ALTERNATIVES IN THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION:

AN EXAMINATION OF THE CHARACTERISTICS AND OUTCOMES OF

DENOMINATIONAL JUDICATORY STUDY PROGRAMS WHICH PREPARE
PERSONS FOR COMMISSIONED, LICENSED, ORDAINED OR OTHERWISE
AUTHORIZED MINISTRIES

A Report to the Lilly Endowment, Inc.

December 31, 1999

Lance R. Barker
and
B. Edmon Martin

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities

New Brighton, Minnesota
December 31, 1999

I
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE PROJECT .............................................................................................................................................................1

BACKGROUND............................................................................................................................................................3

RESEARCH APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY .........................................................................................6

RESEARCH STAGES AND RESOURCES ..........................................................................................................8

PROGRAM SITES .....................................................................................................................................................12

COMMISSIONED LAY PASTOR PROGRAM: HOLSTON PRESBYTERY................................................................... 12
COURSE OF STUDY: PERKINS SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY , THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH.......................... 15
DR. JESSIE SAULTEAUX RESOURCE CENTER......................................................................................................... 17
LAY M INISTRY PROGRAM: N. Y. CONFERENCE , U.C.C.--N.E. REGION, DISCIPLES OF CHRIST .................... 19
M UTUAL BAPTISMAL M INISTRY PROGRAM,DIOCESE OF NORTHERN M ICHIGAN,
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH........................................................................................................................................... 21
PARTNERS IN M INISTRY, NEBRASKA SYNOD, EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA.................. 23
SCOPE: SOUTHERN CONFERENCE , UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST ...................................................................... 25
PROGRAM DIMENSIONS .....................................................................................................................................27
NUMBER OF PROGRAMS............................................................................................................................................ 27
DIVERSITY OF PROGRAMS......................................................................................................................................... 28
M OTIVATION FOR PROGRAM FOUNDING................................................................................................................ 29
GOVERNANCE AND FUNDING................................................................................................................................... 31
RELATIONSHIP TO SEMINARIES................................................................................................................................ 33
CURRICULA AND PEDAGOGIES ......................................................................................................................34
CURRICULA ORIGINS ................................................................................................................................................. 34
CURRICULAR APPROACHES...................................................................................................................................... 35
CURRICULAR DESIGN AND FACULTY RESOURCES................................................................................................ 36
A DMISSIONS AND STANDARDS................................................................................................................................. 38
RELATION TO CHURCH STRUCTURES AND CLERGY.........................................................................38
CHURCH STRUCTURES............................................................................................................................................... 39
RELATION TO CLERGY............................................................................................................................................... 40
PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS .................................................................................................................................41
STUDENTS.................................................................................................................................................................... 41
CONGREGATIONS........................................................................................................................................................ 47
Morganville United Church of Christ, Morganville, New York ...................................................................48
Holston Presbytery, Upper East Tennesse. ......................................................................................................55
Trinity Episcopal Church, Gladstone, Michigan............................................................................................62
SCOPE (Southern Conference Ordination Preparation Education), Eastern North Carolina..............67
Nebraska Shared Ministry: Gloria Dei, Grace, Berea, and St. Mark E.L.C.A. Churches......................74
THE IMPACT OF DENOMINATIONAL JUDICATORY-BASED PROGRAMS .................................78

ISSUES/CHALLENGES FO R DENOMINATIONAL JUDICATORY-BASED PROGRAMS ...........79

APPENDICES ..............................................................................................................................................................84
INITIAL MAIL QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................................................................ 84
SURVEY TELEPHONE QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................................................... 86
PROGRAM DIRECTORS............................................................................................................................................... 86

1
SURVEY TELEPHONE QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................................................... 88
FACULTY/TEACHERS ................................................................................................................................................. 88
SURVEY TELEPHONE QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................................................... 90
STUDENTS.................................................................................................................................................................... 90
PROGRAM SITE VISIT PROTOCOL............................................................................................................................. 92
PREPARATORY REQUESTS FOR CONGREGATIONAL VISITS.................................................................................. 93
SITE VISIT PROTOCOL................................................................................................................................................ 94
A QUESTIONNAIRE ..................................................................................................................................................... 95
CODING CATEGORIES ................................................................................................................................................ 99
INDEX OF PROGRAMS...............................................................................................................................................103
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................................................121

2
 ALTERNATIVES IN THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION:
AN EXAMINATION OF THE CHARACTERISTICS AND OUTCOMES OF
DENOMINATIONAL JUDICATORY STUDY PROGRAMS WHICH PREPARE
PERSONS FOR COMMISSIONED, LICENSED, ORDAINED OR OTHERWISE
AUTHORIZED MINISTRIES:

A Report to the Lilly Endowment, Inc.

December 31, 1999

Lance R. Barker
and
B. Edmon Martin
United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities
New Brighton, Minnesota
December 31, 1999

The Project

This report contains findings of eighteen months of exploratory research into

models of education for ministry, other than the professional degree programs of

theological schools, that currently prepare persons for various forms of commissioned,

licensed, ordained, or otherwise legitimated ministry. The alternative programs at the

core of the research were in the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in

America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, the United

Church of Canada, and the United Methodist Church. Ho wever, a wider range of

programs exists in several denominations and in the contexts of various institutes and

study centers. Our research focus centers on the above denominations because of 1)

their shared histories in developing theological schools and of including the M.Div. (or

B.D.) degree in authorizing process to certify persons for ordination and 2) their

recovery, so to speak, of alternative routes to ordination through the development and

support of special study programs and projects.

1
 The goals of the study were 1) to catalogue a significant number of those

programs; 2) to seek through a variety of research means information about them from

their leaders and constituencies; 3) to develop profiles of how some of the programs

function; 4) to assess outcomes; and 5) to consult with key parties involved in various

forms of theological education to consider implications of the project’s findings.

The primary goals of this study emphasize cataloguing and description. At the

same time, such an extensive examination of denominational judicatory-based programs

suggests that some attention be given to evaluative comments. This will be done in the

context of comments about the implications of such programs not only for the

denominations for but wider theological education. These programs have had a certain

endurance over the years. Currently we see a resurgence of interest in their role(s) not

only for staffing church ministries but also in being a significant part of the fabric of

formal theological education. Thus, any examination of these programs has significance

beyond a carefully orchestrated description. Our assessment is that the existence and

activities of these programs will continue to be a resource for people who see themselves

called into ministry often out of life experiences that do not lend themselves to M.Div.

study at a theological school. As well, the denomination judicatory-based theological

study programs will be a part of the continuing conversations of how pastoral or

complementary forms of leadership are to be provided for a variety of settings where full

time, seminary trained leadership is feasible. We speak here of small, sometimes

financially stressed, often geographically isolated congregations. We speak here of

congregations developed by new ethnic communities. We speak here of people with calls

to ministry for whom plural models for ministry preparation are sought. Denominations

2
already are in the process of expanding the range of innovative options that authenticate

and legitimate ministries.

Consequently, denominational judicatory-based theological education programs

will be subject to continued discussion in terms both of denominational ministry and

theological education strategies. Among audiences of theological school and

denominational officials, the existence of these programs increasingly will be part of a

wider conversation about the plural forms theological education takes.

Background

In the history of North American theological education, the theological school

(whether university related or free standing) has become the primary location for

churches in the Anglican, Reformed, Lutheran, and Methodist traditions to prepare

persons for various forms of legitimated or authorized ministry. As denominations

became more institutionalized and organizationally structured during the late nineteenth

and the early twentieth centuries, denominational actions tended to shape standards for

ministerial preparation and, as a result, ministerial professional practice. Increasingly,

standards were linked to concerns for a learned ministry and, by extension, to the

completion of a degree in theology.

By the mid twentieth century, accrediting bodies, such as the Association of

Theological Schools, established criteria for professional theological education that

placed the theological school in an even more strategic place for ministerial preparation.

Thus, the growing institutionalization of denominations and of theological education

3
itself assured the role of the theological school and the M.Div. (or B.D.) as the primary

location and academic degree for ministerial education and credentialing.

Throughout the recent history of theological education, however, a wider range of

options for theological education has continued to prepare ecclesial leadership. These

programs have manifested themselves in a variety of institutional forms: theological

education by extension, study centers, mentored study, seminary campus extension

programs, and special focus institutes. Some are of recent innovation, while others were

educational options for ministry preparation long before the modern seminary and

particular professional academic degrees. One education model with a long history in

American theological education that attracts a resurgence of interest is the

denominational study program primarily initiated, designed, and carried out within the

bounds of a local or regional judicatory or at an approved location. Such programs

provide curricular resources that allow one to complete courses of study that lead, if

denominational assessment allows, to some form of authorized ministry: certified,

commissioned, licensed, or ordained.

Recent denominational interest in judicatory initiated study programs may be

categorized as follows: First, some denominations have made constitutional changes to

allow for alternative processes that allow persons to be authorized for certain pastoral

ministries. For example the Presbyterian Church (USA) has clarified the role of

commissioned lay pastors and the educational requirements that allow for such

commissioning and placement. Second, some denominations have sanctioned innovative

ministerial models. Such is the case with the mutual ministry programs initiated within

certain dioceses of the Episcopal Church. Third, denominations with a substantial history

4
of lay pastors have sought new ways to legitimate educational processes preparatory to

authorizing those ministries. A recent document, “Ordained and Licensed Ministries in

the United Church of Christ: Issues and Possibilities”, prepared by the Office for Church

Life and Leadership speaks to this third category: “Experience suggests that the United

Church of Christ has been blessed by the presence of licensed ministers who have

provided significant pastoral leadership under the supervision of a committee on the

ministry while keeping current and growing by engaging in continuing education.” The

document suggests an expanded role for the Office for Church Life and Leadership as the

instrumentality responsible for approving certificate programs designed to prepare

persons for licensed ministries.

The presence of locally or regionally oriented judicatory programs that prepare

persons for some form of legitimated ministries evokes discussions about their future and

role not only in the context of theological education but within the church systems that

legitimate or authorize ministry. Not much is known, however, about the whole picture of

these programs. Work by Judith Hjorth identified fifteen programs in the United Church

of Christ. The Presbyterian Research Services in the Presbyterian Survey (October,

1997) developed a fairly extensive picture of the Commissioned Lay Pastor (n=532) in

that denomination. However, the whole picture remains vague in terms of how widely

those programs are distributed among denominations, how the programs are structured,

who the constituents are, and how the programs might fit into denominational strategies

for ministerial preparation and deployment.

This report, then, attempts to examine the emergence of these programs in a wider

context than is allowed in looking at any one program or one denomination’s program or

5
set of programs. In the following section, we outline the opportunities and constraints

encountered in this research project.

Research Approach and Methodology

The methodology for the research was informed by a general question: What is

going on here? The research design was an exploratory model that would employ

qualitative methodologies. The model has some congruence with a recent qualitative

study of two theological schools, Being There by Jackson W. Carroll, Barbara G.

Wheeler, Daniel O. Aleshire, and Penny Long Marler. That volume featured observer

participants engaging the life of two seminaries, one rela ted to an evangelical and the

other to a mainline tradition. The methodological problem for that study was to gain

perspective on the distinctive cultures of those schools.

The research project informing this report faced certain contextual constraints that

limited a type of focused study of any one or several educational institutions. Because

denominational judicatory-based programs are for the most part “schools without walls,”

they vary greatly in their approaches to centralized management and record keeping

required of seminaries. Records are available, in some cases, at denominational offices

and, in other cases, at educational institutions, such as a host seminary for the United

Methodist Course of study. For research purposes, this generally meant that for most

programs there were no centrally housed campuses; student bodies were dispersed;

histories of programs were difficult to access; and faculties, with limited exceptions, were

resident and physically accessible only for particular limited periods of time. The

methodological challenge for this project, then, was to develop a qualitative approach,

6
broad in scope but capable of producing integrated perspectives, that would describe the

character of the programs and their outcomes while addressing the meaning of their

presence within the whole theological landscape. While limited qualitative data could be

secured, most data was accessible through narratives. These narratives are retrieved

through structured interviews whether in person, by questionnaire, or by telephone

interviews; through observations and interviews during visits to educational events at

program sites; and through visits to locations, mainly congregations, where persons

served in ministries authorized by attendance at one of the programs.

To address this challenge of organizing narrative data, the qualitative research

software QSR: Non-numerical Unstructured Data Indexing, Searching, and Theory

Building was chosen as the vehicle for categorizing and sorting narrative materials

solicited around a series of research interests and questions. The researchers sought the

consultation services of Research Talk located in New York City for training in the use of

the software and for assistance in organizing the data input and retrieval tasks. An initial

review of narrative materials gathered in the research produced a set of categories for

coding the information. Documents were then coded and sorted into the categories from

which conclusions were drawn. Research questions, interview protocols, and categories

are included in the appendix to this paper.

Reporting the data required attending to several problems. The major problems in

reporting qualitative data include how one weights information, how distributions of that

information are charted, and how a general theory of interpretation is applied. In the

following sections, which summarize the research findings, the general principle for

organizing data is the preponderance and congruence of information supplied by

7
informants. As well, the richness of anecdotal narrative complements the general

principle.

