Academic Dean Ruth Meyers Shares Details with Students
February 28, 2008
Dear students,
As the board-faculty planning committee began its work this month, provisions for our continuing students was one of their first concerns. What follows is a kind of baseline, that is, the minimum that we can promise at this time. In 2008-2009, Seabury will offer a limited course schedule, to include at least:
Five courses in Anglican history, theology, polity, and liturgy; 2008-2009.
One semester-long course in congregational leadership;
Two January-term intensive courses, at least one of which will be in the area of congregational leadership.
Practice of Ministry in both the fall and the spring. Students who have begun their placements in spring 2008 will be able to continue as planned in the same setting.
I expect that a detailed course schedule will be available in late April. In addition to the Seabury course offerings, students may, as usual, cross-register for courses through ACTS. Students who complete their programs and graduate in spring 2009 will earn a Seabury-Western degree.
We do not yet know whether Seabury (in some reorganized status) will offer any instruction on our Evanston campus in the 2009-2010 academic year. We are negotiating the details of a "teach-out" agreement with Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary to enable students to complete their studies. I am working with staff at our accrediting agencies, including legal counsel, to determine whether this is better done by having students transfer formally to Garrett-Evangelical or through continuing enrollment at Seabury. Components of this agreement will include:
Seabury students will continue to follow Seabury's degree requirements, including field-education requirements.
Seabury students may be required to complete Garrett-Evangelical's application form (giving them basic information). Garrett-Evangelical will waive their application fee of $70 and will make staff available to assist Seabury students with the transfer process.
Garrett-Evangelical will conduct a criminal background check at their expense. This is their protocol for all admissions.
Garrett-Evangelical will not require recommendation letters, only a letter from the Seabury Dean with the request/recommendation that the person be admitted as s/he is a student in good standing at Seabury.
Garrett-Evangelical will work with Seabury's international transfers to secure appropriate visa change status to Garrett.
Garrett-Evangelical will offer special orientation that will incorporate the Seabury transfers into the student body with hospitality.
Seabury-Western will arrange Episcopal formation opportunities for students in this special program.
Students who in this way complete one year of study at Garrett-Evangelical will earn a Seabury-Western degree.
In the weeks ahead, I will work with each continuing student and his/her advisor to determine each student's remaining requirements and develop a plan to satisfy those requirements.
With a much smaller student body in 2008-2009, worship and community life will change. I will ask a committee of students, faculty, and staff to make recommendations to the faculty and Administrative Committee for worship patterns and community life. For 2009-2010, we will work with students and faculty in spring 2009 to plan for suitable Episcopal formation.
As the planning committee proceeds with its work and we get a clearer sense of the long-term future of Seabury, we will share further details as they emerge. At this time I can assure you that Seabury will offer some instruction in 2008-2009, that all students in the nine-month residential program who complete their degree requirements in spring 2009 or 2010 will earn a Seabury degree, and that we will plan for worship and community life appropriate to a smaller student body.
In the weeks ahead, I will work with the Dean to keep you apprised of developments that affect your educational program. I continue to welcome your questions and concerns as we discern the future of Seabury.
Ruth A. Meyers
Academic Dean
2.26.2008
Minnesota Seabury-Western Seminary Trustees Issue Statement
The Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota
February 26, 2008
Seminary announces it will eliminate programs, suspend admission
Dr. Barbara Elliott, St. Paul's Church, Duluth, and the Rev. Dr. Michael Hanley, St. Christopher's Church, Roseville, have issued a statement regarding Seabury-Western Theological Seminary's recent decision to make major changes in its academic program and enter into a time of discernment about the future of the seminary. Elliott and Hanley are members of Seabury's Board of Trustees, elected by the Diocese of Minnesota.
On February 20 Seabury-Western announced that the school will stop offering the traditional version of a Master of Divinity degree and would soon develop "a detailed plan for the future operation of Seabury, including a financial plan that brings expenses in line with revenues."
The decision by the Board of Trustees came during its regular February meeting, according to a statement posted on the Evanston, Illinois-based seminary's website.
"Like many other Episcopal Church institutions, over the past two decades Seabury has both confronted and thought hard about how it can adapt to the challenges and opportunities of the present moment," the statement said. "We believe that the church does not need Seabury in its present form; there are a number of other schools who do what we have traditionally done as well as we do. But we also believe that the church very much needs a seminary animated by and organized around a new vision of theological education -- one that is centered in a vision of Baptism and its implications for the whole church, one which is flexible and adaptive and collaborative in nature."
The immediate impact of the decision, according to the statement, will be the elimination of the Master of Divinity degree "as a freestanding three-year residential program." The program may be offered in some other format in the future, the statement said. The majority of priests ordained in the Episcopal Church earn a Master of Divinity degree.
In addition, the seminary will "immediately suspend recruitment and admissions to all degree and certificate programs in this time of discernment."
The statement from Elliott and Hanley is as follows:
As the two elected board members to Seabury-Western Theological Seminary from the Diocese of Minnesota, we would like to let members of our diocese know that we have been part of the deliberations and decisions these past weeks. The decision to discontinue recruitment and education of those seeking MDiv training in residence at Seabury has been carefully, prayerfully and deliberately considered. The form that Seabury will have in the future, as it strives to continue meeting its mission, will be determined in the near future. The Diocese of Minnesota has five members among the Seabury Western Board of Trustees. We are the two elected Trustees; the Rev. Brad Hauff and Mr. Dan Panshin are Trustees who were elected to that role by the Seabury Board. In addition, Bishop James Jelinek is also part of the Board of Trustees, as defined in the seminary charter. If you have questions or concerns about what is happening at Seabury, you are all encouraged to contact the Very Rev. Gary Hall, dean and president of the seminary. A planning committee of the board is working now to define further plans and expectations and a special board meeting is scheduled for April. We will keep you informed as plans take form. Dr. Barbara Elliott, St. Paul’s Church, Duluth The Rev. Dr. Michael Hanley, St. Christopher’s Church, Roseville.
