variety of programs to provide laypeople and clergy with enrichment and lifelong learning.

Today Seabury and Bexley stand as examples of what theological seminaries can become when they “meet what the future needs.” Both schools are financially sound, property-free, and positioned for the future. Antony Ruger, senior research fellow at Auburn Seminary’s Center for the Study of Theological Education, says, “Commendably, each school has secured a sound financial basis for its mission.  The balance sheets are thoroughly healthy and the budgets are responsible. Despite their small size they have financial viability and a solid platform for growth.”

Even as they have emerged from recent change as sturdy, viable institutions focused on the changing needs of the wider church, both Bexley Hall and Seabury recognize that they may be able to become even stronger by deepening their strategic partnership with each other. As this partnership is being explored, both schools have also affirmed the central importance of their existing partnerships, including Bexley Hall’s MDiv program in Columbus in partnership with Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Seabury’s DMin programs in partnership with Church Divinity School of the Pacific and the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS), and Seabury’s library shared with Garrett Theological Seminary.

Timeline:  Bexley Hall and Seabury Explore Partnership

Beginning in 2007, with the assistance of the Auburn Center for the Study of Theological Education, the schools assessed their compatibility for possible partnership in serving the Episcopal Church in the Midwest. Auburn consultants Martha Horne, Anthony Ruger, and Barbara Wheeler issued an initial report in March 2008, indicating “compelling reasons for each institution to consider a closer alliance with the other.” Among the reasons cited by Auburn for alliance between these two small seminaries—among the smallest in the Episcopal Church—were the spiritual and missional affinities borne of their common pioneer heritage; their historic commitment to generous Anglo-Catholicism; and their overlapping geographical territory in Province V and the Midwest.

Following Auburn’s initial report in 2008, the two schools convened a joint trustee consultation to explore the possible forms of an alliance; the governance implications of those forms, the financial arrangements implied, and necessary staffing and facilities. The group met in September 2008, November 2009, and March 2010. Members have included Bexley Trustees Catherine Bagot, Carlson Gerdau, Amy Hill, Bishop Kenneth Price, Deborah Stokes and Bishop Catherine Waynick and Seabury Trustees Thomas Anderson, James Hawk, Lane Hensley, Katharine Koeze, Wendy Lane and Anne Lea Tuohy, as well as previous and current deans and presidents, including Bexley Hall President Pro Tem Robert Reber and Seabury-Western Interim Dean and President Robert Bottoms.

Following a meeting in March 2010, the joint trustee consultation recommended that the two schools take steps toward a strategic alliance and proposed that the two boards of trustees meet together in October 2010. At separate meetings in May 2010, both the Bexley Hall Board of Trustees and the Seabury Board of Trustees agreed with this recommendation. Accordingly, during the summer and fall of 2010, the two interim presidents, staff and consultants will examine in detail the four priority areas proposed for partnership. The joint trustee consultation will meet again in June and possibly in August, while meetings with bishops and other church leaders will continue throughout the summer.

The Bexley Hall and Seabury boards will meet jointly in Indianapolis in October 2010, at which time the trustees of both institutions will consider the work accomplished over the summer and make decisions about next steps.

Four Areas of Focus, Plus Lifelong Learning

The goals of Seabury and Bexley Hall’s proposed partnership are to:

• Increase the educational reach and impact of both schools as they design and deliver theological education for the church of the future
• Increase the efficiency of their operations and enable them to better steward their resources
• Offer a model of collaboration that other schools might emulate.

On the recommendation of the joint trustee consultation, the executive committees of the two schools recommend that these areas for potential partnership be given priority:

• Joint advancement/development/fundraising
• Unified communications/marketing/recruitment
• Unified financial services office
• Possible models of common governance.

As these discussions continue, the staff of both schools will continue its discussions about collaborating on lifelong learning and continuing education programs.