Research Stages and Resources

The research procedure entailed six stages. The first stage aimed to identify as

many of these programs as possible and to solicit basic information about them. A

survey instrument was distributed to every Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

synod, United Methodist conference, Presbyterian (USA) presbytery, United Church of

Christ conference, and Episcopal diocese. These denominations were chosen because

they typically require the M. Div. for ordination and, consequently, stand to experience

the greatest impact from a resurgence of locally based programs. In addition, survey

Stages of the Research questionnaires were sent to Disciples of Christ

1. Initial Mail Survey
2. Telephone Interviews
3. Program Site Visits regional offices and officials in the United Church
4. Congregation Site Visits
5. Survey Questionnaire to of Canada were queried as to that denomination’s
Graduates
6. Public Discussion and
Publication programs, particularly, for native or aboriginal

peoples. The questionnaire asked for self-definitions of the programs and key information

about governance, program design, current students, graduates, and general history.

Stage two employed structured telephone interviews to deepen the understanding

initially gained in the mail survey and to provide criteria for selecting programs to be

studied in more detail. A total of fifty-two persons were interviewed from a pool of

program directors, students, graduates, founders, instructors, and members of governing

boards selected from thirteen representative programs. From information secured in these

interviews, seven program sites were selected as the locations for further in depth study.

8
The remaining six sites would later be consulted through the use of a survey

questionnaire to students, noted in the fifth research stage. We wanted to keep available

a larger number of persons and sites to consult in order to enrich our data. The seven

program sites were selected on the basis of five criteria: 1) length of existence (at least

five years); 2) number of graduates or students having completed most of their program

of study (based on a somewhat broad criterion of “substantial,” that allows a pool of

persons large enough to be included in a later mail survey); 3) denomination (at least one

program would be representative from at least four denominations); and 4) geography

(two in the Midwest and two outside that region). A fifth focus was given to two ethnic or

minority education projects. The first is a site sponsored by the United Church of Canada

and prepares aboriginal peoples for ministry. The second is a program of the Southern

Conference of the United Church of Christ that primarily serves African American

constituencies. The sites are detailed later in this report.

Stage three involved three-day visits to each of the program sites to attend an

educational event. These visits allowed for the researchers to encounter program

pedagogical styles and content and to converse with students, faculty, and other key

people. In all, seven programs were visited. Each program is described later in this

report.

Stage four included three-day visits to congregations where persons involved in

the denominationally based theological education programs were serving. The intent of

this stage was less a formal congregational study and more an effort to assess the ways

the ATE program and the pastoral leadership produced are perceived. Nonetheless, this

stage necessarily included gaining perspective on a particular church’s ministry, the role

9
of its pastoral leader, and the congregation’s presence within its wider social, cultural,

and geographic milieu. We were unable to do the more extensive congregational visits at

three sites due to geographic and scheduling constraints. The congregational visits are

discussed in more detail later in this report.

In stage five questionnaires were sent to graduates or people with substantial

study completed in the seven sites as well as to the other six locations interviewed by

telephone in stage one. The questionnaire distribution occurred as follows: each site but

one was sent fifteen questionnaires for mailing. In the one case, the researchers mailed

the questionnaires to fifteen potential respondents. (The site contact person was not

available to do the mailing.) Our assumption was that program graduates or participants

would most likely respond to materials requested by program directors. Because most of

the returns were anonymous, opportunities for follow-up requests for completed

questionnaires were limited. As anticipated, the one set of questionnaires mailed directly

by the researchers had the lowest response. The questionnaire did not seek to replicate

the earlier mentioned Presbyterian Survey, but that survey did provide some

“benchmark” data for useful comparison.

Of 195 questionnaires mailed, 68 were returned giving a response rate of 35%.

This survey, more extensive in content than the mail survey of stage one, solicited

information on such matters as motivation, relationship to home church, prior education,

satisfaction with program, authorization outcome, placement and service, relation to other

clergy, continuing education needs, interest in seminary, etc.

Stage six featured public discussion of the project’s initial findings. Two major

consultations of approximately two days in length were held. The participants were

10
program directors, faculty or teachers, student or graduates, denominational officials, and

interested parties from theological schools. The goals of these consultations were not

only to present findings but to gain clarity on what was being reported and interpreted.

The researchers, as well, presented a paper on the research findings at the November,

1999, meeting of the Religious Research Association. This final stage reports to the Lilly

Endowment and to larger audiences the findings of our research. This document is the

basis for the final stage.

A project advisory committee was selected to give periodic advice on the focus

Project Advisory Committee and methods of the research. Twice

Rev. Richard Bruesehoff
Dir. Lay Leadership Support
Evangelical Lutheran in
America
Dr. Michael Dash, Professor
Interdenominational Dean,
Theological Center
Dr. David Esterline,
Professor, McCormick
Theological Seminary
Dr. Glenn Miller
Professor, during the stages of the research a
Bangor Theological
Seminary
project advisory committee met.
Dr. Anne Reissner
Center for Research and Study
at Maryknoll The committee was composed of
Rev. Doyle Turner
Indigenous Theological persons with particular interests in
Training Institute

Ref. Judith Hjorth Rev. Marcial Vasquez denominational judicatory-based

Assoc. Conference Minister
Connecticut Conference,
United Church of Christ
Dr. Ken MacFayden,
Director
North Central Career
Development Center
La Puerta Abierta
United Methodist Church
theological study programs:
program directors, students and
graduates of the programs,

seminary personnel, and representatives from denominations. The committee met once

near the beginning of the project and at the end of the second major consultation. This

committee was an invaluable resource both in shaping the research questions and process

and in complementing the discussion of the consultations. We regret that due to some

family matters and work requirements, some members of the committee were unable to

attend all meetings.

11
 PROGRAM SITES

Seven program events were visited for a three-day period. This report does not

base its findings alone on those seven site visits and the later visits to congregations

served by persons whose ministry was authorized, in part, because of their participation

in a particular program. Indeed, the later commentary of this report draws from the broad

range of narrative materials generated throughout the six stages of the research. It is

important to note the characteristics of the seven sites given most scrutiny. The telling of

their “stories” depicts the central themes that allow readers of this report to grasp the

significance of judicatory-based alternative theological education programs.

Commissioned Lay Pastor Program: Holston Presbytery

Holston (Tennessee) Presbytery established its initial Lay Preacher Program in

1986. This was modeled after a program

Program Sites
Commissioned Lay Pastor Program
Holston Presbytery, Tennessee operative in neighboring Abingdon
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Course of Study
Perkins School of Theology
(Virginia) Presbytery that had been in
The United Methodist Church
Dr. Jessie Saulteaux Resource Center operatio n since the 1960’s. The two
United Church of Canada
Lay Ministry Program
New York Conference Presbyteries now cooperate in a shared
United Church of Christ
Northeast Region
Disciples of Christ
program structure. The impetus for the
Mutual Baptismal Ministry Program
Diocese of Northern Michigan founding of the Holston Presbytery program
The Episcopal Church
Partners in Ministry Program
Nebraska Synod included three factors: 1) Close to half of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
SCOPE Presbytery’s congregations numbered less
Southern Conference, The United Church
of Christ
than 100 members. Attempts to form yoked

or cooperative parishes was limited by the geographic remoteness of congregations, the

12
inability to develop practical size clusters that would work, and the financial viability of

congregational resources even in cooperative contexts. 2) There was a history of elders

(ordained lay leaders in the Presbyterian polity) preaching and providing other services.

This led to some problems of individuals becoming de facto pastors in congregations and

choosing to function, effectively, out side the bounds of Presbyterian polity and doctrine.

Difficulties also emerged for congregations and the Presbytery through non-Presbyterian

pastors, often untrained and unfamiliar with Presbyterian order, providing pastoral and

theological leadership. And 3) in 1985 a new presbytery executive arrived who sensed the

need to provide more training and a more formalized education process to enhance the

roles and practices for elders as lay leaders in the presbytery. In 1991 the presbytery

brought on board an associate executive whose portfolio would include support and

further development of a Commissioned Lay Pastor program.

Within the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Commissioned Lay Pastor (CLP) is

authorized and defined in accord with the Book of Order. While denominational

guidelines prescribe the roles, duties, and education for the CLP, individual presbyteries

adapt the denominational rules with a certain flexibility. Indeed, in 1996 the

denomination published a handbook, Commissioned Lay Pastor Resource Book, that

details the characteristics of 15 presbytery CLP programs. While there is a diversity of

program designs and authorization structures, yet each program represents a certain

congruence of practice and accountability within the denomination.

The Book of Order notes that the CLP is to receive training in the areas of Bible,

Reformed theology and sacraments, Presbyterian polity, preaching, leading worship,

pastoral care, and teaching. In the case of Holston Presbytery, the original CLP

13
(originally termed Commissioned Lay Preacher) program originated in the mid

1980's’included basically one course on sermons and sacraments. In subsequent years, as

the denomination clarified the role of CLP’s, the presbytery added courses to

approximate the denominational

“CLP’s become a cadre of leadership within the presbytery.
Most CLP’s serve as supply preachers. Only a few are
pastors with any continuous role within the congregation.
requirements. The program now
Some serve as regular supply pastors for certain
congregations.” consists of several levels of
Bruce Ford, Holston Presbytery

preparation. The first level is four

courses of six to eight weeks in length meeting weekly for two to three hour periods.

Another level includes two years experience in filling pulpits in the Presbytery. The final

level requires attending continuing education events that include Presbytery sponsored

retreats; a series of courses dealing with such topics as pre-baptismal and pre-marriage

counseling, Christian education, evangelism, session moderating skills, and the like; and

an event on sexual misconduct. Yearly attendance at a continuing education event of no

less than 10 contact hours is required for yearly recertification as a CLP. CLP’s are urged

to attend, however, an event developed by the presbytery. Faculty for the program is

drawn from area colleges and from the roster of clergy in the presbytery. The regional

Presbyterian seminaries have not been a major source of faculty support. At the present

time Holston Presbytery has 25 Commissioned Lay Pastors. A majority of these serve as

either Sunday preachers or temporary supplies. What seems to be the case is that the

program not only provides qualified pulpit services but is also creating a body of

theologically trained leaders for the presbytery. Currently, Holston Presbytery has 11

Commissioned Lay Pastors who serve locations with some regularity and another 15 who

serve intermittently as periodic supply preachers.

14
 Administration of the CLP program is under the guidance of the Commissioned

Lay Pastor Subcommittee of the presbytery’s Committee on Ministry. Normally,

candidates for the Presbyterian ministry would apply through their session to the

presbytery’s Committee on Preparation for Ministry. In the case of CLP’s, the

application to the program is through the session but directed to the Commissioned Lay

Pastor subcommittee of the Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry. This subcommittee

admits persons to the program of study, examines them, and, finally, recommends action

to the Committee on Ministry for referral to Presbytery.

Course of Study: Perkins School of Theology, The United Methodist Church

The Course of Study (COS) is a denomination-wide program administered by the

General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. COS is the oldest form of formal

theological education in the United Methodist Church. Historically it represents a

correspondence and mentored study program that prepared candidates for the orders of

that denomination before attending seminaries became a norm. It now is a more

structured and institutionally based program. Currently there are about 2,500 students in

course of study programs. In July 1999, Perkins had about 200 students enrolled. All

serve as local pastors.

Course of Study is carried out through seven of the seminaries of the United

Methodist Church. In addition, there are ten extension centers that are related to

particular seminaries. Each course of study operates with a curriculum prescribed by the

Board of Higher Education and Ministry. The current COS represents a particular

ministerial strategy of the United Methodist Church. Persons eligible for COS are

15
individuals already licensed to be local pastors and who have attended local pastors

school. This means that for COS the deno minational judicatory does all admissions

screening. A college degree is required for COS enrollment. Exceptions are allowed for

persons who were prevented for sundry reasons from completing college studies but who

have at least sixty hours of bachelor degree credits. In many ways this is not unlike the

screening process for UMC ministry candidates entering the Perkins M.Div. program.

The basic curriculum includes 20 courses of 20 contact hours each to be taken over a

five-year period. Completion of this work qualifies one for a continuing position as a

local pastor. In addition there are options to participate in a later advanced course of

study that leads to full conference membership and ordination to elder’s orders.

Each seminary hosting COS allows for additional M.Div. coursework, when

combined with COS study, to be counted toward the M.Div. degree. The Board of Higher

Education prescribes a uniform set of contents, contact hours, and expected educational

outcomes for each course. However, each Course of Study site designs a program model

and residency period to meet the denominational requirements.

The Board of Higher Education has a specific strategy that all Course of Study

programs be carried out through a seminary. For the purposes of this project, one Course

of Study, that at Perkins School of Theology, provides an illustration of this model which

is a denomination-wide judicatory-based theological education program. The Perkins

program is a four week on-campus program at Southern Methodist University. This is the

only four week program among the several COS locations. Students take four courses,

each preceded by extensive reading and preparation of papers assigned a year in advance.

Students work on the assignments during the year and send their written work in advance

16
to the teacher who evaluates it prior to their arrival at the campus. This allows for the

professor to gear on-campus work to assessed needs of students. The Perkins program is

Since 1972, the course of study at Perkins has particularly sensitive to ethnic theological
been the major resource to prepare pastors for
the Oklahoma Missionary Conference (a
conference comprised mainly of Native education. Along with two other schools,
Americans).
Bert Affleck Perkins has developed a Spanish language

faculty to serve a growing Hispanic constituency. As well, the Perkins program has

internal tracks for Native and African American students.

