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.
###
.