Possible Partnership:  Strengths and Challenges

Five common themes that support a potential partnership emerge from the Auburn consultants’ reports and conversations with joint consultation trustees:

• The Episcopal Church cannot support 11 seminaries in their current forms.
• New models are essential.
• Seabury and Bexley’s potential partnership is based in mutual strength and common heritage.
• Robert Bottoms and Robert Reber are a strong and unified leadership team.
• The proposed focus on the Midwest, with special attention to Province V is strong.

Citing a 2009 In Trust article by Robert E. Cooley titled “Forging Partnerships,” Robert Reber has reminded trustees and staff from both schools that most potential seminary partnerships fail due to lack of trust, lack of leadership, incompatible missions, a strong ethos of autonomy, and lack of engagement with stakeholders. Seabury and Bexley, he pointed out, have already overcome many of those potential pitfalls through the work of the joint trustee consultation and the close work he and Robert Bottoms have done together since Bottoms became interim dean and president of Seabury on January 1, 2010. In addition, both staff and trustees from the two institutions have worked closely to develop the lifelong learning programs scheduled to launch later this year. As Robert Bottoms has said, “Our exploration of further partnership is based in the success of our existing collaboration.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

contact:  Rebecca Wilson, 330-524-2067, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Public program sponsored by the Evanston Deanery of the Diocese of Chicago and

Seabury Western Theological Seminary

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, August 23, 2010—The Chicago area is home to more than 400,000 Muslims, and Episcopal Church leaders would like to promote understanding about their faith and practices.

To that end, two Episcopal organizations are sponsoring Encounter Islam, a day-and-a-half long public program with the Rev. William Sachs, Ph.D. of the Center for Interfaith Reconciliation in Richmond, Virginia and Imad-Ad-Dean Ahmad, Ph.D., president of the Minaret of Freedom Institute in Washington DC.

Encounter Islam will be held on Friday, October 22 from 6:30 pm-9 pm and Saturday, October 23 from 9 am-4 pm at St. David’s Episcopal Church, 2410 Glenview Road in Glenview, Illinois. The fee for the program, which includes Friday dinner and Saturday breakfast and lunch, is $75. Registration is available by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phone at 847-328-9300, ext. 45.

“Encounter Islam begins by surveying the basis of Islam and the meaning of faith to Muslims,” said Ruth Frey, director of continuing education at Seabury, “but the goal of the program is to confront the sources of misunderstanding and anger between Muslims and the Western world and propose pathways to cooperation. It’s a program designed for Christians who want to explore better ways to live in our multi-faith world.”

The Center for Interfaith Reconciliation, begun at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Richmond in 2006, sponsors major interfaith gatherings and promotes local initiatives that build understanding and cooperation among people of different faiths. Dr. Sachs holds degrees from Baylor, Vanderbilt, and Yale, and a Ph.D. in the history of Christianity from the University of Chicago.  He is the author of four books and more than 200 articles, chapters, reports, and reviews.

Dr. Ahmad was born in 1948 at sea to Palestinian refugee parents and raised in Pennsylvania. He holds a undergraduate degree from Harvard and a Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of Arizona. He is senior lecturer at the University of Maryland, has taught at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities, and have lectured Dr. Ahmad has lectured on Islam at the Foreign Services Institute and for the Joint Special Operations University’s Middle East Orientation Course.

Seabury-Western is what's next in a seminary: Our theological education—from single classes to certificates and doctoral degrees—embodies generous Christianity and is open to the intellectually and spiritually curious. For church leaders, for seminarians and for seekers, Seabury’s innovative programs are rooted in the Episcopal tradition and presented with academic rigor. Find out what’s next at www.seabury.edu.

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

contact:  Rebecca Wilson, 330-524-2067, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, September 14, 2010—Seabury Western Seminary has received a $40,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation’s theology program to support the development of a strategic alliance with Bexley Hall Seminary, Seabury’s interim President Robert Bottoms announced today.

“This is a welcome endorsement of our efforts to deliver theological education that prepares church leaders for service in our multicultural world,” Bottoms said.