Seabury-Western Seminary was created in 1933 by the merger of Seabury Divinity School, Faribault, Minnesota, and Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois. Seabury was founded in 1858 by the legendary Episcopal missionary James Lloyd Breck. Its mission would be greatly enhanced under the leadership of Minnesota's first Episcopal bishop, Henry Benjamin Whipple, who oversaw the building of the school's first permanent home, Seabury Divinity Hall, completed in 1864. The building still stands in Faribault and houses medical offices. Seabury remained in Faribault until the time of the merger.
Soon after the merger, Minnesota's third bishop, Frank Arthur McElwain, was appointed dean of the seminary, a post he held concurrently. From 1938 to 1943, Bishop McElwain commuted by train from Minneapolis to Evanston during the week, while Suffragan Bishop Stephen Keeler managed the day-to-day affairs of the Diocese of Minnesota.
Since the merger, Seabury-Western has maintained ties with the Diocese of Minnesota through membership on its board of trustees, including elected representatives and the bishop diocesan.
February 26, 2008
Seminary announces it will eliminate programs, suspend admission
Dr. Barbara Elliott, St. Paul's Church, Duluth, and the Rev. Dr. Michael Hanley, St. Christopher's Church, Roseville, have issued a statement regarding Seabury-Western Theological Seminary's recent decision to make major changes in its academic program and enter into a time of discernment about the future of the seminary. Elliott and Hanley are members of Seabury's Board of Trustees, elected by the Diocese of Minnesota.
On February 20 Seabury-Western announced that the school will stop offering the traditional version of a Master of Divinity degree and would soon develop "a detailed plan for the future operation of Seabury, including a financial plan that brings expenses in line with revenues."
The decision by the Board of Trustees came during its regular February meeting, according to a statement posted on the Evanston, Illinois-based seminary's website.
"Like many other Episcopal Church institutions, over the past two decades Seabury has both confronted and thought hard about how it can adapt to the challenges and opportunities of the present moment," the statement said. "We believe that the church does not need Seabury in its present form; there are a number of other schools who do what we have traditionally done as well as we do. But we also believe that the church very much needs a seminary animated by and organized around a new vision of theological education -- one that is centered in a vision of Baptism and its implications for the whole church, one which is flexible and adaptive and collaborative in nature."
The immediate impact of the decision, according to the statement, will be the elimination of the Master of Divinity degree "as a freestanding three-year residential program." The program may be offered in some other format in the future, the statement said. The majority of priests ordained in the Episcopal Church earn a Master of Divinity degree.
In addition, the seminary will "immediately suspend recruitment and admissions to all degree and certificate programs in this time of discernment."
The statement from Elliott and Hanley is as follows:
As the two elected board members to Seabury-Western Theological Seminary from the Diocese of Minnesota, we would like to let members of our diocese know that we have been part of the deliberations and decisions these past weeks. The decision to discontinue recruitment and education of those seeking MDiv training in residence at Seabury has been carefully, prayerfully and deliberately considered. The form that Seabury will have in the future, as it strives to continue meeting its mission, will be determined in the near future. The Diocese of Minnesota has five members among the Seabury Western Board of Trustees. We are the two elected Trustees; the Rev. Brad Hauff and Mr. Dan Panshin are Trustees who were elected to that role by the Seabury Board. In addition, Bishop James Jelinek is also part of the Board of Trustees, as defined in the seminary charter. If you have questions or concerns about what is happening at Seabury, you are all encouraged to contact the Very Rev. Gary Hall, dean and president of the seminary. A planning committee of the board is working now to define further plans and expectations and a special board meeting is scheduled for April. We will keep you informed as plans take form. Dr. Barbara Elliott, St. Paul’s Church, Duluth The Rev. Dr. Michael Hanley, St. Christopher’s Church, Roseville.
Seabury-Western Seminary was created in 1933 by the merger of Seabury Divinity School, Faribault, Minnesota, and Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois. Seabury was founded in 1858 by the legendary Episcopal missionary James Lloyd Breck. Its mission would be greatly enhanced under the leadership of Minnesota's first Episcopal bishop, Henry Benjamin Whipple, who oversaw the building of the school's first permanent home, Seabury Divinity Hall, completed in 1864. The building still stands in Faribault and houses medical offices. Seabury remained in Faribault until the time of the merger.
Soon after the merger, Minnesota's third bishop, Frank Arthur McElwain, was appointed dean of the seminary, a post he held concurrently. From 1938 to 1943, Bishop McElwain commuted by train from Minneapolis to Evanston during the week, while Suffragan Bishop Stephen Keeler managed the day-to-day affairs of the Diocese of Minnesota.
Since the merger, Seabury-Western has maintained ties with the Diocese of Minnesota through membership on its board of trustees, including elected representatives and the bishop diocesan.
2.24.2008
Seabury-Western Charts a Course for Radical Restructuring
Traditional Master of Dinivity Program Ended
by David Skidmore
Diocese of Chicago
February 24, 2008
Seabury-Western Theological Seminary will be charting a new course for theological education as it responds to the economic challenges facing Episcopal seminaries and the changing circumstances of congregationally based ordained ministry.
In a February 20 letter to Episcopal bishops with seminarians enrolled at Seabury-Western in Evanston, Il., seminary dean the Very Rev. Gary Hall said the executive committee of the seminary's board had approved a planning committee's recommendations to end the three-year residential Master of Divinity program, and suspend recruitment and admissions to all of the seminary's degree and certificate programs. The seminary's popular Doctor of Ministry program in congregational development and the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching offered jointly with other ACTS schools, will continue with the present enrollment through the completion of degrees, but will not accept new students for the time being.
The Executive Committee, stressed Dean Hall, does not intend to eliminate the Master of Divinity program, only the three-year residential model currently in use. The possibility of offering the Master of Divinity in other formats will be explored over the next two months leading up to a special meeting of the seminary board of trustees in late April, said Hall.