The Perkins COS selects and develops its own faculty. Indeed guidelines

established by the UMC Board of Higher Education suggest that instructors should

include active pastors within a conference rather than relying totally on teachers from

colleges and seminaries. Those faculty members include pastors (some with advanced

degrees), a number of individuals from area colleges, and a few Perkins faculty.

Dr. Jessie Saulteaux Resource Center

Located in Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada, the Dr. Jessie Saulteaux Resource

Center was founded in the mid 1980’s in response to the educational needs of aboriginal

peoples. Prior to the founding of the Center, which was named after a beloved and

visionary educator, most aboriginal people seeking ordination in the United Church of

Canada attended the Cook School or College in Arizona. However, there was some

criticism of this approach to education. Some commentators noted that when aboriginal

students left the program of study out of their home contexts they seemed to be different

people, less able to relate to their own communities. Some students did not return to their

own communities. The Dr. Jesse Saulteaux Center (DJSRC) was established to provide

17
an alternative model of education for ministry, one that would allow for specialized study

but, at the same time, affirm the place of students as continuing members of their home

aboriginal communities. It, now, is a recognized center for ministerial authorization in

“There is aboriginal self-government within the United the United Church of Canada. In
Church of Canada. One of the first needs that we
identified was the need for theological education. The
primary focus of the Dr. Jessie Saulteaux Resource several ways, DJSRC is
Center is preparing persons for ministry. A second
mandate is cross-cultural education.”
representative of other contextually
Janet Sillman, Co-Director, DJSRC

based ministry education programs in

the United Church of Canada, namely, the In Community Program for Ordination (ICPO)

based in Winnipeg. Currently there are 17 students enrolled in the DJSRC program.

The basic theological education model of the DJSRC is a series of forty-five

residential week long units held at the Center. The program is carried out over a period

of five years, though a student may extend that period. Each unit entails at least twenty

hours of structured learning. The curriculum is divided as follows:: 30% biblical, 20%

theological reflection (including aboriginal teachings), 20% practice of ministry, 10%

history, !0% education, and 10% community development.. The DJSRC offers a

certificate. For students who complete additional work at the University of Winnipeg

School of Theology a bachelor of theology degree is awarded.

Students are accepted for the program and supported in their study in ways

particular to aboriginal practice. If people have been recognized and affirmed in their

aboriginal communities, then, they can be admitted to study. The staff of DJSRC do

further assessment as to capabilities to do the requisite study, as those students

recommended for study range in educational levels from grade five reading capacity to

persons possessing college degrees. Each student has a vision keeper who provides

18
support at home. During periods at home and while attending the residencies at DJSRC,

students keep journals that become the subject matter of regular meetings with DJSRC

staff.

During each residency course week, the leadership team includes an aboriginal

elder whose role is to honor aboriginal teachings. In addition there is another faculty

member, selected because of expertise in subject matters as well as sensitivity to

aboriginal ways. The basic pedagogical style is the learning circle with the aboriginal

elder and the other faculty member guiding discussion, making presentations, and

attending to a variety of personal issues members bring to the circle. Because the DJSRC

program is defined both contextually and as a series of residencies, the week of study

includes social events, such as a “basket social” that help build community.

Lay Ministry Program: New York Conference,

United Church of Christ—Northeast Region, Disciples of Christ

The Lay Ministry Program (LMP) is a four year program of study under the

guidance of a mentor that includes participating in two weekend retreats each of the four

years; attending a selected number of workshops of a student’s own choosing but related

to the program; and completing, under the guidance of the mentor, four levels of readings

(for an equivalent of 28 books read). The program allows the student to focus on areas of
The issue is how to develop a transformational future in
the churches. The lay ministers are part of this specialty. According to a booklet
mission. The placement process is a type of
‘underground’ process. Not all Association ministers outlining the program, those
know of available lay ministers for placement.”
Dr. Charles Maxfield.
specialties may include: “worship and

19
preaching, licensed ministry, interim ministry, Christian education, pastoral care, campus

ministry, lay leadership, arts in the church, ministry in the workplace, and other areas of

service as they may arise.”

Because of the diverse educational foci, course and workshop options in multiple

venues, requirements for developing self-directed study, and student interests, the LMP

requires a sometime complex monitoring of student admissions, completion of

requirement s, and final placement or recognition in some or of ministry. Because of this,

the mentor is the key figure in guiding a student through the intricacies of the course of

study. The twice yearly retreats are significant gathering points and moments for

participants in the lay ministry program. These retreats each feature a particular topic

approached through lectures, discussions, and workshops. Topics range from issues in

Biblical study, to approaches to preaching, to topics in pastoral counseling. Underlying

the experience of the retreat are opportunities for sharing stories, comparing approaches

to meet the program curricular requirements, and worshipping.

A person enters the program upon recognition of and recommendation of a local

church governing board to the Committee on Ministry of the U.C.C. association or

comparable Disciples regional body. No academic credentials are required, though a

majority of students have substantial college study background. Following acceptance by

the Committee on Ministry, the person is enrolled in the program of study as a lay

minister. This status is recognized at the lay minister’s first retreat when he or she is

given a small wooden cross to be worn around the neck. Upon completing the program,

one may become a recognized lay minister by the U.C.C. Conference or the appropriate

Disciples of Christ body. During the period of serving as a lay minister, a person may

20
preach and lead worship. In some cases a person serves as lay pastor of a church while

proceeding to full recognition.

At the time our research was initiated with the LMP, there were thirty current

students and fifteen graduates serving in one form or another of recognized ministry. In

addition, five of the graduates had enrolled in a theological school.

Mutual Baptismal Ministry Program,Diocese of Northern Michigan, the Episcopal

Church

The program has a history that reaches back into the 1970’s when the officials in

the Diocese of Northern Mission began to identify that the “small church” was becoming

the strategic issue for the future of the diocese. Two issues seemed primary. One was the

basic situation of small size and economy of resources for a significant number of

diocesan congregations to engage in their mission and to support full or part time priests.

The second was the actual functioning (or over functioning) of priests in contexts where

dependency on their leadership diminished the role of the laity. However, these concerns

were not an issue alone for that diocese in the Episcopal Church. In other dioceses, the

concept and practice of “total” or “mutual” ministry was being considered and employed.

Among the several manifestations of total or mutual ministry there are some

commonalties. Such ministry is highly indigenous, that is, it recognizes a radical locality

of a congregation’s ministry and its leadership carried out within an apostolic vision of

diocesan support and communion. The concept and practice emerges out of a theological

conviction that at the center of a congregation’s worship is the Eucharist. Congregations

should be empowered to have a full sacramental ministry. Thus an education or

empowerment model was necessary to fulfill the theological conviction and the practical

21
demands of ministry leadership in a congregation. A full sacramental theology would

involve regular celebration of the Eucharist and a recognition that the ministry of the

baptized is at the heart of any congregation’s life and structure.

At this point, it should be noted that structural changes were made in policies and

polity of the Diocese of Northern Michigan to facilitate this process. This report cannot

go into all of those here, though the changes are implicit in the discussion of the Mutual

Baptismal Ministry Program. We, also, should note that within that diocese several

congregations have developed permutations of the mutual ministry process. Nonetheless,

the process is as follows. First, the bishop or diocesan representatives meet with a

congregation’s vestry to help the congregation refocus it s ministry and ministerial

practices. The refocusing is directed to the development of a local ministry of the

baptized who would assume a shared ministry on behalf of the congregation. Such

ministry would include local priests, deacons, stewardship coordinators, education

coordinators, ecumenical coordinators, preachers, and the like.

If that committee so chooses, the matter is taken to the whole congregation.

Then, upon agreement, a consultant or missioner, employed by the diocese, begins taking

the congregation through a discovery process with the vestry and other leaders. A series

“Canon IX is not just an avenue for a cheap priest but a of meetings is held to discern who
means for the whole community to take on ministry. The
role of the Canon IX priest is quite different from a
seminary-trained priest. Our goal is to have more than would be invited to the positions of
one person in a congregation that is Canon IX and more
than one permanent deacon. Because there is no priest
in charge the ministry expectation is mutual.” presbyter (priest), deacon,
Bishop Jim Kelsey
stewardship coordinator, Christian

educator, and so on. At least two persons are invited for each position so that no one

person would be looked upon as “the priest” or “the deacon.” These individuals become

22
a covenant group that meets twice a month for 3-4 hour sessions for 18-24 months. They

follow a formation curriculum and engage in diocesan-wide workshops. The diocesan

missioner facilitates the curriculum, which consists of eleven units ranging from two to

four three-hour sessions per unit. The missioner is a theologically trained but not

necessarily ordained person. The session topics range from studies of diaconal, priestly

and apostolic ministries to an examination of the history, liturgy and program of the

Episcopal Church. Other studies range from the Biblical and theological, focusing on the

origins of the Scriptures and the story of Jesus, to practical topics such as ways to

increasing effectiveness in groups.

Upon completing the curriculum, the covenant group is examined as a team by the

diocese’s Commission of Ministry. The whole team, then, if approved, is commissioned

as a ministry support team at a service that affirms the ministry of the whole congregation

and members of the team are duly ordained or licensed, as their ministry requires. The

term “ministry support team” is significant.” The goal of the team is not to replace a

priest in charge but to support the baptismal ministry of the whole congregation.

Periodically the discernment process repeats itself and new covenant groups are formed

and ministry support teams developed.

As of the end of 1998, the Diocese of Northern Michigan has thirteen

congregations served by mutual ministry teams. Approximately one hundred and thirty

persons are serving in mutual ministry roles.

Partners in Ministry, Nebraska Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Originated in 1993, the Partners in Ministry Program was developed to meet

ministry staffing needs within the rural geography of Nebraska. The geography is

23
expansive and contains numerous small congregations, some of which lack accessibility

to pastoral services for a number of demographic, economic, and geographic reasons. A

key issue for the Synod is attracting clergy to serve in what are perceived to be isolated

settings. One illustration of impact of a clergy shortage is that west of Kearney, Nebraska

(near the center of the state), there is not one resident retired Lutheran pastor available for

occasional services.

The lack of available clergy, then, deeply influenced an original vision of the

program to prepare and support persons to augment the ministry of the local

congregation. However, the role and practice of the program has grown to exceed the

original vision. As one of our informants noted, there are two distinct needs being met:

One is to augment the ministry of the pastor or local congregation. The other is to

provide interim ministry and, in some cases, to provide full time pastoral support for a

congregation. In the terminology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, “the

program serves to authorize and legitimate synodically authorized ministries.” The

program draws its lay participants from within the memberships of congregations.

The entry into PMA study is by petition of an applicant that is endorsed by a local

church council and pastor. The key factor in discerning a person’ s readiness for study is

that the person demonstrates spiritual maturity and leadership skills. Upon approval, the

applicant begins a three-year course of study that involves six required core courses and

three pre-approved electives. The courses generally are carried out in regional cell
“These are side by side ministries -- not hierarchical. This
model empowers all of the laity, not just those who are taking groups. The student works with a
the course. Laypersons see the ministry gifts in others and
they are empowered to recognize their own gifts. Also,
pastors are changed. They see the laity’s gifts in new ways.” supervisor who is an individual
Gretchen Ritola
assigned by the bishop to oversee

24
a students or graduates course of study and ministry. Second, there is a facilitator of the

cell group who organizes group sessions and helps the student process course materials

such as the SELECT video courses and lectures prepared by the Division for Ministry,

E.L.C.A.. Retreats, also, are locations for faculty from Lutheran seminaries to support

the course process. Finally, a student selects a mentor who is an individual in ministry

who serves as a sounding board and support person for the student. Upon completing the

course of study and being appropriately interviewed by synod officials, the bishop

certifies the individual to engage in ministry with the requirement that twelve contact

hours per year of continuing education be completed to retain certification.

Upon completion of the certification, the person is eligible to be assigned by the

bishop to a ministry, which may include service in part or full time roles. Currently

approximately 17 persons are serving in ministries that range from “side-by-side” service

with a pastor, to social justice ministry, to serving as a pastor or several pastors in a team,

and to other innovations the program seems to have spawned.

SCOPE: Southern Conference, United Church of Christ

The Southern Conference Ordination Preparation Education program was started

in 1989 and currently has fourteen students enrolled. By intent, the program is not

oriented toward preparing lay ministers. The purpose of the program is to provide a

“The program accommodates and nourishes formal educational supplement to the

the commitments of those called and called
out to ministry. In the black community the
sense of call precedes everything else. That theological education preparation for persons
becomes the driving force. The response
becomes ‘I’ll do whatever is need to fulfill this
call.’ SCOPE becomes part of that validation seeking ordination in the United Church of
process of their ministry.”
Raymond Hargrove, Christ. At its founding, the program was
Southern Conference, U.C.C.

envisioned to be temporary. Documents outlining the program claim that it is not a

25
degree program, that there will be a diminishing need for the program, and that the

preferred route to ordination will continue to be the M.Div. degree.

Eligibility for the program is that the applicant be a member of a U.C.C. church

and serving in a pastoral role within it; have a high school diploma or its equivalent; be at

least 30 years of age; and be approved by the Church and Ministry Commission of the

Association. The curriculum for the program involves these components: an

individualized learning contract, the utilization of academic courses taken independently

at a college or university, and a required bibliography to be read. The independently

designed course of study for each student is structured in four units, each requiring 125

contact hours in course work and 100 hours in supervised ministry practice. Unit 1

addresses the practice of Ministry in the U.C.C.; Unit 2 focuses on communication skills

in the practice of ministry; Unit 3 is advanced study in the Holy Scriptures; and Unit 4 is

advanced study in history and theology of the church. The student has a maximum of

seven years to complete the course of study.