Since 2007, Seabury Western and Bexley Hall have been exploring a collaboration that would strengthen and expand the reach of their educational offerings while increasing the efficiency of their operations. Bexley Hall, in Columbus, Ohio, offers a residential Masters of Divinity program in partnership with Trinity Lutheran Seminary, while Seabury, in Evanston, Illinois, offers two Doctor of Ministry programs, a certificate in Anglican Studies and several enrichment programs. Together the schools have established a Partnership for Lifelong Learning.

In May the boards of trustees of both institutions approved steps that may lead to joint advancement, development and fundraising activities; unified communications, marketing and recruitment efforts; a unified financial services office and models for common governance.

“Together we have the expertise, the flexibility and the creativity to offer the full continuum of theological education to a rapidly changing church,” said Robert Reber, Bexley Hall’s president pro tem. “We are grateful for the Luce Foundation’s confidence in us.”

The two seminaries’ boards of trustees will meet jointly in Indianapolis in October 2010, when they will consider the work accomplished since their May meetings and make decisions about next steps in the partnership discussions.

“The Luce Foundation’s theology program encourages new models of theological education to prepare leaders for service in a religiously plural world,” said Michael Gilligan, Luce’s president. “The proposed partnership between Seabury Western and Bexley Hall presents the possibility of just such a model, and we are pleased to support its development.”

Seabury Western is what's next in a seminary: Our theological education—from single classes to certificates and doctoral degrees—embodies generous Christianity and is open to the intellectually and spiritually curious. For church leaders, for seminarians and for seekers, Seabury’s innovative programs are rooted in the Episcopal tradition and presented with academic rigor. Find out what’s next at www.seabury.edu.

Bexley Hall Seminary offers the M.Div. in partnership with Trinity Lutheran Seminary and seeks partnership with others to educate and form clergy and laity to explore the meaning of the Gospel, provide leadership for the Church, and to share in Christ's work in the world. It provides an ethos rooted in Anglican thought and life and respectful of diverse traditions in theology, liturgy and spirituality. Learn more at www.bexley.edu.

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
contact: Rebecca Wilson, 330-524-2067, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Students will study perspectives of theology, medicine, law, chaplaincy and hospice

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, August 16, 2010—This fall, Seabury Western Theological Seminary offers a three-weekend class on end-of-life ethics titled “Navigating the Valley of Shadows.” The course is open to both degree students and people interested in continuing education, and both CEUs and credit for master of divinity (M.Div.) and doctor of ministry (D.Min.) degrees are available.

“Everyone faces end-of-life ethical questions with their families, friends and for themselves, and everyone, no matter what their religious beliefs or practices, finds them difficult to answer,” said Ellen Wondra, Seabury’s academic dean. “This course, open to both degree and lifelong learning students, provides a way for people to study, reflect and work together on these issues that are so much a part of our common humanity.”

During the course, which will consider end-of-life issues from the perspective of theology, medicine, law, chaplaincy and hospice, students will study pain and suffering, decision-making, conflict, and grief, healing, and resilience. Participants will also explore liturgical resources and reflect on practical implications for pastoral care. The course will be taught by the Rev. Jacqueline R. Cameron, MD, who is a doctor and an Episcopal priest.

Course dates are September 24-25; October 29-30; December 10-11, 2010 (Friday 1 pm-Saturday 4 pm) at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Registration is available at www.seabury.edu, by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phone at 847-328-9300, ext. 45. The deadline for academic registration is September 7 and the continuing education registration deadline is September 15.

On Friday, September 24 from 6 pm to 9 pm, the course is open to the public for two lectures: The Ethics of Paying Attention: Why Recognizing and Responding to Pain and Suffering is a Moral Duty by the Rev. Jacqueline Cameron, MD and
Grief, Loss and Resilience: Narrative Theory in Pastoral Care by the Rev. Jay Risk, Executive Director, Bishop Anderson Institute at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago

Dr. Cameron is education associate at Bishop Anderson Institute and an assistant professor in the Department of Religion, Health and Human Values at Rush University Medical Center. Guest lecturers will include the Rev. Jay Risk, executive director of Bishop Anderson Institute; the Rev. Clayton Thomason, JD, Bishop Anderson Professor of Religion and Ethics in Medicine at Rush University Medical Center; the Rev. Carol Reese, a chaplain at Stroger Hospital; and the Rev. Gina Volpe, regional manager of the Midwest Palliative and Hospice Care Center in Glenview, Illinois.