A major factor in the board's decision is the seminary's deficit budget, projected to run a $500,000 shortfall for the current fiscal year. Expenditures are projected to run $2.9 million. A significant debt load of $3 million also weighed heavily in the board's direction to the dean to come up with a financial plan that brings expenses into line with revenue. At the board's regular meeting February 15, the board directed the dean to draft a plan for Seabury's future operations, including a proposal for balancing the budget and recommendations on continuing, altering or ending current programs.
"We have come to the realization that we cannot continue to operate as we have done in the past and that there is both loss and good news in that," said Hall in his letter. The church does not need Seabury-Western in its present form, one focused on a three-year residential Master of Divinity, since other seminaries are providing that already, he said. What the church does need, said Hall, is a seminary "animated by and organized around a new vision of theological education - one that is centered in a vision of baptism and its implications for the whole church." This new education model is one that is "flexible, adaptive, and collaborative in nature."
Seminary is not closing
Both Hall and board chair Salme Steinberg stressed that this announcement is not a requiem on Seabury's mission or existence.
"I have no doubt that Seabury will flourish in the future," said Steinberg. "There is a tremendous opportunity for us to take hold of and move forward into the future." That is also the sense of Bishop Jeffrey Lee of Seabury-Western's host diocese, Chicago. "The seminary is not closing its doors. It is engaging in a radical reassessment of what shape its mission has to take in this time," he said.
Bishop Lee, who consecrated Bishop of Chicago February 2 and is new to the seminary's board, said he would be working with Chicago's Commission on Ordained Ministry, people in the discernment process in Chicago, and other Episcopal seminaries to envision "how we best form people and then deploy them most effectively for the church's life as it exists right now, right here in the Diocese of Chicago."
Bishop Lee has offered Dean Hall and Seabury's faculty and students "all the resources at my disposal for pastoral care in this time of transition.' The board's action, he said, was appropriate given the nature of the challenges it faces. "It is acting in the best sense of its fiduciary trust,' he said, 'making very hard decisions that I have seen a lot of boards refuse to make."
No longer business as usual
One of 11 Episcopal seminaries, Seabury-Western is not a stranger to change, since it is the product of the merger of two divinity schools in 1933: Seabury Divinity School in Fairbault, Minn. and Western Theological School in Chicago. This May it will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Seabury Divinity, a celebration which will be as much about the future as the past.
Though the challenges are daunting, Hall is convinced that Seabury-Western will continue to form lay and ordained leaders for the church. The seminary is not closing, but changing its approach to theological education, he said in an interview after the announcement. "We are on the verge of big change in theological education, and it is clear to every single accredited seminary that we can't continue doing business as usual."
His assessment is also shared by Bishop Lee. "The Episcopal Church cannot sustain 11 freestanding, degree-making seminaries in the way we have traditionally done that. The deans have been clear in pointing that out to us," said Lee who emphasize he is not opposed to seminaries offering three-year residential Master of Divinity programs. "I think we will continue to need those, but we don't need 11 separate institutions trying to do that."
His hope for Seabury is that it take the lead in adapting to the needs of today's church for theologically trained leaders, not the church of 30 or 40 years ago. Expecting students or their financially strapped congregations or dioceses to pay annual tuition that exceeds $12,000 is no longer realistic. "The realities of relying on MDiv candidates to pay for all of that is over. It is too expensive and does not fit the lived reality of the call to ordination in the church today."
In Seabury-Western's case, the financial pressures are forcing the board to confront the reality of a model that can no longer work successfully given the economics of education at the post graduate level, and the changing circumstances of prospective students and the nature of ministry in Episcopal congregations, said Hall. This challenge is an opportunity for the Seabury community "to be the leaders in thinking through what theological education is going to look like over the next 50 years," he said.
Seabury-Western is first to make radical shift
The picture envisioned by Hall and other deans is a montage of distance learning, strategic partnerships with other seminaries, some level of residential study, house of study centers, work-study arrangements, and short courses and seminars. Some of these are in process now but no Episcopal seminary has made or is contemplating the radical shift that Seabury-Western is undertaking, said the Rev. Elizabeth Butler, vice president of advancement and administration at Seabury-Western.
The seminary has been engaged in revisioning its mission over the past year and a half and that process has helped prepare the board for the radical shift it now is making, she said. What has been missing from the picture is the financial stability to move the vision from the drawing board into implementation.
"We have known for a long time that the financial model was unsustainable," said Hall, noting the board took steps to address it through cutting costs, and an initial quiet phase of a capital campaign over the past six months that has raised $2.3 million toward an $18 million estimate of needs. Half of the funds needed are to go to program and debt reduction, and half to capital improvements. Their hope was to raise enough to continue the current format centered around a residential Master of Divinity, with the same staff and faculty.
Of the $2.3 million pledged so far, $1.9 million is restricted gifts for capital improvements. The board intends to continue the campaign, but also understands "the money isn't going to solve those long-term structural problems," said Hall.
Business as usual is no longer an option for Seabury-Western, and soon may prove unviable for other Episcopal seminaries. "We have more openings in three-year residential seminaries than we have people going to those," said Butler. "Many people are choosing to be formed in other ways. And we believe there is an important niche we can fulfill by bringing high quality theological education together with a diverse way of delivering that, so that it is going to forge a new way for seminaries to be, a new way for the church to form its leaders."
Ties to Seabury run deep
The planning committee will be meeting weekly over the next two months leading up to the special board meeting to explore options for bringing the financial picture into balance, and ways to provide theological education that meet the needs of congregations and dioceses, and the students. Any changes to faculty and staff positions, curriculum and program will be on hold until the board hears and acts on the planning committee recommendations at its April meeting.
For now the concern is the welfare of students, faculty and staff. The community was informed on Wednesday of the Executive Committee's decision, and students and faculty met with the senior staff that night to discuss their concerns.