In the original formation of SCOPE courses could be taken in a cohort group at

Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Certain impracticalities of

that arrangement led to other institutional options. Shaw University has become the

academic site where most students complete their academic courses. Shaw has an

associate arts degree in theology and cooperates with SCOPE in providing coursework in

U.C.C. history and polity. As well, at Shaw most students are bi-vocational, as are the

SCOPE students.

26
 Program Dimensions

The variety of denomination judicatory theological study programs may be

differentiated in a number of ways: their number, their diversity, their founding

motivation, and their relationship to graduate theological education. In the following

descriptive sections, we trust that brevity, which is necessary, will not detract from what

we believe are some common themes that articulate essential characteristics of the

programs.

Number of Programs

While our most intensive study of denominationally based alternative theological

education programs was of the seven sites, the most significant and surprising discovery

for us has been the number and ubiquity of these programs. Within the denominations

that we surveyed there are programs across the country aimed at meeting the leadership

needs of small churches, rural and urban. Our initial mailing identified 158 different

programs in the six denominations serving as the focus for this study. From our query of

these, we received 104 completed responses, some of which noted more than one

program entity. From these responses we identified the following listing of programs:

fifteen were United Church of Christ, thirty-five were Episcopal, ten were United

Methodist, nine were Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, thirty-one were

Presbyterian Church (USA), two were United Church of Canada, and two were from

ecumenical programs. From additional queries, we identified eight Disciples of Christ

programs and received information about American Baptist efforts in judicatory and

seminary based programs. Included in the Disciples references was the Missouri School

27
of Religion which has had both degree and non-degree programmatic emphases as its

mission has been defined and redefined through the years.

Additional references were added at the two major project consultations. Except

for the United Methodist Course of Study programs, which have been in existence for

over a hundred years, we did not include seminary based alternative education programs

or tracks. Examples of these would be the alternative route to ministry in the Evangelical

Lutheran Church in America or the Indian Ministries Study Program at United

Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. We continue to add to the list through referrals

gained at the consultations and through correspondence.

While some of those programs have existed for a long time, most of them have

come into existence in the past fifteen years. Sixty-one of the programs responding to the

initial survey were founded after 1990.

Diversity of Programs

We find that theological education among these denominations is much broader

and more diverse than is usually assumed in current conversations about its nature and

forms. For the most part these discussions presume theological education for authorized

ministries in the church to be restricted to the graduate studies of seminaries and divinity

schools; i.e., particularly M.Div. programs accredited by the Association of Theological

Schools. We find that theological education takes institutional form in multiple ways

within these denominations and leads to multiple legitimated leadership roles. Even

those who have responsibility for these programs, for the most part, do not realize the

extent of the phenomenon. Because these alternatives in theological education tend to be

developed and sponsored by local or regional judicatories, wider awareness of the scope

28
and variety of approaches is limited not only among denominations but within

denominations. This limitation, the exclusion from wider theological discussion, and a

general resistance on the part of some clergy to recognize the legitimacy of the programs,

generate a general sense of programs being alone and somewhat marginalized in their

mission. Raising awareness of each other among a few of these companion programs has

been one outcome of our research.

Motivation for Program Founding

A number of factors influence the formation of denominational judicatory-based

theological study programs. First, such programs emerge from the needs for ecclesially

relevant and legitimated leadership within the churches. As such, they have a distinct

“At first it (the founding of a mutual ministry denominational identity based on the ways
program) is because of remoteness and
economic issues —in some cases it is an act of in which leadership is raised up and
desperation. But within that context people
beginning to become aware of the possibilities
of a new understanding of church” defined within particular contexts. At the
Rayford Ray, Missioner, Diocese of Northern
Michigan
same time, innovative thinking in

ecclesiology, theology, and the practice of ministry inform the shape a program takes.

For example, the ordination of local priests in the Episcopal Church is an innovation in

practice responsive, to a large extent, to small congregations. Yet this ordination is

rooted in a quite firm ecclesiological conviction regarding the sacramental nature of the

church. Within the same tradition, other models of ministry are supported through

alternative theological education programs. Such is the case in the efforts of the Diocese

of Oklahoma through its Deacon Formation Program to recover the role of deacon as

servant minister in the world. In Lutheran contexts supporting a full Word and Sacrament

ministry is often the articulated as a motivating assumption within the development of a

29
Parish Ministry Associate program. Such programming has led to various models of team

ministry besides models of the singular pastor. Presbyterians note the significance of

church order that is supported through their Commissioned Lay Pastor programs.

Training as a CLP draws upon already ordained elders and enhances their leadership

capacities not only in the local congregation but also in the presbytery. In the case of the

United Church of Christ with polity roots in the free church tradition, it is vital to have

leadership oriented to its singular and diverse theological and polity traditions. Thus, the

role of pastor as a practicing theologian is important. For United Methodists the Course

of Study complements a denominational strategy that allows, as much as possible, local

pastors to serve a vast array of smaller and ethnic congregations.

A second and related factor is that the alternative education programs appear to be

directed to the empowerment of laity. In some cases, the empowerment is that of

identifying and developing a cadre of lay leaders within denominational bodies:

conferences, presbyteries, synods, and dioceses. In other cases, the leadership already is

in place and the desire to provide training to empower such leadership becomes the

motivating rationale. A preponderance of the respondents we interviewed confirmed how

the programs provided education and formation that empowered both individual persons

and congregations. The significant point is that we hear people describe innovations in

ecclesial practice underway in these denominations and congregations. These

innovations often include a reconfiguration of the ways the distinctions between laity and

clergy are understood and practiced and the ways church order functions.

A third factor includes a range of contextual factors such as small congregation

size, financial viability, sparse population, geographic location, and historical or cultural

30
identity. The need to provide leadership where employing or calling seminary-trained

personnel is impractical becomes the overriding motivation behind most of these

“In South Dakota, we are a sparsely populated conference and programs. On the other hand,
state. We have around 100 churches. One third have around 50
members. Increasingly it is difficult to find ordained clergy to there are congregations that have
serve those churches. In the foreseeable future, it will not get
better. We are in need of pastors. It (the lay pastor program) puts
a little less stress on the system of finding ordained clergy to serve been small in number for years,
these churches.”
Gene Miller, Conference Minister, South Dakota Conference,
U.C.C. have had a history of lay pastors,

and desire to continue that pastoral model. These contextual variables do influence the

style of leadership a congregation is able to employ, and they shape how seminary trained

clergy seeking full time positions select, by whatever discernment process, to settle in

particular locations and communities of ministry.

A final factor is the belief expressed by a number of key founders of the programs

that there is a value in a type of theological study for ministry that is located near or in

proximity to the communities of faith to be served. This is not a general rule. But

whether the issue is with aboriginal peoples or with individuals who choose to remain

tied to their home communities or regions, a common thread of discourse among

respondents was the close connection between the person preparing for a ministry and the

communities calling that person to service.

Governance and Funding

A preponderance of the programs is governed by the judicatory either through an

established judicatory committee or subcommittee or board of directors accountable to

that judicatory. Often the composition of the governing boards reflected a diversity of

constituents with a stake in the program. There are exceptions. In the case of the United

Methodist Course of Study, the accountability is a partnership between the Board of

31
Higher Education and Ministry of the national church and the seminary or center that

conducts the program. Yet within local programs, efforts are made to increase advisory

“The English and Spanish schools have the same courses input by students, denominational
in common but not the same bibliography. Some of the
Hispanic program texts deal with theologies of the representatives, and other
marginalized. The Spanish language faculty is drawn from
around the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico…. The
Hispanic program is funded through a wide variety of interested parties. Most programs
church-wide sources.” Roy Barton, Perkins COS
have a student role either in membership on the official board or committee or in some

other group designed to give input to the program.

Funding of the programs generally comes from the budget of the judicatory

sponsoring the program. Various funding models are employed. The most usual

approach is to operate a program from limited judicatory funds with added support from

student fees. Other models are variations on this theme. One U.C.C. Conference utilizes

trust or endowment funds from the sale of a college to support their program. The United

Methodist Board of Higher Education grants funds to Course of Study programs. The

Diocese of Northern Michigan has endowment monies to support their missioners that

work with congregations. Still, “Pathways to service has been called a modern train but
with no fuel, or dollars to move it. It is vastly under
funded.”
those programs levy fees to cover Louis Uzueta, Episcopal Diocese of Alaska

various costs. Other funding innovations develop, such as in the Lay Ministry Program of

the New York Conference of the U.C.C. where lay ministers are asked to return 40% of

their speaking fees to help fund the program. Lay ministers with part or full time

churches are not required to pay into the fund. Our findings, though, indicate that the

programs operate with minimal budgets. These budgets provide limited resources for

program innovation, faculty support and development, and appropriate assistance to

students.

32
 Relationship to Seminaries

The relationship between the judicatory-based programs and theological schools

varies. Only in limited cases are there formal links between seminaries and the alterna tive

theological education program. The most obvious connection is between the Board of

Higher Education of the United Methodist Church and the Course of Study programs.

Another example of a similar seminary /judicatory relationship is that of the Alternative

Theological Education Project/Los Angeles which is a partnership between Episcopal and

Lutheran Judicatories and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. The Indian Ministries

Program of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities and the Episcopal Diocese

of Minnesota is another example of cooperation.

Most programs at one time or another utilize seminary faculty either in courses or

in the leadership of retreats. Like many relationships, some program directors sensed that
“Having the seminary connection
is a strength. They (the seminary they were supported in their work by the seminaries.
faculty) love coming here. The
Seminary likes having the Others felt their programs received little support from
connection with the churches.
Good quality classes are taught.
It creates enthusiasm for the lay seminaries. However, our respondents were clear on this
people for ongoing education for
ministry.”
--Peter Sethre, Luther Seminary
point: There is no intent for these programs to be

considered a graduate theological school. In every program site the researchers visited,

people affirmed the need for graduate level “I think more and more that these
programs are going to become
vital. These programs can
theological education. The denominational judicatory become complementary
components of ministry
leadership preparation. They
theological study programs function within some need to be undergirded.
Churches deserve competent
fairly clear boundaries of being centers for ministry leadership even though they are
unable to afford seminary trained
person.”
support and preparation. In this way they are --Raymond Hargrove, Southern
Conference, U.C.C.

33
theological study programs. For those denominational programs without a contractual

relationship with a theological school, it is most likely that the use of seminary faculty,

often contracted with individually, is the most common mode of connection or

cooperation.

Finally, our research uncovered another role for the alternative theological

education program. That role is to provide a support and educational growth base from

which individuals go on to attend a theological school. In almost every program we

visited, note was made of those students who had decided to attend a seminary and, in

most cases, complete M.Div. studies.

Curricula and Pedagogies

As educational projects, the denominational study programs require intentional

curriculum designs, strategies to provide faculty and other educational resources, and

procedures to admit and evaluate students. Our research indicates the powerful role the

contextual factors behind a program’s founding influence the ways curricula are

constituted and resources utilized.

Curricula Origins

With regard to curricula and resources for theological education, these programs tend

to innovate in accordance with local situations and need. Four primary factors influence

the shape that programs and curricula take. As noted above, the initial motivation most

often comes from particular stress points on local congregations and their communities.

Demographic, geographic, and economic issues head the list of these stress factors. Once

a program begins to take form three other influences help shape the program.

34
Denominational ethos and polity contributes both form and constraints: convictions about

sacramental life, attention to church order, reconfiguring pastoral models, developing

leadership cadres all contribute to rationales as to why a curriculum is to be formed as it

is.

Second, denominational guidelines and/or requirements lay out the parameters

within which the program is constructed. The United Methodist Church and the

Presbyterian Church (USA) have the most denominationally defined requirements,

though not necessarily the most requirements. A final influence is the pervading sense
“We are attempting to offer not a watered down seminary
curriculum, but a whole different approach. The typical that, in whatever form it takes,
approach to learning in our culture has been described by
some as ‘front end loading,’ whereby there is intensive theological education in these
education before an individual takes up responsibilities. Then
one is licensed or otherwise credentialed, and though there is
always hope for continuing education, the norm is that one is denominational judicatory
considered an ‘expert….Our approach is not front-end
loading, but life long learning. We are hoping to transform
congregations into learning communities…. Thus the program programs must be responsive to
is not intended to be an extensive, all inclusive training
program, but almost an orientation to the lifelong task of the encyclopaedia of areas of
learning.”
Tom Ray, Bishop (retired) Episcopal Diocese of N. Michigan
study normally included in the

curriculum of the theological school. In most instances, the traditional topics of seminary

education (scripture and historical studies, and systematic and practical theology)

undergird, in one way or another, the study contents of the programs.

