We are also considering ways we can be a servant of the rapidly expanding church in the Global South, where the Pentecostal church is experiencing phenomenal growth. We need to incorporate their scholarship in our libraries, etc., even outside of North America.
Has the place that seminaries play within society changed? Do people still view it the same as they did in prior years?
I don't think Catholics have changed in their view of it, although the programs have changed. I do think that mainline Protestants, who once held the banner saying we need an educated clergy, are changing. They are now, by necessity, moving more toward a bi-vocational clergy. They are more inclined to say that theological education may be optional. And, of course, that is actually an old evangelical way of thinking.
Anti-intellectualism has shifted from the idea that learning may not be good for faith and ministry to one that says pastors need to be really smart about how to grow their churches. The perception of things that used to carry the weight—biblical scholarship, faith tradition, doctrinal purity, etc.—may no longer be viewed as important as before.
I think the role of religion in society has been changing. That drives a part of the relationship of how ecclesial communities view the seminaries. The culture used to look to religion for a significant kind of leadership. That has now changed.
I think that ultimately religion has been marginalized. It has been shifted from being a culture-forming value to being a personal-forming value.
What could evangelical seminaries learn from mainline seminaries?
Mainline Protestant churches have far more endowment funds than evangelical. The majority of evangelical schools depend on their current gift support and tuition. While the evangelical schools have done better at current gifts, they are coming up short on long-term gifts that fund endowments.
Most mainline churches are dealing with declining membership. However, during difficult times, as numbers decreased, their endowments became a great lifeline. If evangelical schools can build up their endowments, then they have a safety net for future challenging seasons. Development and advancement efforts need to remember that while you are cultivating the current gifts, you also need to make sure to cultivate the long-term gifts.
Another thing evangelicals could learn from the mainliners is that the scholarly productivity of mainline faculties tends to be higher than that of evangelical faculties. One reason is that evangelical faculties tend to teach more classes in a given year; they often spread themselves too thin, thus limiting their scholarly development. While we have some very highly productive evangelical faculty members, the institutional load reduces the time available for serious reflection.
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