The reaction is one of loss, grief and shock, some anger, and "a surprising amount of support for arriving at a difficult decision," said Hall. The emotional ties to the seminary run deep. "People love this place and they don't want this place in its current form to disappear."
The board acted now rather than wait so that there would be resources not only to plan for the future but to work "justly and pastorally with the students, faculty and staff who will be affected," added Hall. For students currently enrolled this means helping them find other schools to continue their education, whether it be another Episcopal seminary or one of the 11 seminaries and schools in the Association of Chicago Theological Schools. Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, across the street from Seabury-Western on the Northwestern University campus, is a likely landing point given its long partnership with Seabury-Western and joint operation of the seminaries' United Library.
For students who might be considering Seabury-Western, Butler said for some it might be appropriate to look at other seminaries or schools. For others, they might want to wait "to see where we emerge and see how that might fit even better with their plans."
Though no decisions have been made on staff and faculty positions, there will likely be changes when the new fiscal year begins June 30, said Butler. Currently, Seabury-Western has ten faculty, not including the dean and United Library director; and 30 staff. In addition, there are 11 adjunct faculty, half of whom are parish clergy. Current enrollment stands at 109, 48 of whom are enrolled in a nine month program for Master of Divinity, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Arts, or a certificate program.
"We are facing something that all of our sister institutions are facing," said Hall. "We are just a step ahead of them in our financial realities. So our willingness to do this I think shows there is a consensus on the board that Seabury wants to be out ahead of the change."
David Skidmore is Canon for Communications for the Diocese of Chicago
by David Skidmore
Diocese of Chicago
February 24, 2008
Seabury-Western Theological Seminary will be charting a new course for theological education as it responds to the economic challenges facing Episcopal seminaries and the changing circumstances of congregationally based ordained ministry.
In a February 20 letter to Episcopal bishops with seminarians enrolled at Seabury-Western in Evanston, Il., seminary dean the Very Rev. Gary Hall said the executive committee of the seminary's board had approved a planning committee's recommendations to end the three-year residential Master of Divinity program, and suspend recruitment and admissions to all of the seminary's degree and certificate programs. The seminary's popular Doctor of Ministry program in congregational development and the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching offered jointly with other ACTS schools, will continue with the present enrollment through the completion of degrees, but will not accept new students for the time being.
The Executive Committee, stressed Dean Hall, does not intend to eliminate the Master of Divinity program, only the three-year residential model currently in use. The possibility of offering the Master of Divinity in other formats will be explored over the next two months leading up to a special meeting of the seminary board of trustees in late April, said Hall.
A major factor in the board's decision is the seminary's deficit budget, projected to run a $500,000 shortfall for the current fiscal year. Expenditures are projected to run $2.9 million. A significant debt load of $3 million also weighed heavily in the board's direction to the dean to come up with a financial plan that brings expenses into line with revenue. At the board's regular meeting February 15, the board directed the dean to draft a plan for Seabury's future operations, including a proposal for balancing the budget and recommendations on continuing, altering or ending current programs.
"We have come to the realization that we cannot continue to operate as we have done in the past and that there is both loss and good news in that," said Hall in his letter. The church does not need Seabury-Western in its present form, one focused on a three-year residential Master of Divinity, since other seminaries are providing that already, he said. What the church does need, said Hall, is a seminary "animated by and organized around a new vision of theological education - one that is centered in a vision of baptism and its implications for the whole church." This new education model is one that is "flexible, adaptive, and collaborative in nature."
Seminary is not closing
Both Hall and board chair Salme Steinberg stressed that this announcement is not a requiem on Seabury's mission or existence.
"I have no doubt that Seabury will flourish in the future," said Steinberg. "There is a tremendous opportunity for us to take hold of and move forward into the future." That is also the sense of Bishop Jeffrey Lee of Seabury-Western's host diocese, Chicago. "The seminary is not closing its doors. It is engaging in a radical reassessment of what shape its mission has to take in this time," he said.
Bishop Lee, who consecrated Bishop of Chicago February 2 and is new to the seminary's board, said he would be working with Chicago's Commission on Ordained Ministry, people in the discernment process in Chicago, and other Episcopal seminaries to envision "how we best form people and then deploy them most effectively for the church's life as it exists right now, right here in the Diocese of Chicago."
Bishop Lee has offered Dean Hall and Seabury's faculty and students "all the resources at my disposal for pastoral care in this time of transition.' The board's action, he said, was appropriate given the nature of the challenges it faces. "It is acting in the best sense of its fiduciary trust,' he said, 'making very hard decisions that I have seen a lot of boards refuse to make."
No longer business as usual
One of 11 Episcopal seminaries, Seabury-Western is not a stranger to change, since it is the product of the merger of two divinity schools in 1933: Seabury Divinity School in Fairbault, Minn. and Western Theological School in Chicago. This May it will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Seabury Divinity, a celebration which will be as much about the future as the past.
Though the challenges are daunting, Hall is convinced that Seabury-Western will continue to form lay and ordained leaders for the church. The seminary is not closing, but changing its approach to theological education, he said in an interview after the announcement. "We are on the verge of big change in theological education, and it is clear to every single accredited seminary that we can't continue doing business as usual."
His assessment is also shared by Bishop Lee. "The Episcopal Church cannot sustain 11 freestanding, degree-making seminaries in the way we have traditionally done that. The deans have been clear in pointing that out to us," said Lee who emphasize he is not opposed to seminaries offering three-year residential Master of Divinity programs. "I think we will continue to need those, but we don't need 11 separate institutions trying to do that."
His hope for Seabury is that it take the lead in adapting to the needs of today's church for theologically trained leaders, not the church of 30 or 40 years ago. Expecting students or their financially strapped congregations or dioceses to pay annual tuition that exceeds $12,000 is no longer realistic. "The realities of relying on MDiv candidates to pay for all of that is over. It is too expensive and does not fit the lived reality of the call to ordination in the church today."