Curricular Approaches

It probably is not possible, nor wise, to categorize the programs into types since

there is such diversity. Programs will be inclined toward a model or method that is

consistent with their own theological or ecclesiological rationale, but most will also pick

and choose according to what instruments best serve the needs within their particular

context. Given these caveats, our research reveals at least four general curricular

35
approaches used: 1) A defined set of courses, often taken with a cohort of participants

(This is the general model described earlier for the Holston Presbytery program and the

Course of Study of the United Methodist Church); 2) A facilitated process that utilizes

retreats, workshops, or small group processes: and requires supervised or mentored

independent study following specific guidelines (This is the model generally applied in

the Parish Ministry Associates program of the Nebraska Synod of the E.L.C.A. and the

Lay Ministry Program of the New York Conference of the U.C.C.): 3) A process of

study using a set of requirements that allows participants to function independently,

selecting courses at colleges, seminaries, and graduate schools (This model is used in the

SCOPE program of the Southern Conference of the U.C.C.); And, 4) a study and

formation process based in a local congregation involving a cohort of members called by

that congregation to its ministries (This is modeled in the Mutual Baptismal Ministry

Program of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan). Grounding all approaches is

the assumption that the educational outcome connects with some process instituted by a

denomination that leads to recognition, certification, commissioning, or ordination.

Curricular Design and Faculty Resources

We often heard this statement or something similar: “We are flying the plane

while we are building it.” Frequently, the original rationale for a program is superceded

by creative thinking in ecclesiology, theology, and the practice of ministry because of the

particular “flight path” of that program. As noted above, programs tend to innovate as

they encounter the needs and problems of their local communities. Subjects of study,

however, are apt to conform to typical seminary patterns.

36
 Programs select their own faculty except in those cases where students take

courses at an academic institution. Our respondents note that programs depend on

accessible faculty, that is, local pastors, some with Ph.D’s; area college religion

department professors; and individuals from a variety of educational and resource

programs. Course delivery is inclined to be traditional, using lectures, readings, video

“They are trying to emphasize a collegial model of resources, workshops, and small
learning.”
Bruce Ford, Holston Presbytery
group discussions. These formats,
“The teaching staff and students share in expertise. The
session form is a more intimate setting. People come to however, seem to be more closely
the (DJSRC) Center to see if it is a healing place. Things
people face in their communities find support in the circle.”
Melody McKellar, DJRSC related to ecclesial practice than is
“We use the term ‘synagogy’ rather than ’pedagogy’ to
describe the learning style. Instead of having a single the case in a typical graduate school
teacher or expert who lecturers to the group, the
expectation is that everyone who comes is a teacher and a classroom. We believe that this is
learner.”
Bishop James Kelsey, Diocese of Northern Michigan
an outcome of the fact that program
“The sharp distinction between becoming more educated
lay persons and becoming a minister is really a continuum.”
Raymond Whitehead, School of Theology, University of designs, students, and most faculty
Winnipeg
remain contextually proximate to

their faith communities.

From what we have seen, there is minimal use of distance learning technologies.

This is not because of a lack of interest but because of a lack of availability, accessibility,

and relevant resources. There is some difference of opinion about what sort of distance

learning resources would be helpful. Some say that any kind of Internet generated

content in the typical areas of theological inquiry would be helpful. Others say they are

not interested in relying alone on “canned” content that does not take into account the

context of their ministry concerns. They would welcome resources that allowed for and

indeed encouraged more inductive use of the material.

37
 Admissions and Standards

Standards for admission to programs are as diverse as there are programs of study.

Most programs admit on the basis of call to ministry, prior service and commitment to the

church, and gifts for ministry rather than on academic credentials. The exception would

be the requirements to engage in the UMC Course of Study. However, a preponderance

of persons of the questionnaire surveys had come into an alternative program through

some form of particularized or communal learning or formation event in their

congregation that pressed them into what they perceived to be a need for deeper more

formal study.

Typically, there are no commonly held standards among the programs that would

define any shared characteristics. Implicit standards may exist in the expectations of

clergy who are trained in seminaries accredited by the Association of Theological

Schools. In effect, criteria for study and for the programs that shape the study curricula

tend to be more outcomes-based, with review and renewal of authorization for ministry

leadership being closely linked to performance and ecclesial need

Relation to Church Structures and Clergy

The denominational study programs exist in the context of the institutional

bounds and bonds of ongoing organizational, leadership, and educational systems. Our

research attempted to examine the interaction within those systems of multiple

approaches for preparing and legitimating various forms of ministry.

38
 Church Structures

How these judicatory study programs are perceived within the structures of the

denominations depends to a large extent on their visibility and on the roles they are

fulfilling in supporting the ministries of the churches. Often the new contextual

variables (demographic, economic, financial) calling for some form of alternative

preparation for and practice of ministry challenge expectations of how the problems

generated by those variables are to be addressed. One story the researchers heard was

that a bishop was supportive of having a meeting for inquirers into a lay ministry study

program. The bishop suggested that he felt few would be at the meeting. In fact, fifty

people showed up. Integrating these programs into denominational structures

generates differing responses. As one former program director noted, the judicatory

theological education program had to “make its claim on the conference program.”

This involved important discussions of budget and connections with that

denomination’s committee on ministry. In the case of the Episcopal Diocese of

Michigan, the rules for voting in the diocesan convention were changed to expand the

voting options of congregations served by ministry support teams.

Finally, the judicatory programs influence employment patterns. First, most

programs lead to some form of local licensing or commissioning. In some cases, a

type of ordination, general or specific, is authorized. Most of the ministries are to serve

or to provide support for traditional venues for ministry, namely the local

congregation. While these services include some sort of full or part time pastoral

ministry, most graduates of programs serve on ministry teams or engage in part time

supply preaching. Again, this is denominationally specific, as the United Methodist

39
 case shows. A further matter is the diversity of compensation packages for these new

ministries. These range from completely voluntary, nonstipendiary models to

employment packages that include salaries and various forms of or lack of benefits.

Relation to Clergy

Needless to say, denominational polities are different. This difference allows for

theological and institutional rationales for the envisioning the role and place of persons

“This is a larger issue for the church: the way that educated in denominational judicatory
power is used and distributed. It really does have
to do with who is in charge, who gets the reward,
who has status. These programs challenge the study programs. Each denomination has
church to reflect on how it used, abuses, and
distributes power.”
its own debates over legitimating the
Barry Cotter, Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi

ministries whether by recognizing,

commissioning, licensing, or ordaining; determining what roles persons prepared in these

programs are to fill; and defining the particular nomenclature for that role. One would

not be surprised to find resistance to the alternative theological education programs, not

as programs, but as institutionalized locations or sources to legitimate preparation for

some form of ministry. Most interviews with our informants told of that suspicion

mainly generated by ordained clergy. Such criticism was directed to the type and depth

of study offered in the judicatory programs. Some critics claim that such study is

substandard. Other critics expressed a sense of nervousness and hostility regarding

graduates of the programs taking jobs normally held by clergy. Finally, some ordained

pastors felt the programs increased their time demands to mentor and supervise students

and others engaged in the denominational judicatory study programs or serving in

ministry positions.

40
 On the other hand, there are indicators of support given to the programs and their

graduates. One informant noted that as a small church rural pastor he already felt on the

margins. He found supported by having lay colleagues in ministry. Other areas of

positive commentary rest in the observations that new models of team ministry are being

formed using clusters of persons, ordained, licensed, recognized, or authorized, to

revitalize clusters of congregations. In most cases, when a Bishop or denominational

official came on board, so to speak, other clergy joined in support.

Program Participants

Students

We gathered information about students through three sources: 1) telephone interviews

with students, program directors, faculty, and program founders; 2) interviews with

students and graduates during our site visits; and 3) a mail survey of advanced students

and graduates. In our telephone interviews we asked interviewees to describe typical

students in their program. The excerpts from those interviews in the tables on pages 42-

43 paint a general picture of the typical student in a judicatory-based theological

education program. The first thing one might notice in those tables is how often

respondents begin their descriptions with the assertion that there are no typical students.

In a sense this is true, for each program does involve people of all ages, men and women

from many different backgrounds. Yet, as one looks more closely at all of the responses

together there are some patterns that emerge.

For example, while people of all adult ages are represented in these programs, it

soon becomes clear that the preponderance of students are older (40’s-70’s) with most

41
 TYPICAL STUDENTS
(Source: Telephone Interviews)

Diversity of students:
ú No typical students. ú Anybody - no educational requirements
ú Such a variety. ú All different types of people with different types of
ú Students are all over the map. backgrounds.
ú There are people in every category. ú Different backgrounds. Different denominational
ú Cross-section of the churches in our Assn. backgrounds.
ú Don't fit any profile. ú Wide spectrum.
Age:
ú Young - old. ú Most people are in their 40's.
ú 30-60's age range. ú Most mid-life. Some late 20s - early 30's. Most 40-65 age
ú A lot of women in the 50-60's age range. Age range range.
40-60's generally. ú We have young people. We have elderly people. Like any
ú Late 30's or older. other program - cross section of where we are drawing
ú When I first started I felt young - but in the last few from.
years - there are younger people in the p rogram. ú Most middle aged.
ú Maybe a third are older and retired. ú Wide age range. Some are retired.
ú Between 40-60. ú Age 35-50.
ú All 45 or older. ú Mid 20's - 40's.
ú Age range typically 40-55. ú Range from really young to really old. Most of them in
ú Tend to be older and female. their 40's- 50's. Young parents to a woman who is in her
ú In the past it has been males of about age 45-65. 80's.
ú 20's - 70's age range. ú 35-60 age range. Mid 40's more common.
ú 17-75 age range. ú Age range from 35 +.
ú Age range - 30-60's Average age - 40's. ú Average age is 50.
ú Few under age thirty. ú Age - 32-55.
ú Age range - 30-75. ú Age range = 20-70's.
ú Age 40 +. ú Bulk would be middle aged.
ú Most are older – 40’s-60's. ú Usually mid-life or older and , with some exceptions .. Of
ú Typically 40+ years old and up. these a number are widowed. People in last ten years of
ú Age range typically middle aged - retired their work life.
ú Different ages. ú Median age around 40.
ú The age of the group is representative of the church. ú Age ranges from post-college to retired people.
Late 30's +.
Gender:
ú Equal gender-wise. ú Probably 2/3 male 1/3 female.
ú 60/40 women to men. ú Gender-wise 11 are women, 13 men.
ú Men and women. At this stage - more women. ú Currently we have 10 people. Seven women and three
ú Most are women: 60-65%. men.
ú Mostly men, some women. ú Gender-wise more women than men, but it fluctuates.
ú Generally female. In my parish all 7 are women and all ú 2/3 women, 1/3 men.
work outside the home except for one. ú In the beginning 60/40 men to women. Now mainly
ú 80/20 male to female ratio. women 80/20.
ú Three women currently in program. ú Almost equal number of men/women.
ú Half-and-half male/female. ú Balance between male/female.
ú Pretty equally divided men and women. ú Gender 50/50.
ú Gender 1/2 and 1/2. ú Gender-wise there are a little more women than men.
ú A balance of men and women. ú There are maybe 10% female.
ú Current class just completed. 12 students, 3 female 9 ú Gender wise - CLP's 3 women/2 men, Lay supply 3
male. women/ 3 men.
ú Fair gender mix. ú More women than men.
ú Pretty even gender-wise. ú They are evenly divided male/female.
ú Balanced gender-wise. ú Mixed gender wise.
ú Male and female. ú Mixed gender wise. . On the younger side it is women, on
ú Fairly equal gender-wise. the older side it is men.
ú We are a little unbalanced gender-wise. There are more ú A few more women than men.
females than males.

42
 Work Status:
ú Many students are bi-vocational/some retired.
ú Farmers, housewives, lawyers, city engineers.
ú Either working or retired.
ú Lawyers/farmers/blue collar. workers/teachers/home
makers
ú Most are working at secular jobs. Some are retired.
ú Most have families and employment.
ú Retired people, businesswomen, and men from other
areas.
ú There are a number of women who do not work outside
of the home. Lawyer/real estate agent/railroad
worker/lost his job/variety of backgrounds.
ú The majority of the people are working.
ú Most are still working full time jobs.
Doctor/attorney/accountants/ business people.
ú Over 40 and working at another job or retired.
ú Approximately 40% retired and 60% currently
employed.
ú Wide range of occupations. Farmer/cleaner/retired
professor/agricultural engineer. In my cell group – all
males.
ú Mostly bi-vocational.
ú Professional/non-professional.
ú Some are busy in trade or profession. Only a
sprinkling of retirees.
ú One student is a homemaker/two are in their own
businesses/two full time pastors/restaurant
operator/computer
programmer/accountant/farmer/retiree from John Deere
- computer programmer - serving as a full time
associate minister/ school teacher/ retired math teacher
Commitment to Church:
ú Committed people. Sacrifice to go through this
program. Few enter a new community to do ministry.
Many stay and work in their own churches. Call is
very important. Self-motivation is important.
ú Most come from medium to small churches.
ú All have had a tremendous love for the church.
ú Mostly lay people committed to Jesus Christ. They
want to serve the Lord.
ú Small church members with a love of the church who
want to lead.
ú Feel a call to do this.
ú All active in their churches.
Prior or Further Education:
ú Educated people
ú Only one or two have had theological education. Most
are not college educated.
ú Do not have an education requirement.
ú Wide range in formal education.
ú A few do not have a college degree.
ú Most have degrees.
Non-European Ethnic or Racial Background
ú One African American who has gone through the
program.
ú Cree majority.
ú Two are African American.
43
- serving a church as a pastor/75 year old female - at 72 she
was called to ministry. 2/3's of the people are professional
in their basic occupation.
ú Second career. Realize that they will not get paid much.
Either settled in their finances or see an opportunity to do
something that they had not been able to do before.
ú Students are bankers/police officers/they run the full gamut.
ú Most of them will be bi-vocational.
ú Primarily established with family/careers.
ú Primarily bi-vocational.
ú The group that I am in: one is a farmer/one is a part time
farmer - US Govt. worker/one is a nursing home
administrator who is retired/one is the head of a community
college who is close to retirement and I am a salesman.
ú 2/3 are working and 1/3 retired.
ú In addition to a full time job for most, although several are
retired.
ú Most younger people are working.
ú One is a retired dentist (52 years old). One is a hair dresser
(35). One is a policeman (32). Teacher (52). College
professor (40), Dentist hygienist (45). Primarily bi-
vocational.
ú Some working.
ú Quite a few of them are working.
ú Everyone had a full time job/either paid or unpaid.
ú All are either employed or early retired.
ú Not retired/all keep full time jobs. Have a
pediatrician/CPA/nurse/teachers/accountant/ lay preachers -
teachers/business owner/farmer/trucker.
ú Most have career while in the program. Most have career
and serve the church at the same time.
ú Most have sensed a definite nudge to go into ministry.
ú Most of the people certified are active in their home
churches.
ú People faithful in the church for years, people who sense
"they can do it."
ú They have been active church people for a long time.
ú People who love the vision of servanthood. Seeking
people, people who can live with ambiguity. Not people
looking for a credential. Already see themselves in ministry
- want to make it life long.
ú Not your average people. Very dedicated/focused/educated
people.
ú Some of the people have had no higher education at all.
ú Four or five of us do not have a degree. One has gone off to
seminary.
ú Some people are in this program as a precursor to
seminary.
ú Not ready to pull up and go to seminary.
ú In the first class - 70 % not born in the US.
ú Target Population was indigenous people. Diocese aspires
to get more of the native people involved.
falling in the 55-65 year range. While we had no means for obtaining the individual ages