Seabury-Western is what's next in a seminary: Our theological education—from single classes to certificates and doctoral degrees—embodies generous Christianity and is open to the intellectually and spiritually curious. For church leaders, for seminarians and for seekers, Seabury’s innovative programs are rooted in the Episcopal tradition and presented with academic rigor. Find out what’s next at www.seabury.edu.

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

contact: Rebecca Wilson, 330-524-2067, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Lilly Endowment research to be explored in November 2-4 conference

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, August 2, 2010—Groundbreaking research on enhancing the health, happiness and ministerial success of clergy and other church professionals will be unveiled for the first time to a broad audience on November 2-4 when Seabury Western and Bexley Hall seminaries sponsor Sustaining Excellence in Ministry: Accountability, Friendship & Hope in Peer Groups, a conference on the Lilly Endowment’s Sustaining Pastoral Excellent (SPE) project at the Procter Center in London, Ohio.

Janet Maykus and Bruce Roberts, who helped evaluate Lilly’s ambitious eight-year effort to promote the effectiveness and vocational satisfaction of parish clergy through peer groups, will discuss the enormous potential such groups have demonstrated to transform participants’ ministries and to foster congregational growth.

“We will be looking at some of the findings from the study, but it is not going to be a wonky numbers and facts sort of thing,” said Maykus, an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ.), who recently served as principal of the College of Pastoral Leaders at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. “It will be a more interactive sort of programs and one where the participants will be able to go away with a plan for their institutions to put together some sort of peer learning program for clergy and for lay leaders.”

Participants in the conference will learn “some of what draws someone to a peer group, what got them to join, what got them to stay, how much things like this cost,” Maykus added. “We will talk about the difference between facilitated programs and un-facilitated programs, the difference between having a facilitator who serves as a coach, as opposed to a spiritual director, or trained clergy peer.”

Participants will also explore the implications of the SPE study for theological education and formation.

The Lilly Endowment funded the SPE project in response to research in the 1990s indicating that, Protestant clergy had some of the highest incidences of stress-related illnesses and deaths of any profession in the U.S. The project was informed by the idea that by gathering regularly in peer groups, clergy and other church professionals might find ways to support one another, hold one another accountable, and help one another to grow.

A study conducted by Maykus and others bore out the wisdom of the peer-group approach. Clergy who participated regularly in a peer group were more likely to be happy in their work and to be leading growing congregations than those who do not.

“When we began the research, I really wondered: Does this make a difference?” Maykus said. “But I have been struck by the power that a little time away from work, and a little time among people who have similar commitments had in invigorating and transforming the participants. “I was also surprised by the correlations between participation in clergy peer groups and congregational growth.”

The study is especially significant because the SPE project supported some 2,400 peer groups supported by 63 granting institutions, making it one of the largest pastoral enrichment experiments in the history of the American church. Representing nearly every Christian tradition, these peer groups gathered for biblical study, theological reflection, spiritual renewal and the development of sustained friendships and opportunities for support.

“SPE peer groups that renew their members’ ministries provide a stimulating mix of the practical, the intellectual, and the spiritual along with a certain amount of “holding each others’ feet to the fire” in terms of accountability,” Maykus and her colleagues wrote in their report. “As with most peer-learning approaches, the wisdom and experience of the group itself is a key resource as is a good facilitator or leader. Peer group participants share ideas, trouble-shoot ministry problems, and provide pastoral feedback. They also explore new ideas and approaches to ministry. A balance is evident here: the kind of group that renews a pastoral leader’s ministry appears to be about half, personal support, and about half, ministry enrichment.”

The report also examines the tantalizing link between pastoral renewal and congregational growth. “We found that congregations with pastoral leaders who participated in peer groups were significantly more likely to promote a ‘culture of involvement’ that actively assimilates newcomers and fully involves members in leadership,” the researchers wrote.