In Seabury-Western's case, the financial pressures are forcing the board to confront the reality of a model that can no longer work successfully given the economics of education at the post graduate level, and the changing circumstances of prospective students and the nature of ministry in Episcopal congregations, said Hall. This challenge is an opportunity for the Seabury community "to be the leaders in thinking through what theological education is going to look like over the next 50 years," he said.
Seabury-Western is first to make radical shift
The picture envisioned by Hall and other deans is a montage of distance learning, strategic partnerships with other seminaries, some level of residential study, house of study centers, work-study arrangements, and short courses and seminars. Some of these are in process now but no Episcopal seminary has made or is contemplating the radical shift that Seabury-Western is undertaking, said the Rev. Elizabeth Butler, vice president of advancement and administration at Seabury-Western.
The seminary has been engaged in revisioning its mission over the past year and a half and that process has helped prepare the board for the radical shift it now is making, she said. What has been missing from the picture is the financial stability to move the vision from the drawing board into implementation.
"We have known for a long time that the financial model was unsustainable," said Hall, noting the board took steps to address it through cutting costs, and an initial quiet phase of a capital campaign over the past six months that has raised $2.3 million toward an $18 million estimate of needs. Half of the funds needed are to go to program and debt reduction, and half to capital improvements. Their hope was to raise enough to continue the current format centered around a residential Master of Divinity, with the same staff and faculty.
Of the $2.3 million pledged so far, $1.9 million is restricted gifts for capital improvements. The board intends to continue the campaign, but also understands "the money isn't going to solve those long-term structural problems," said Hall.
Business as usual is no longer an option for Seabury-Western, and soon may prove unviable for other Episcopal seminaries. "We have more openings in three-year residential seminaries than we have people going to those," said Butler. "Many people are choosing to be formed in other ways. And we believe there is an important niche we can fulfill by bringing high quality theological education together with a diverse way of delivering that, so that it is going to forge a new way for seminaries to be, a new way for the church to form its leaders."
Ties to Seabury run deep
The planning committee will be meeting weekly over the next two months leading up to the special board meeting to explore options for bringing the financial picture into balance, and ways to provide theological education that meet the needs of congregations and dioceses, and the students. Any changes to faculty and staff positions, curriculum and program will be on hold until the board hears and acts on the planning committee recommendations at its April meeting.
For now the concern is the welfare of students, faculty and staff. The community was informed on Wednesday of the Executive Committee's decision, and students and faculty met with the senior staff that night to discuss their concerns.
The reaction is one of loss, grief and shock, some anger, and "a surprising amount of support for arriving at a difficult decision," said Hall. The emotional ties to the seminary run deep. "People love this place and they don't want this place in its current form to disappear."
The board acted now rather than wait so that there would be resources not only to plan for the future but to work "justly and pastorally with the students, faculty and staff who will be affected," added Hall. For students currently enrolled this means helping them find other schools to continue their education, whether it be another Episcopal seminary or one of the 11 seminaries and schools in the Association of Chicago Theological Schools. Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, across the street from Seabury-Western on the Northwestern University campus, is a likely landing point given its long partnership with Seabury-Western and joint operation of the seminaries' United Library.
For students who might be considering Seabury-Western, Butler said for some it might be appropriate to look at other seminaries or schools. For others, they might want to wait "to see where we emerge and see how that might fit even better with their plans."
Though no decisions have been made on staff and faculty positions, there will likely be changes when the new fiscal year begins June 30, said Butler. Currently, Seabury-Western has ten faculty, not including the dean and United Library director; and 30 staff. In addition, there are 11 adjunct faculty, half of whom are parish clergy. Current enrollment stands at 109, 48 of whom are enrolled in a nine month program for Master of Divinity, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Arts, or a certificate program.
"We are facing something that all of our sister institutions are facing," said Hall. "We are just a step ahead of them in our financial realities. So our willingness to do this I think shows there is a consensus on the board that Seabury wants to be out ahead of the change."
David Skidmore is Canon for Communications for the Diocese of Chicago
2.22.2008
Seabury-Western Theological Seminary announces major restructuring, discernment
Chicago-area school to end residential Master of Divinity program, suspend all admissions
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
February 22, 2008
[Episcopal News Service] Officials of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, saying that the seminary "cannot continue to operate as we have in the past," announced February 20 that the school will stop offering the traditional version of a Master of Divinity degree and would soon develop "a detailed plan for the future operation of Seabury, including a financial plan that brings expenses in line with revenues."
The decision by the Board of Trustees came during its regular February meeting, according to a statement posted on the Evanston, Illinois-based seminary's website.
"Like many other Episcopal Church institutions, over the past two decades Seabury has both confronted and thought hard about how it can adapt to the challenges and opportunities of the present moment," the statement said. "We believe that the church does not need Seabury in its present form; there are a number of other schools who do what we have traditionally done as well as we do. But we also believe that the church very much needs a seminary animated by and organized around a new vision of theological education -- one that is centered in a vision of Baptism and its implications for the whole church, one which is flexible and adaptive and collaborative in nature."
The immediate impact of the decision, according to the statement, will be the elimination of the Master of Divinity degree "as a freestanding three-year residential program." The program may be offered in some other format in the future, the statement said. The majority of priests ordained in the Episcopal Church earn a Master of Divinity degree.
In addition, the seminary will "immediately suspend recruitment and admissions to all degree and certificate programs in this time of discernment."
Along with the Master of Divinity degree, Seabury also offers the Master of Theological Studies in Church Music and Liturgy (MTS) degree, the Master of Arts (MA) degree, a certificate program in advanced theological studies, a licentiate in theology (designed for students without a baccalaureate degree) and a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree.
Seabury will help all of its approximately 50 current D.Min. students to complete their programs, the statement said. The school will also "assist all current M.Div., MTS, MA, and certificate students to find alternative arrangements for the completion of their programs as may be required."
The statement said that "at the center of our immediate concern is the well being of our students, faculty and staff."