of all current students, the results from our survey of advanced students and graduates

corroborates this conclusion. We could presume that the survey respondents would fall

in a slightly higher age range, having completed all or a significant portion of their

program. Survey data does in fact suggest Ages of Survey Respondents

Number of Repondents
this to be the case. There is some 20-29
30
30-39
20
indication in a few of the telephone 40-49
10
50-59
interviews that some programs are 0
1 60-69

attracting a younger people, but by and N=67 70-Older

large in our site visits, we found most students to be older, some retired from other

careers.

With a few exceptions, men and women make-up the student population of the

programs in about equal numbers, though it would appear that overall there are more

women than men in the programs. There were some suggestions from respondents that

the numbers of women have been increasing and that the attrition rate for men is higher.

This latter observation may explain

Gender of Survey Respondents
the significantly higher number of

women in our survey of advanced 38%

Men
students and graduates. Our Women
62%

observations suggest that on the N=67

whole the average age of men students is older than that of women students but we have

no substantive data to demonstrate this.

44
 Students come from a great variety of vocational and occupational backgrounds.

As one respondent observes, “they run the whole gamut:” Farmers, housewives, lawyers,

engineers, industrial workers, teachers, business people, salespeople, federal employees,

Work Patterns of Respondents Work Patterns of Respondents

Engaged in Ministries Engaged in Ministries
20
15 N=67
21% Other Work or
10
5
Retired
0 No Other Work
1 79%
Full Time Part Time Homemaker N=67
Retired No Other Work

doctors, nurses, administrators, police officers, dentists, et. al. Many are retired, but many

are fully employed while going to school. Most who are not retired will continue to work

in their “regular” jobs after completing their program of study and being authorized for

particular ministries in the church.

All of these folk with such varied backgrounds have one thing in common; they

are recognized leaders in their local churches and will most likely remain as ministry

leaders in their local churches and judicatories. One consistent theme these students and

graduates demonstrate is a high level of commitment to their churches and the Church’s
° I always felt called to ministry. I never
followed that call. I heard about this ministries. In interviews and
program from my pastor and saw it as an
opportunity to answer the call.
° In 1973 I felt a strong call to seminary.
conversations, whether participants
The courses I wanted led to a M.Div.,
which at that time was not a possibility for were speaking of the typical student
me and I wasn't sure how I felt about the
ordination of women. By the time I sorted
things out. . . . I could not justify the in their program or reflecting on
expense of seminary and lost wages to
accept a non-stipendiary position. The 1/4
million dollars could feed a lot of hungry
their own motivations, they referred
people.
° Was teaching Adult Sunday school. Felt inadequate. to seeing a need in the church for
Heard about the program - thought it might help my
feeling of inadequacy. About 1/2 through 3-year
program I felt God's call to something other than trained leadership and better
teaching adult Sunday school. Became a licensed
minister 1 1/2 years after completion of training. preparation for themselves to do

45
their ministries. One program director summarizes what we found to be the general

spirit: “We have focused our program on the servanthood motive. People really see it as

servanthood. They are ready to serve where ever they are needed.” Students and

graduates often speak of an irresistible sense of calling to the ministries they are engaged

in, saying that the judicatory-based education program gave them the opportunity to

respond to that call.

Many students come to a judicatory-based theological education program through

some form of particularized or communal learning or formation event in their

congregation or local community. Several respondents mentioned “Walk to Emmaus”,

Prior Education 1
N=67 for example, as the stimulus for their
60% 42% involvement. Another came through a
40% 27%
20% 13% 10% 7%
religious conversion experienced at a
0%
Grad Study College
1 Deg Some College
No College Incomp.HS Marriage Encounter event. These prior

formational events thus become feeders for judicatory study programs.

When it comes to prior education this seems to be the area where there is little in

common across the spectrum of possibilities.

Prior Education 2
As noted earlier these programs tend to admit
49%
on the basis of call and demonstrated ministry 51%

leadership rather than according to academic Some College &/or Grad No College

credentials. It is somewhat amazing that N=67

these programs work so well across such a range of academic backgrounds. Nowhere did

we hear program leadership lamenting a poor quality of students. It is our guess that

proven leadership ability, a universal desire to learn, and deep commitment to the

46
ministries of servanthood account for the ability of these programs to hold together such

divergent populations.

Eighty-five percent of graduates respond ing to the questionnaire say they were

Ministry Upon Graduation moderately to very involved in their local

churches prior to beginning their course of study.

34% 40%

N=67 Seventy two percent have remained active

26%
ministry leaders in their home church after
Full-time Part-time Supply

completing the program. Upon graduation most

students serve in part-time or supply positions.

One surprising finding was the relatively few people in the programs we surveyed

who were of other than Euro-American descent. There were certainly exceptions. The

SCOPE program in the Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ, the ATELA

program in Los Angeles and the Perkins Course of Study are among those programs

serving significant numbers of people of color. We really expected to discover the

denominations surveyed to be more aggressive in launching programs to serve these

constituencies. At our October,1999 consultation Bishop Mark McDonald of Alaska

raised the challenge that even when programs are initiated to serve non-Euro-Americans

the dominant culture tends to co-opt them.

Congregations

While information about students provides us with some sense of why these

programs exist and who their audience is, it is in the life and faith of congregations that

one begins to understand what is at stake here. We visited several congregations served

47
by graduates or students in judicatory-based education programs. The following

congregational profiles are representative of a much larger picture. In some ways they

portray the best of outcomes, models for arguing the positive needs for and results of

judicatory-based programs. Our study indicates, however, that these are not isolated

success stories but are truly representative of the larger picture, demonstrating the

important role that non-graduate study programs play in the provision of appropriate and

competent leadership for churches and communities.

Morganville United Church of Christ, Morganville, New York

The Morganville United Church of Christ is in the community of Morganville in

Stafford, New York. Stafford is a town of 2600 people located in Genesee County in the

northwestern part of New York State, situated between Rochester and Buffalo. Batavia,

about six miles west of Stafford, is the county hub and, with a population of 16,000, the

largest city in the county. According to U. S. Census reports, of the sixty thousand

residents in Genesee County 96 % are of Euro-American origin and two-thirds of these

folk live in rural areas of the county. At one time Massey-Harris and Sylvania were

located in the county and provided significant employment opportunities for the area.

The county has had some sU.C.C.ess in replacing these industries with smaller industries,

including the conversion of the Massey-Harris facility in Batavia into a small industry

incubator. Agriculture is the primary industry in Genesee, which is considered to be one

of the richest truck farming regions in the country and is the largest red beet producing

area in the world. Dairy farming is also an important component of the economy. A

nearby prison employs a number of local people. Many area people work in Buffalo or

48
Rochester and this contributes to a relatively stable economy. Agricultural zoning,

however, restricts the building of bedroom communities and, consequently, limits the

potential for population growth.

“Most of the churches in the area are small. Many have part- Public institutions include
time ministries…. In most of these towns each house had a
business, an ‘at home business.’ Now we have become
bedroom communities in villages. Otherwise, the area is a state school for persons with
primarily agricultural. Many work in Batavia, others in
Rochester. It is a highly churched area, although the older disabilities, a state community
people tend to be the ones who maintain the churches.
Their ministries tend to ebb and flow depending on pastoral
leadership.” college, and two high schools.
Question: What were the worries of 30 years ago?
“We were facing extensive building maintenance. The
children were leaving, but what could we do?” Catholic and public hospitals in
(Interview with Florence Gilbert, local historian)
Batavia have merged and the

former is being converted into a rehabilitation center. Area religious institutions include

a Jewish temple, Baptist, Missionary Alliance, United Methodist, Presbyterian,

Episcopal, United Church of Christ, and Catholic churches. Local historian Florence

Gilbert says that many of the churches in the area struggle to survive: “Building

maintenance has been a major issue. Parsonages often seem a ‘stone around your neck.’”

Nevertheless, “There has been a resistance to merging the churches. They have found

other means.” Our local guide Jean Smith, a lay person at Morganville U.C.C., adds,

“Larger churches are losing members. Our church has remained stable.”

Today, Morganville is considered to be part of Stafford, but in the past it was a

thriving little village in its own right. In the words of retired Stafford City Historian,

Grace Woodruff, “Morganville was a busy little hub. There was a gristmill, a pottery

shop, a blacksmith, a wagon shop, two stores, a hotel, a corn planter manufacturer, a rag

carpet factory, a weaver, and a sawmill.” Nothing of this former activity remains though

the Call Inn is still maintained as a community meeting place. Jean Smith recalls that

49
Morganville was on the Underground Railroad and that the Call Inn may have been a

station. Other stories about how the town got its name [in a conflict between Masons and

anti-Masons] and of how Devil’s Rock came to be called such [competition between two

local communities] make us aware that a sense of history and of historical place runs

deep in these communities.

The Morganville United Church of Christ has its origins in the organization of the

First Christian Society of Stafford on October 20, 1817. In 1833 dissension in the

congregation led to a group

withdrawing and moving to

Morganville where they built the

current building in 1835. In 1860

Morganville Christian Church in 1906
they associated with the Western

Association of the New York Christian Conference, thus their current affiliation with the

United Church of Christ. Part-time pastoral leadership has been the norm for the church

with their current pastor Tom Bur ns, a graduate of the New York judicatory-based

program, being their first resident pastor. Grace Woodruff comments: “Morganville

changed ministers frequently. Tom Burns has been here longer than anyone. In the 30’s,

40’s, and 50’s we had ministers from Colgate/Rochester. Then Dr. Willis, a psychologist

with a practice in Batavia was here for six years. This church has been served by

ministers affiliated with a variety of

denominations.”

Morganville U.C.C. has a current

membership of about eighty-three. Worship

50
attendance averages about 50 people of all ages, double the attendance when Tom Burns

first came to the church. They have recently added younger families who are attracted to

the “family church” style and the non-hierarchical leadership that is apparent even to the

casual observer.

When asked to describe their church with adjectives, members respond with

warm, homey, hard-working, willing, working for the right goals, comical. With the last

descriptive they are ready with numerous humorous stories about their life together.

Then in a more serious vein someone offers: “We are not just spinning our wheels here

trying to get somewhere. The procedure for starting a program is to go to the quarterly

meeting. Voting tries to seek a consensus. We really know one another and respect one

another.”

The parish is circumscribed geographically with little opportunity for growth.

Since there is no U.C.C. in Batavia they draw some members from there. They do not

believe that they can afford a full-time, seminary trained minister and feel liberated from

that expectation. Their pastor also experiences that liberation, freed to serve the

congregation in terms of their need rather than his own. There is no sense of there having

been a “golden age” with decline following and necessitating a part-time ministry. In

fact, if anything members consider this to be the “golden age”—financially stable with

good leadership and growth in accordance with local possibilities.

Throughout our visit we witnessed an authentic keeping of the lay role by the lay

pastor. In worship there was no up- front leader who took a position of physical or

ideological leadership. Tom was not vested. His presentation of a relief opportunity was

non- ideological. At the quarterly meeting all sat around tables and leadership came from

51
within the circle in a very informal manner. It has been very important for Tom to move

into the community. He has in that way become very much a member of the community,

further diminishing identity as an expatriot.

Language, stories, and enthusiasm all denote a high level of lay engagement and

excitement about the church, its leadership, and its role in the community. This is a

ministry tied very much to place—a ministry of caring for this place. Members are fairly

clear about their mission and ministry. The paradigm is that of replenishment and

service—ministries of the duties of the heart, in church and community. The church is

known for its participation and generosity within the larger community. Tom contributes

a regular article to the community newsletter, the Morganville Messenger. The church

holds an annual swiss steak dinner for the town with up to 350 people attending. They

support the local Salvation Army and the Genesee County Ministry of Concern. As Tom

puts it, theirs is a ministry of reaching out to “those who have fallen through the cracks.”

