Theology for the New World All Around
Us
Renewed
Degree Programs to Equip Leaders for a World of Constant
Change and Endless Diversity
At
the beginning of a new century developments in communications,
information technology, and economy have truly made the
world a global village. We live in a world of stupendous
diversity, unceasing change, and increasing interdependence,
where the fate of each individual and community is intimately
bound up with the fate of persons and communities half
a world away.
In
such a world the nature and mission of the church have never
been more important and more subject to rapid great and new
challenges. The challenges faced by religious leaders are
correspondingly greater. The world’s need for religious
people of spiritual and intellectual depth is enormous.
To
meet these needs the faculty at United Theological Seminary
have thoroughly reviewed and revised the curricula for
each of their Masters degree programs and for the Doctor
of Ministry degree. The values that inform education at
United, the educational goals and requirements of each
program that are presented here, are the results of this
work.
Theological Education at United Theological
Seminary: An Overview
In light of the seminary’s mission
and vision, its faculty intends that education at United be
shaped by the following values and perspectives:
1.
United is a Christian institution. We do what we do as a response
to our experience of the human condition and of God’s
invitation to participate responsibly in God’s ongoing
re-creation of the world so that all of God’s creatures
are restored to wholeness. Because in Christ God recalls us
to our basic human identity as intended by God, United is
open to persons of all faiths.
2.
Because United was chartered by the United Church of Christ
as an ecumenical community, we value both our roots in the
Reformed tradition and the ecumenical scope of our mission.
3.
In keeping with the Reformed tradition’s affirmation
of the baptismal ministry of all believers, and in keeping
with its own mission “to prepare women and men for
effective ordained and lay leadership in church and society,” we
intend our curriculum to serve students preparing for leadership
in either ordained or lay roles.
4.
The theological tradition to which the church as a whole
is heir exists in dynamic relation with culture. Our methods,
both those we teach and those by which we teach, should
reflect the dynamic nature of that relationship.
5.
The church exists in a dynamic relation between the tradition
it inherits and the need for ecclesiastical and social transformation.
Maintaining the dynamic tension between the importance of
transmitting the tradition and the importance of transforming
it lies at the core of education at United. Necessarily, we
also view theology as essentially an open system that is capable
of change and discovery, rather then a closed system that
needs only to be repeated and adapted.
6.
Because we view the construction of theology as an imaginative
construal of the dynamic relations among traditions and
contemporary experiences, we regard the arts, the social
sciences, and other modes of attending to human experience
as essential components of theological education.
7.
Because we see our work as a participation in God’s
ongoing creation, we are hopeful about the possibility
of transformation of persons, institutions, and societies
toward greater wholeness and justice. We regard the furthering
of this transformation as central to the mission of the
church. Thus this focus is necessarily crucial to the education
of religious leaders at United.
8.
The ministries to which our students are called will take
place in a broader societal context shaped by a number of
major factors, of which our curricula thus must take account:
- Increasing
cultural and religious diversity
- Individual
isolation and abdication of communal responsibility
- Rapid
social and institutional change, including major changes
in ecclesiastical institutions
- Increasing
awareness of, and heightened struggle around, systems
of dominance and oppression, local, and global
- Economic
and cultural globalization
- Ecological
fragility
- The
rapid development of information technology and its attendant
social changes
- A
longing for spiritual depth
- Threat
of war and search for peace
9.
We value openness and dynamism in responding creatively
to the challenges and needs of our environment, so that
our educational means most effectively pursue our educational
mission.
10.
We value the accessibility of theological education.
11.
Essential to the success of the curriculum is the creation
for students of open learning communities in which students
are supported in the various ways in which people learn.
12.
We must conceive of the curriculum and the evaluation of
students within it holistically, hence the centrality of
integration.
In
pursuit of its mission, United offers a variety of programs
of study. The academic programs and our certificate program
lead to a variety of degrees and diplomas, each adapted to
the specific purposes for which students pursue theological
study. Emphases in rural and urban ministry,
women’s studies, ministry
in native communities, and religion
and the arts are among the distinctive features of academic
programs at United. Non-degree status
is available to students who wish to explore theological studies
without pursuing a specific degree. Programs of Continuing
Education provide short but substantive learning experiences
for a wide variety of people. |