Seabury Dean and President Gary Hall reportedly informed the Seabury community, bishops and the deans of the other 10 Episcopal Church-affiliated seminaries of the plans first, and then began notifying alums, donors, and the wider church.
Meanwhile, the statement said, Seabury is talking to what it called "potential partner institutions" in terms of the school's future shape "and to enable all those affected by these decisions to make the transitions they may be required to make as plans emerge."
The statement said Hall will work with an eight-member planning committee to develop plans for Seabury's future operations, including "recommendations for the immediate future of current programs," to present at a special board meeting in April. The committee will include six officers and/or trustees and two faculty members. The committee may also hire consultants and "explore potential partnerships with appropriate institutions."
Context of decision
Seabury had agreed earlier this year to participate with most of the other Episcopal-affiliated seminaries to consolidate their efforts in four areas of theological education. Seabury is to be part of a group that also includes the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Episcopal Divinity School and Bexley Hall looking at ways to cooperate in the area of local ministry development programs.
The Very Rev. Ward Ewing, dean and president of the General Theological Seminary (GTS) in New York City and convener of the seminaries' Council of Deans, told Episcopal News Service in 2007 that that the deans had realized that because of financial restrictions faced by all the seminaries, "every seminary can't provide everything for everybody."
Thus, they began exploring how to develop "the kind of coalition so that each seminary becomes a gateway to the resources of all the seminaries."
"Some of the seminaries' very existence is threatened; others are simply looking at long-term development," Ewing said at the time.
The challenges facing the seminaries did not develop overnight, Ewing said, tracing what he called "a major sociological change about religion and churches."
"Call it post-Christendom or whatever you want to call it, but it's a major change in how the churches work…and that affects the seminaries"
Even the goals of seminarians are changing. Ewing said in 2007 that the Association of Theological Schools, an accrediting agency, had noted that mainline Protestant seminaries reached a milestone in 2004: the majority of their students did not expect to have "pulpit ministries." That trend has not yet been seen in Episcopal seminaries, Ewing said, but they must pay attention.
Seabury's statement noted that "all the seminaries of the Episcopal Church face real economic and missional challenges."
"The stand-alone residential model developed in the nineteenth century is becoming unsustainable for most of our institutions," the statement continued. "Bishops, congregations, and seminarians have fewer resources to allot to the education of seminarians. And the cost of theological education has resulted in an unprecedented level of student debt."
The traditional three-year residential model of seminary education is changing; not all students attend full-time, not all live on campus or even near-by. These days Episcopal-affiliated seminaries educate just less than half of the people ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church. Seminaries have thus seen their costs increase dramatically while the pool of potential students has shrunk. Those costs include both a large percentage of educational costs not covered by tuition and the bill to maintain physical plants that often include buildings at least 150 years old.
The 11 seminaries have very few official ties to the Episcopal Church, beyond General Convention's authority to elect six of GTS trustees. The wider church does not financially support the seminaries.
Yet, as Seabury's statement noted, "multiple church groups continue to call for a new range of educational services from our institutions of theological education: continuing education for clergy, lay education, distance learning, and consulting services for congregations and dioceses."
Within this context, however, are "enormously creative opportunities facing seminaries today," Seabury said. The school's officials are "committed to Seabury’s historic and ongoing ministry as a vital center of theological education, reflection, and congregational study" and are "enthusiastic about the prospect of doing this in a new and, we hope, more economically feasible and pedagogically innovative way."
Calling Seabury "a school in service of the mission of God as proclaimed and enacted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ," the statement concludes by saying "our hearts and minds are filled with a multitude of emotions."
"Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we move into this new understanding of our mission," the statement concluded.
-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is Episcopal Life Media correspondent for Episcopal Church governance, structure, and trends, as well as news of the dioceses of Province II. She is based in Neptune, New Jersey, and New York City.
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
February 22, 2008
[Episcopal News Service] Officials of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, saying that the seminary "cannot continue to operate as we have in the past," announced February 20 that the school will stop offering the traditional version of a Master of Divinity degree and would soon develop "a detailed plan for the future operation of Seabury, including a financial plan that brings expenses in line with revenues."
The decision by the Board of Trustees came during its regular February meeting, according to a statement posted on the Evanston, Illinois-based seminary's website.
"Like many other Episcopal Church institutions, over the past two decades Seabury has both confronted and thought hard about how it can adapt to the challenges and opportunities of the present moment," the statement said. "We believe that the church does not need Seabury in its present form; there are a number of other schools who do what we have traditionally done as well as we do. But we also believe that the church very much needs a seminary animated by and organized around a new vision of theological education -- one that is centered in a vision of Baptism and its implications for the whole church, one which is flexible and adaptive and collaborative in nature."
The immediate impact of the decision, according to the statement, will be the elimination of the Master of Divinity degree "as a freestanding three-year residential program." The program may be offered in some other format in the future, the statement said. The majority of priests ordained in the Episcopal Church earn a Master of Divinity degree.
In addition, the seminary will "immediately suspend recruitment and admissions to all degree and certificate programs in this time of discernment."
Along with the Master of Divinity degree, Seabury also offers the Master of Theological Studies in Church Music and Liturgy (MTS) degree, the Master of Arts (MA) degree, a certificate program in advanced theological studies, a licentiate in theology (designed for students without a baccalaureate degree) and a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree.
Seabury will help all of its approximately 50 current D.Min. students to complete their programs, the statement said. The school will also "assist all current M.Div., MTS, MA, and certificate students to find alternative arrangements for the completion of their programs as may be required."
The statement said that "at the center of our immediate concern is the well being of our students, faculty and staff."
Seabury Dean and President Gary Hall reportedly informed the Seabury community, bishops and the deans of the other 10 Episcopal Church-affiliated seminaries of the plans first, and then began notifying alums, donors, and the wider church.