Hence, the local newspaper article cited above, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and

he is at Morganville.” The current Stafford City Historian Martha Heddon, not a member

of Morganville Church, is quick to say, “When we have town doings I make sure the

Morganville Church gets involved.” She adds an assessment of the relative health of the

Morganville congregation: “The U.C.C. is doing better than other churches in the area.

They have children.”

The church also reaches out in ministry on the international scene. Their global

outreach is clearly service oriented, as is their local outreach. Through Tom’s leadership

they have contributed generously to Kosovo relief and other international efforts.

52
 When asked to give their impressions of the lay leadership program, members are

quick to say that this is the most stable period of pastoral leadership they have ever had.

The following breakfast conversation with three Morganville church members is

reflective of general responses from parishioners when asked for their opinion about their

pastor’s leadership.

Jim: I don’t even perceive Tom as a lay minister. He meets my needs. I don’t see him
as other than my minister. Tom has just done a great job. He represents our church. He’s
prepared every Sunday.

Kathy: My feeling is that they [lay ministers] do it from their heart not to make a living.
They really want to take care of people.

Jean: We had really high expectations following our prior minister. [Implication: Tom
has met those expectations].

Jim: Tom says that he gains experience of working with people every day at his Gleason
job.

Kathy: Because we are small and Tom is the lay pastor, we all pull together. Our
relation with each other is more intense.

Jim: When we decide to do something Tom doesn’t worry about [managing] it. We just
get it done. We feel like he is one of us. Two years ago there was an article in the
Batavia newspaper: “Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus and he is at Morganville.” We
try to help people who might fall through the cracks.

Jean: We have a Ladies Aid society that supports local charities. Tom is showing
leadership in the larger picture as well as locally. He is involved as a leader in the lay
ministry program. In preaching Tom relates Scripture to [life events in the community].
He is very good at relating Scriptures to my everyday life.

Jean: One thing about the lay ministry. Go ing way back our pastors have been students
from Rochester Divinity. They were good pastors but there was never enough money to
quite make it. Consequently, they were short-term ministers. I don’t think anyone in the
church wants the church to grow much bigger.

Jim: We’ve grown. We’ve brought in two or three families.

Jean: If you have a problem and go to Tom and he doesn’t have the resources to help he
will be the first to admit it and refer you to help. Tom was obviously highly motivated but
the curriculum of the lay ministry program has to be strong because it has prepared him
well. Tom does his research. He brings in outside resources. He is obviously well-read.
The church cooperates with other churches in the area.

53
 Tom Burns came to Morganville in October 1987. At the time he was a student in
“I’m here to serve them, not the other
the Lay Ministry Program of the New York way around.” Tom Burns

Conference, U.C.C. Tom works for the Gleason Corporation in Rochester, making

machines that cut gears. He began the Lay Ministry Program after attending a Marriage

Encounter event and having a conversion experience. He considers himself to have been

an agnostic until that experience changed his life. During his first year in the Lay

Ministry Program he had been doing some supply preaching when Morganville needed a

short-term interim. He interviewed and was offered the postion. After six months the

church asked him to stay on as their pastor. When the church called him to be their

pastor, he bought a home in Stafford and has been commuting the eighty miles daily ever

since. “When I moved to the area it kind of threw them. They had never had a resident

minister.”

When asked how many hours he works for the church each week, he replies, “It’s

hard to say. I’m on call. . . . I’m here to serve them, not the other way around.” He tries

to work out funerals and weddings so that they fit his work schedule, but if it is necessary

he takes a vacation from his Gleason job to attend to these ministries of the church. He

retires from Gleason Corporation at the end of 1999 and says that he can hardly wait.

“Gleason gets in the way of many things I want to do. I want to do more volunteer work,

and the church could use more Bible study.”

Our exposure to this congregation and its leadership suggests in all respects that

this is a healthy faith community with a clear sense of its mission and strong,

empowering pastoral leadership. It is clearly an example of a church that has been

revitalized by leadership produced through a judicatory-based theological education

54
program. In fact, without that program we surmise that the church would be in desperate

straits at this time in its history, although we don’t want to sell them short! As Tom says,

“They are an independent bunch. . . . They can do it on their own. If I get called into

work on Sunday? Don’t worry. They’ll sing songs or something.” The point is that

without the leadership provided through the Lay Leadership Program, we believe that

they would be struggling to provide pastoral support and clarity of mission.

Holston Presbytery, Upper East Tennesse.

Holston Presbytery, Inc. of the
Presbyterian Church (USA) includes
the churches within the areas of the
following twelve counties in upper
East Tennessee: Carter, Cocke,
Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock,
Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Sullivan,
Unicoi, and Washington plus the Mt.
Hermon Presbyterian Church of Big
Stone Gap, VA which is within the
geographical bounds of Abingdon
Presbytery. We visited churches in
Five churches define the Holston Presbytery:
• FIRST ELIZABETHTON is small but could be a
First Church anywhere.
• MAGILL MEMORIAL in Roan Mountain. There
is a core of people in this church who have lived
there all their lives. It is the main church in the
town of Roan Mountain. The church is growing.
It has had a lay pastor but no longer does. The
lay pastor brought them through a transition as
the church has changed from indigenous
membership to mixed.
• COVE CREEK PRESBYTERIAN is right up the
road from Magill. It is totally indigenous and is
currently served by a Baptist minister.
• GRAYS CHAPEL is a church up a “holler” about
four miles. It has about fifteen members. Two
Commissioned Lay Pastors serve it. It is
Appalachia at its most bare.
• CHUCKEY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH in the
Nolichuckey Valley has been served by a woman
Commissioned Lay Pastor graduate for seven
years. They are reaching out to the Hispanic
community. Nolichuckey Valley on the
Nolichuckey River is one of the most fertile
farming valleys in the country. Vegetable farming
attracts migrant workers. It is southeast of
Greenville, and southwest of Johnson City.
-- Bruce Ford, Associate Executive Presbyter

Johnson City, Greenville, and the Roan Mountain area, all of them with memberships

under one hundred. Grays Chapel, four miles from the town of Roan Mountain has just

fifteen members. The Presbytery is situated amidst breathtaking natural beauty but also

in the most economically depressed area of the state. Average household income in the

55
Presbytery is $35,000 compared to a Tennessee average of $44,000. Median household

income is $26,000,compared to a Tennessee median of $31,000. (Statistics from

Presbytery Survey). There is no dominant economic resource. Occupations are fairly

evenly spread in sales, professional, small industry, farming, and tourism. Many of the

churches and local buildings are constructed of stone, reflecting the fact that the area was

originally settled by Scots-Irish pioneers who made good use of the ready availability of

stones for building material. Environmental issues, education, and the lack of monetary

resources make up the major challenges for the region. Over forty percent of those over

twenty-five years old in Carter and Greene Counties, for example, have not completed

high school. Children in poverty in these counties approach thirty percent of those under

eighteen years old.

Tom Burleson was our guide for a tour of some of the area church buildings. He

is a retired FBI agent who is a graduate of the Commissioned Lay Pastor program of the

Holston Presbytery. Tom is a member of Magill Presbyterian Church in Roan Mountain

and has played a significant role in its revitalization. He organized “The CLP was a very
rewarding experience for
me. The quality of
the Doe River Interfaith Flood Recovery Team as a response to the instruction was first-rate….
Well-meaning folks in
congregations can cause
recent floods in this area. Under his leadership, DRIFT brought the untold damage. That’s
why these CLP programs
churches of the area together to provide relief aid. They built are so important.”
Tom Burleson, CLP

homes, raised money, and organized volunteers from all over the

country who came to help in the effort.

Magill Presbyterian Church was founded in 1937 as a Sunday School by J. L.

Gray, a lay person and Sunday School missionary. The current building was built in

1940 as a part of the home mission board work of the Presbyterian Church. The church

56
has about forty three members and is growing.

Ninety were in attendance on Easter Sunday, 1999.

Two years ago only about twenty were attending

on a given Sunday. The vitality of this

congregation is evident in the renewed condition

of the facility and in the enthusiasm with which Tom shows us the church and its

community.

Gray’s Chapel is about four miles from Magill. It was founded in 1927, also a

product of the Sunday School Movement. On the Sunday prior to our visit Tom preached

here with about thirty- five people present.

The Shenandoah Presbyterian Church in Johnson City, served by another

Commissioned Lay Pastor, is a different situation from these small town and country

churches. The church is surrounded by older homes located in an older suburb of Johnson

City. The congregation is mostly from the local community that is lower middle to upper

middle class. Housing projects form its northern boundary. Religious institutions in the

area include Assembly of God, Baptist and Church of Christ churches; and a Church of

Christ seminary. The Pastor David Light is one of the original graduates of the

Commissioned Lay Pastor Program. He has served two churches and has been here at

Shenandoah for four years.

For most of its history, Shenandoah has been served by retired ministers or by the

campus minister at Eastern Tennessee State University. The church currently has twenty

two members and has never had more than fifty. The current building was built in 1966

after their original building, an old farm house, burned in 1965. Recently the church had

57
been declining, falling as low as eight or nine in attendance. Under David’s leadership

they now have about thirty who attend regularly with as many as fifty attending their

family night suppers.

Tabernacle Presbyterian is an urban African American congregation with about

fifteen members located in Wesley Heights in Greenville, Tennesseee. Victor Price and

Anna Mattox were our guides for a tour of the church community. Victor is the recently

called lay supply pastor of Tabernacle and Anna, a life- long member, is the clerk of
“I have to say one more thing. This church is really good
session. Both Victor and Anna about welcoming. That’s why I’ve stayed. You are
welcomed here and not condemned.” A young woman
who has been a member for four years.
grew up in the community.

Tabernacle is the oldest church in this African American community. Other local

churches include AME, Baptis t, United Methodist, Church of God in Christ, Seventh Day

Adventist, and Full Gospel Mission congregations. Friendship Baptist has about 450

members. Others have less than one hundred. The AME is the second largest with just

under one hundred members and Macedonia UMC is third at about seventy- five

members. Tabernacle was started in 1867 in the basement of First Presbyterian Church.

After a time they paid one hundred dollars for a lot on Rankin and Cutter Streets and built

a building there. When the Austin Tobacco Company moved to town they had to move

the church to its present location to make way for the plant. Austin Company was a

major employer in Greenville until it closed in the 1990’s, leaving a lot of people out of

work.

Church members say that integration brought a loss of the sense of closeness in

this community. Access to the dominant white culture has exposed young people to the

fragmenting affects of that culture. When asked what is most needed in the community,

58
the universal response is “Something for our young people.” One respondent remarks,

“They walk the streets. Go cruising. They are accepted into places where Victor wasn’t

when he was a kid.” Victor confirms this as his key concern: “They need anything to get

their attention. There’s nothing for them to do.”

Ninety-year-old Ms. Lottie Henry, who has lived in the neighborhood most of her

life, laments the loss of a college in the community for African Americans. The college

was founded by the AME in the 19th century. Later it was reduced to a high school and

then the public schools bought the facility. It is clear that the loss of the neigborhood

school is considered to have had a negative impact, but

there is also the opinion that the churches have lost their

central role in public life. Ministers generally have

been key leaders in the community. In Ms. Lottie’s

words: “They stood high! Preachers would walk

through the communities, visit, talk with young people. . . .That isn’t the case anymore.”

Tabernacle Church is a stone-faced concrete block structure built in 1953. The

church was built by the members, who went down to the river and hauled stones to the

site for the construction. Inside, the blocks are exposed except for natural pine wainscot,

ceiling, and chancel. The pulpit is hand-made and centered with a small communion

table in front. The pews are plain benches built by members of the church. They were in

the original building. Many of the pews have the names of people who made them

inscribed on the bottom. When asked what they remember as the most central story or

event in the life of Tabernacle Church, everyone is quick to refer to or give their

recollections of the building of the current structure. In fact the building as visible sign

59
of community seems to hold this congregation together. Families who built it possess a

strong sense of loyalty connected to that experience. Anna Mattox remembers helping to

load stones when she was but four years old.

The church has had one long-term ministry by an ordained pastor who had some

seminary education, but it has been served over the years mostly by lay pastors. The

majority of their pastors have been itinerant ministers who lived outside the community.

They have had a difficult time for many years finding leadership. The two pastors
“I had been following Victor for a long time. I prayed over
this. I had a dream about being in church and God told me immediately prior to Victor were
that Victor would be the next pastor. Bruce (Ford) had gone
to colleges looking for someone to lead our church. He lay ministers. One served for four
couldn’t find anyone. When they told me Victor was going to
be the pastor, I got to shoutin’ and jumpin’.” Anna Mattox
years, the other about one year.

Neither of these was recruited through Session.

Victor Price was approved as the pastor of Tabernacle in December, 1998. Since

his coming, attendance has increased to about twenty- five people for Sunday worship.

He works full- time in maintenance at Phillips/Magnavox Five Rivers plant. He did not

grow up in a Christian home and did not go to church regularly. He was baptized in

Friendship Baptist nearby, felt called to preach the Gospel and was put on a one-year trial

in the Baptist church.