“Further, congregations with pastoral leaders in a peer group support an active youth ministry that also is integrated into the life of the church. … Such congregations are more likely to have a youth program, including a youth minister or director, youth conferences, and camps. They are much more likely to include youth in planning and leadership.”

Robert Reber, dean and president of Bexley Hall Seminary in Columbus, Ohio, was a key advisor on the project, and Bexley Hall is co-sponsoring the November conference with Seabury Western Seminary in Evanston, Ill. The two Episcopal seminaries recently instituted a partnership for lifelong learning that focuses on examining contemporary issues and finding new ways of living of living faithfully.

“The findings of this massive study have extraordinary relevance for lifelong learning and the ongoing education of clergy and laity,” Reber said. “All of us in the life of the church can learn much about what sustains people in ministry and the effectiveness of different peer group models by immersing ourselves in this information.”

Seabury Western is what's next in a seminary: Our theological education—from single classes to certificates and doctoral degrees—embodies generous Christianity and is open to the intellectually and spiritually curious. For church leaders, for seminarians and for seekers, Seabury’s innovative programs are rooted in the Episcopal tradition and presented with academic rigor. Find out what’s next at www.seabury.edu.

Bexley Hall Seminary offers the M.Div. in partnership with Trinity Lutheran Seminary and seeks partnership with others to educate and form clergy and laity to explore the meaning of the Gospel, provide leadership for the Church, and to share in Christ's work in the world. It provides an ethos rooted in Anglican thought and life and respectful of diverse traditions in theology, liturgy and spirituality. Learn more at www.bexley.edu.

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

contact:  Rebecca Wilson, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 330-524-2067

D.Min. program lauded for focus on practice of ministry, theological reflection

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, July 19, 2010—Seabury Western Theological Seminary announced today that it has been reaccredited by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS).

“In 2009, Seabury Western Theological Seminary sold its property, put its financial house in order, and dedicated itself to educating lay and ordained people. We knew that we were responding innovatively to the changing landscape of theological education,” recalls Interim President and Dean Robert G. Bottoms, who at the time was Seabury’s board chair. “What we didn’t know was how other leaders in theological education would respond.”

Now, just a year later, Seabury has been reaccredited by the Association of Theological Schools, which praised its “institutional openness to bold possibilities for re-conceptualization of mission.” Seabury offers a Doctor of Ministry in Congregational Development in collaboration with Church Divinity School of the Pacific and a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching in collaboration with six other seminaries in the Association of Chicago Theological Schools.

“We’re particularly proud that the ATS evaluation committee praised the blend of ministry practice and theological reflection in our congregational development D.Min.,” said Ellen Wondra, Seabury’s academic dean. “As the evaluation committee wrote, the program generates ‘our most innovative thinking on behalf of the church.’ We are also pleased that ATS recognized our ‘commitment to the issues of intercultural awareness, anti-colonialism and anti-racism,’ which we believe is essential to the future of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.”

In addition to its accredited D.Min. programs, Seabury offers diplomas and certificates in congregational development, Anglican Studies courses at the M.Div. level, and an increasing number of lifelong learning programs. All academic courses at Seabury are open to students seeking enrichment and continuing education.

“We view reaccreditation as an endorsement not just of what we’re doing but how we’re doing it,” said Bottoms. “ATS has noted with favor the engagement and leadership of Seabury’s board and our ‘patterns of openness, frequent and frank communication, and compassionate listening.’ It’s inevitable that theological education is changing. At Seabury, we’d like to think that we’re offering a model for how to handle that change well.”

Seabury-Western is what's next in a seminary: Our theological education—from single classes to certificates and doctoral degrees—embodies generous Christianity and is open to the intellectually and spiritually curious. For church leaders, for seminarians and for seekers, Seabury’s innovative programs are rooted in the Episcopal tradition and presented with academic rigor. Find out what’s next at www.seabury.edu.

###

Seabury's official academic calendar is now available online. Download a .pdf here. Questions? Please talk with Registrar and Officer for Academic Affairs and Admissions Peggy Pearson This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at 800-275-8235.