Meanwhile, the statement said, Seabury is talking to what it called "potential partner institutions" in terms of the school's future shape "and to enable all those affected by these decisions to make the transitions they may be required to make as plans emerge."
The statement said Hall will work with an eight-member planning committee to develop plans for Seabury's future operations, including "recommendations for the immediate future of current programs," to present at a special board meeting in April. The committee will include six officers and/or trustees and two faculty members. The committee may also hire consultants and "explore potential partnerships with appropriate institutions."
Context of decision
Seabury had agreed earlier this year to participate with most of the other Episcopal-affiliated seminaries to consolidate their efforts in four areas of theological education. Seabury is to be part of a group that also includes the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Episcopal Divinity School and Bexley Hall looking at ways to cooperate in the area of local ministry development programs.
The Very Rev. Ward Ewing, dean and president of the General Theological Seminary (GTS) in New York City and convener of the seminaries' Council of Deans, told Episcopal News Service in 2007 that that the deans had realized that because of financial restrictions faced by all the seminaries, "every seminary can't provide everything for everybody."
Thus, they began exploring how to develop "the kind of coalition so that each seminary becomes a gateway to the resources of all the seminaries."
"Some of the seminaries' very existence is threatened; others are simply looking at long-term development," Ewing said at the time.
The challenges facing the seminaries did not develop overnight, Ewing said, tracing what he called "a major sociological change about religion and churches."
"Call it post-Christendom or whatever you want to call it, but it's a major change in how the churches work…and that affects the seminaries"
Even the goals of seminarians are changing. Ewing said in 2007 that the Association of Theological Schools, an accrediting agency, had noted that mainline Protestant seminaries reached a milestone in 2004: the majority of their students did not expect to have "pulpit ministries." That trend has not yet been seen in Episcopal seminaries, Ewing said, but they must pay attention.
Seabury's statement noted that "all the seminaries of the Episcopal Church face real economic and missional challenges."
"The stand-alone residential model developed in the nineteenth century is becoming unsustainable for most of our institutions," the statement continued. "Bishops, congregations, and seminarians have fewer resources to allot to the education of seminarians. And the cost of theological education has resulted in an unprecedented level of student debt."
The traditional three-year residential model of seminary education is changing; not all students attend full-time, not all live on campus or even near-by. These days Episcopal-affiliated seminaries educate just less than half of the people ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church. Seminaries have thus seen their costs increase dramatically while the pool of potential students has shrunk. Those costs include both a large percentage of educational costs not covered by tuition and the bill to maintain physical plants that often include buildings at least 150 years old.
The 11 seminaries have very few official ties to the Episcopal Church, beyond General Convention's authority to elect six of GTS trustees. The wider church does not financially support the seminaries.
Yet, as Seabury's statement noted, "multiple church groups continue to call for a new range of educational services from our institutions of theological education: continuing education for clergy, lay education, distance learning, and consulting services for congregations and dioceses."
Within this context, however, are "enormously creative opportunities facing seminaries today," Seabury said. The school's officials are "committed to Seabury’s historic and ongoing ministry as a vital center of theological education, reflection, and congregational study" and are "enthusiastic about the prospect of doing this in a new and, we hope, more economically feasible and pedagogically innovative way."
Calling Seabury "a school in service of the mission of God as proclaimed and enacted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ," the statement concludes by saying "our hearts and minds are filled with a multitude of emotions."
"Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we move into this new understanding of our mission," the statement concluded.
-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is Episcopal Life Media correspondent for Episcopal Church governance, structure, and trends, as well as news of the dioceses of Province II. She is based in Neptune, New Jersey, and New York City.
2.20.2008
Statement from the Trustees and the Dean
A letter from Dean Gary Hall
Evanston, Illinois
February 20, 2008
To: Friends of Seabury
The Board of Trustees of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary spent two days at its regular February meeting in discussion of the immediate opportunities and challenges before the seminary. There are, first, enormously creative opportunities facing seminaries today. Many areas of the church are developing new ways both of doing and preparing for ministry. And multiple church groups continue to call for a new range of educational services from our institutions of theological education: continuing education for clergy, lay education, distance learning, and consulting services for congregations and dioceses.
At the same time, all the seminaries of the Episcopal Church face real economic and missional challenges. The stand-alone residential model developed in the nineteenth century is becoming unsustainable for most of our institutions. Bishops, congregations, and seminarians have fewer resources to allot to the education of seminarians. And the cost of theological education has resulted in an unprecedented level of student debt.
Like many other Episcopal Church institutions, over the past two decades Seabury has both confronted and thought hard about how it can adapt to the challenges and opportunities of the present moment. We have come to the realization that we cannot continue to operate as we have in the past and that there is both loss and good news in that. We believe that the church does not need Seabury in its present form; there are a number of other schools who do what we have traditionally done as well as we do. But we also believe that the church very much needs a seminary animated by and organized around a new vision of theological education—one that is centered in a vision of Baptism and its implications for the whole church, one which is flexible and adaptive and collaborative in nature. We are committed to Seabury’s historic and ongoing ministry as a vital center of theological education, reflection, and congregational study. We are enthusiastic about the prospect of doing this in a new and, we hope, more economically feasible and pedagogically innovative way. At its heart, Seabury will always be a school in service of the mission of God as proclaimed and enacted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
At our regular February meeting, the Board adopted the following resolution:
The Board, having heard a report by the Dean as to the state of Seabury and the rapidly changing and expanding needs for theological education in the Episcopal Church, and being deeply mindful of its mission responsibilities for the operation of the seminary, and the uses of the seminary’s resources, hereby resolves:
1. The Dean is directed to prepare and present to the Board, on or before the next scheduled meeting, a detailed plan for the future operation of Seabury, including a financial plan that brings expenses in line with revenues. The report will also include recommendations for the immediate future of current programs.
2. The Dean will be assisted in developing the plan by a Planning Committee to be made up of eight members, of whom six will be officers and/or trustees, who will be named by the Dean and Board Chair, and two will be faculty members named by the faculty. Should the faculty not choose its representatives on or before Monday, February 25, 2008, the Dean may make the appointments as he deems necessary.
3. In developing the plan, the Dean or his designees may explore potential partnerships with appropriate institutions.
4. The Dean and the Planning Committee may hire consultants they deem necessary to assist them in their deliberations.
After consultation with the faculty, students, and staff, the Planning Committee met on Tuesday, February 19, 2008. The Planning Committee asked the board’s Executive Committee to clarify its understanding of the long-range educational mission of Seabury, and it proposed two resolutions which the Executive Committee passed in the following form on Wednesday, February 20, 2008:
The Executive Committee affirms that Seabury will no longer offer the M.Div. as a freestanding 3-year residential program. This does not preclude offering the M.Div. in other formats.
The Executive Committee accepts the 3 following recommendations of the Planning Committee:
1. That Seabury will immediately suspend recruitment and admissions to all degree and certificate programs in this time of discernment.
2. That Seabury will enable all current D.Min. students to complete their programs.
3. That Seabury will assist all current M.Div., MTS, MA, and certificate students to find alternative arrangements for the completion of their programs as may be required.
The Planning Committee will continue its schedule of weekly meetings so that it can produce a financial and programmatic plan in time for a special board meeting to be called in April. In the meantime, Seabury’s administration is at work talking with potential partner institutions both to enable the school to move forward in the future and to enable all those affected by these decisions to make the transitions they may be required to make as plans emerge.
Our hearts and minds are filled with a multitude of emotions. At the center of our immediate concern is the well being of our students, faculty and staff. Accordingly, most of our energies are focused on the internal community at this time; however, we will be informing our alumni/ae, donors, and the wider church within the next several days. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we move into this new understanding of our mission.
The Very Reverend Gary R. Hall, Ph.D.
Evanston, Illinois
February 20, 2008
To: Friends of Seabury
The Board of Trustees of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary spent two days at its regular February meeting in discussion of the immediate opportunities and challenges before the seminary. There are, first, enormously creative opportunities facing seminaries today. Many areas of the church are developing new ways both of doing and preparing for ministry. And multiple church groups continue to call for a new range of educational services from our institutions of theological education: continuing education for clergy, lay education, distance learning, and consulting services for congregations and dioceses.
At the same time, all the seminaries of the Episcopal Church face real economic and missional challenges. The stand-alone residential model developed in the nineteenth century is becoming unsustainable for most of our institutions. Bishops, congregations, and seminarians have fewer resources to allot to the education of seminarians. And the cost of theological education has resulted in an unprecedented level of student debt.
Like many other Episcopal Church institutions, over the past two decades Seabury has both confronted and thought hard about how it can adapt to the challenges and opportunities of the present moment. We have come to the realization that we cannot continue to operate as we have in the past and that there is both loss and good news in that. We believe that the church does not need Seabury in its present form; there are a number of other schools who do what we have traditionally done as well as we do. But we also believe that the church very much needs a seminary animated by and organized around a new vision of theological education—one that is centered in a vision of Baptism and its implications for the whole church, one which is flexible and adaptive and collaborative in nature. We are committed to Seabury’s historic and ongoing ministry as a vital center of theological education, reflection, and congregational study. We are enthusiastic about the prospect of doing this in a new and, we hope, more economically feasible and pedagogically innovative way. At its heart, Seabury will always be a school in service of the mission of God as proclaimed and enacted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
At our regular February meeting, the Board adopted the following resolution:
The Board, having heard a report by the Dean as to the state of Seabury and the rapidly changing and expanding needs for theological education in the Episcopal Church, and being deeply mindful of its mission responsibilities for the operation of the seminary, and the uses of the seminary’s resources, hereby resolves:
1. The Dean is directed to prepare and present to the Board, on or before the next scheduled meeting, a detailed plan for the future operation of Seabury, including a financial plan that brings expenses in line with revenues. The report will also include recommendations for the immediate future of current programs.
2. The Dean will be assisted in developing the plan by a Planning Committee to be made up of eight members, of whom six will be officers and/or trustees, who will be named by the Dean and Board Chair, and two will be faculty members named by the faculty. Should the faculty not choose its representatives on or before Monday, February 25, 2008, the Dean may make the appointments as he deems necessary.
3. In developing the plan, the Dean or his designees may explore potential partnerships with appropriate institutions.
4. The Dean and the Planning Committee may hire consultants they deem necessary to assist them in their deliberations.
After consultation with the faculty, students, and staff, the Planning Committee met on Tuesday, February 19, 2008. The Planning Committee asked the board’s Executive Committee to clarify its understanding of the long-range educational mission of Seabury, and it proposed two resolutions which the Executive Committee passed in the following form on Wednesday, February 20, 2008:
The Executive Committee affirms that Seabury will no longer offer the M.Div. as a freestanding 3-year residential program. This does not preclude offering the M.Div. in other formats.
The Executive Committee accepts the 3 following recommendations of the Planning Committee:
1. That Seabury will immediately suspend recruitment and admissions to all degree and certificate programs in this time of discernment.
2. That Seabury will enable all current D.Min. students to complete their programs.
3. That Seabury will assist all current M.Div., MTS, MA, and certificate students to find alternative arrangements for the completion of their programs as may be required.
The Planning Committee will continue its schedule of weekly meetings so that it can produce a financial and programmatic plan in time for a special board meeting to be called in April. In the meantime, Seabury’s administration is at work talking with potential partner institutions both to enable the school to move forward in the future and to enable all those affected by these decisions to make the transitions they may be required to make as plans emerge.
Our hearts and minds are filled with a multitude of emotions. At the center of our immediate concern is the well being of our students, faculty and staff. Accordingly, most of our energies are focused on the internal community at this time; however, we will be informing our alumni/ae, donors, and the wider church within the next several days. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we move into this new understanding of our mission.
The Very Reverend Gary R. Hall, Ph.D.
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