When the pastor at Tabernacle announced he was leaving, Anna Mattox knew of

Victor’s call. She asked Victor if he would be interested in serving the Tabernacle

congregation. She told him that he would need to go through the Commissioned Lay

Pastor program. Speaking of this initiative from the Tabernacle Session, Victor modestly

says, “I felt like I didn’t have the right to tell them no.” In response, he started the

Commissioned Lay Pastor program in March, 1998.

60
 Members are clear about the qualities they want in their pastoral leadership. They

want someone who is a part of their community, someone with whom they themselves

and others can identify, someone who preaches at a level with which everyone can relate.

They want someone who “stands tall in the community.” Suggesting that Victor fits

those qualifications, they add “Victor has his roots here.”

These churches in upper east Te nnessee present a range of challenges to the

denomination of which they are a part and to those denominations which typically require

a graduate degree for pastoral leadership and ordained ministry. They raise the question

of what constitutes a viable
congregation and, by
inference, they ask the church
“CLPs are very good about involvement in presbytery. Their
motivations, attitudes, and commitments are positive. They have a
different sense of calling than seminary educated ministers. They
already have a profession; this is a call of the Spirit.”
--Bruce Ford, Associate Executive Presbyter

to define the meaning of congregation theologically. Is viability defined in terms of

financial feasibility and local economics? Or, does viability have to do with religious

capital and thus with the mission of the church? From a strictly financial construction of

viability these congregations should not exist. Yet, each of the churches cited above have

experienced some degree of revitalization under the leadership of Commissioned Lay

Pastors and, as a consequence, have augmented the religious capital of their communities

and neighborhoods. More than that they embody a profound faithfulness that will not be

thwarted by financial exigencies. They will find a way to survive. The Commissioned

Lay Pastors program enables them to serve with integrity and mission within their own

faith traditions.

These churches and their leadership, and indeed the Commissioned Lay Pastor

Program, thus present the denominations with the challenge of providing contextually

61
fitting pastoral leadership. Should pastoral leadership be only for those congregations

who are upwardly mobile enough to afford clergy with graduate degrees? Even if funds

were available to provide a seminary educated clergy person as the pastor of one of these

congregations, would that constitute an appropriate and fitting assignment and would it

necessarily bring revitalized ministry?

Trinity Episcopal Church, Gladstone, Michigan

Gladstone, Michigan is a town of 4600 people on the Lake Michigan side of the

Upper Peninsula. It is a quiet, tidy family town, attractive for its recreational and

retirement resources. Gladstone was first settled in 1877 and named Sanders Point. It

was incorporated ten years later and named for the British statesman William Ewart

Gladstone in hopes of attracting investment financing from England. Its founders

dreamed of it becoming the Chicago of the north because of rail and shipping

connections. Today, Mead Paper is its main industry and primary employer. The city lost

seven hundred jobs when Harnishfeger Corporation, a heavy equipment manufacturer,

closed in 1983. Many local people work in Escanaba, about eight miles south, which has

the advantage of greater economic development and manufacturing. The median family

income of $30,000 for the city is about twenty percent lower than that of the state of

Michigan but, in spite of that, poverty statistics are slightly lower than the average for the

state. Brian Horst, the city manager, takes some pride in recent economic and social

development in the city. City finances have stabilized and a new eighteen million dollar

high school is being built on a fairly large campus in the newer section of town. His

62
concerns include the needs for transition housing for poorer singles and for older people

and needs for activities for children and young people.

There are fourteen churches

in Gladstone, including three

Baptist, two Catholic, Church of

God, Evangelical Free, Evangelical

Covenant, E.L.C.A., Evangelical

Lutheran, Free Methodist, United

“Each generation of ministry development is to widen the Methodist, Reorganized LDS, and
leadership. People continue to grow. In time they are
ready for new roles and ways to express their gifts.”
Member, ministry support team. Trinity Episcopal.

Trinity, with a membership under one hundred, like many churches in the Upper

Peninsula, struggled for years to provide pastoral leadership, depending on lay readers or

new seminary graduates who would come for one or two years. During this period of its

history the church was categorized as a mission church. When the Mutual Ministry

program was initiated, they were among the first to participate. At the time of our visit

they were in the third generation of formation for the ministries of the church. Three

priests, two deacons, preachers,

“There was this business about a circle. [Bishop]Tom Ray
would draw a wheel with spokes. The hub is Jesus. The
spokes are the ministries of the church. All of the teachers, musicians, and others
ministries are of equal importance and value.” Ellen
Jensen, Ordained priest and preacher, retired school
teacher. have been commissioned or

ordained for local ministries, forming a ministry support team charged with developing

the ministries of all the people. They are no longer designated as a mission church.

When visiting the church one can feel the vitality and excitement about ministry among

the people of this congregation. When they get together to talk about their church they

63
talk about ecclesiology—the ministries of the baptized and what it means to be the

church. It is apparent that although financial constraints may have provided the occasion

for their participation in the Mutual Ministry program of the Diocese of Northern

Michigan, it is empowerment through discernment, call, and formation education that

stimulates the renewal and ongoing enthusiasm within this church. While a few members

will express their preference for a rector in the role of leadership, most of the people say

that even if they could afford it they would never go back to the old model. Their reasons

include:

• “We have watched people come alive in faith, in their gifts. There is real power in
knowing that the church went through the discernment process. God is in that
process and people are called by the church.”
• “I have become aware of the gifts of others in ways I had not before.”
• “We are working together, not owning, no turf
“To be called and affirmed wars. It is a collegial partnership.”
within the family of the church • “People not called have grown also. Everybody is
and to be able to explain our
process of mutual ministry is a so much more alive.”
great joy.” • “We have excellent homilies here. I don’t want to
Maria Maniache,
Deacon/union officer at Mead
hear the same person every Sunday.”
Paper. • “The names or the congregation are drawn and
every one is prayed for daily.”

Member responses to the question of what changes they see as a result of mutual ministry

in their congregation include: “sharing responsibility”, “life giving”, “family worship

enhanced”, “togetherness”, “affirming”, “exciting”, “liberating”, “affirming your

baptism”, “team model”, “people and congregational enrichment”, “personal and

corporate growth”, “unity”, “baptismal ministry recognized”, “supportive”,

“empowerment”, “seeing gifts in people differently”, “a change in the image of God”

(women at the altar), and “the opportunity for regular Eucharist”. One person

summarized: “Because of Mutual Ministry the congregation becomes more of a learning

community, not institutionalized in the priest.”

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 “The first Sunday I came was a
Sunday in June. . . .There were
few people and no children. They
all sat on the end of the pews, in
separate pews. It was very
private. I didn’t take the
Eucharist. I wasn’t invited.”
Carol Clark, Mutual Ministry
ordained priest and preacher,
retired nurse,on her first
impression of Trinity before the
initiation of Mutual Minitry.
The service was led by
commissioned and ordained
graduates of the Mutual Ministry
Program, members of the
congregation. It was an
inspiring service in which the
Word was preached [quite well],
the Eucharist was celebrated,
and the people sang and
prayed and passed the Peace.
Ed Martin, from field notes,
December 6, 1998.

When asked what they saw as problems in the mutual ministry model,

respondents generally were hard-pressed to come up with issues that were not

manageable. They say that initially it was sometimes difficult to know who was “in

charge”. Finances are still a struggle, but they are much better than before. There have

been a few people alienated by the discernment process, but all- in-all members consider

that problems are far fewer and less daunting than before they initiated the model.

The local E.L.C.A. pastor, Jonathan Schmidt says that it took some time for him

to figure out what was going on at Trinity, to realize what their model of ministry is. In

his two years in Gladstone, however, he has come to appreciate the high quality of

ministry and public leadership of the Trinity congregation. He notes that whenever the

local clergy gather there is always a strong Episcopal presence.

Among the programs and congregations that we visited Northern Michigan has

been the most theologically intentional about structuring their judicatory-based programs.

They think of their approach as formation rather than training or education. They have

laid a strong ecclesiological foundation for what they consider to be a paradigmatic

change in the understanding and practice of ministry, basing that understanding and

practice in a theology of the ministry of the baptized.

65
 Bishop Jim Kelsey , who succeeded Tom Ray in 1999, says that the Mutual

Ministry model is not just an avenue for a cheap priests, but a means for the whole

community to take on ministry. The role of the Canon IX priest is quite different from a

seminary-trained priest. Our goal is to have more than one person in a congregation that

is Canon IX and more than one permanent deacon. Because there is no priest in charge

the ministry expectation is mutual. In this understanding of ministry, missioners are

catalysts, seminary-trained but not necessarily ordained. . . . We will continue to need

seminary-trained leadership but will require a changed seminary curriculum. Whereas,

seminary-trained leadership has been involved in the role of ministry delivery, in mutual

ministry it is shifting to ministry development.

Our experience with Trinity Church confirms that their outcomes match their

vision and result in significant congregational revitalization. Conversations with

members of other Mutual Ministry congregations in Northern Michigan suggest that

Trinity is not a lone example of success but is an illustration of what is happening across

the Diocese of Northern Michigan in churches that choose to participate in the Mutual

Ministry program.

.”I came away convinced that a lens is being ground in Northern Michigan which could throw critical
questions ~ questions about church structure, questions about the very nature of ordained ministry --
into new and sharper focus. Out of the praxis of which were oppressed communities within the
church, a theology of ministerial liberation is emerging.
. . . what is happening at Trinity is more than the blossoming of "lay ministry" or the establishment of
‘team ministry,’ and certainly far more than the ordination of local priests. What is underway and
often overlooked by those outside --is a radical transformation of consciousness about what it means
to be church.” From “Liberating the Baptized, Shared Ministry In Northern Michigan”
by Marianne Arbogast The Witness, August/September 1994, pp 8-10

66
SCOPE (Southern Conference Ordination Preparation Education), Eastern North
Carolina.

The SCOPE program of the Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ

serves the Eastern North Carolina Association. The director of the program, Raymond

Hargrove, is a graduate of its first class. He went on to complete M.Div. and D.Min

degrees and is currently the interim Southern Conference minister and Eastern North

Carolina Association minister.

SCOPE is not a lay ministry program but is intentionally designed as an

alternative path to ordination. It is structured to meet the needs of “In the black community
the sense of call
precedes everything
a set of congregations whose common context has more to do else. That becomes the
driving force. The
with cultural and historical factors than with demographics. The response becomes ‘I’ll
do whatever is needed
to fulfill this call.’
congregations served by this program come out of the Afro- SCOPE becomes part of
the validation process of
their ministry.”
Christian tradition founded by James O’Kelly. Many of these Raymond Hargrove

churches have their origin in brush arbor meetings organized in

the years immediately following the Civil War. They became part of the U.C.C. as a

result of the Congregational-Christian merger. These churches traditionally mentor and

call pastoral leadership from within the community based on the recognition and

demonstration of pastoral gifts. Most of the churches were originally rural, established in

African American communities across the tobacco and cotton belt of eastern North

Carolina. Many of these congregations are facing the encroachment of urbanization

and/or rural population decline. Students in the SCOPE program tend to be already

serving congregations, some of them for a considerable length of time. For them SCOPE

67
provides the opportunity to enhance their leadership knowledge and skill. We visited

with two graduates and two current students of SCOPE. Their stories provide an entree

to the context and history of ministry leadership served by this program. In order to

thicken our understanding we spent time with the Rocky Branch congregation and their

pastor in Buckhorn, near Wilson, NC.

William Carr, a graduate of SCOPE, has been the pastor of Arches Grove U.C.C.

in Burlington, NC for five years. Arches Grove is a semi-rural church, drawing

membership from Graham and Burlington. They average about one hundred attending

worship on any given Sunday. The congregation was organized in 1875 in a brush arbor

near the current site by a man named Archer, hence the name Arches Grove. The church

split during the previous pastorate and Carr was called because of his skill in reconciling

and healing ministry. He has served three congregations prior to Arches Grove; all have

been in crisis when he came. He says that he learned his model for working with

churches in conflict from his experience as a deacon in his home church.

He grew up in a small Afro-Christian Church in the “old Lincoln Conference” and

was greatly involved in the conference from the age of sixteen, attending the conference

meetings every year. His father was a deacon. At sixteen he was elected as

superintendent of the Sunday School and at twenty-one was named to the diaconate. By

the time he was twenty-five, he was elected chair of the board of deacons. In his early

forties he felt called into ministry and enrolled in a Bible institute in Greensboro, a “white

school”, he says. “By that time I had six kids, but I always wanted some kind of study.”

He began his ministry in the summer of 1971 at Bishops Temple, a church of forty

members that had to move because of urban redevelopment. From there he went to

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Emmanuel Church, originally a white congregation that went through transition to

become a black church. He was there for twenty- four years.

During his years at Emmanuel he took classes at Elon College. In 1983 he

entered the second class of the SCOPE program. He received his certificate of completion

in 1988 and was ordained that same year. Until 1988 he was licensed as a local minister

by the Eastern North Carolina Association of the Southern Conference. “Nobody knew I

wasn’t ordained,” he says. “I served on every committee [in the conference and

association] because they needed one of us.” When asked why he enrolled in SCOPE

since he obviously did not need the credentials, he responded: “I felt a need. It’s like

anything else. You have to keep up to date. In life you never get to a point where you’ve

got it made. The world is constantly changing and we need to continually grow. God

called us to minister to the changing world and you can’t minister to people if you don’t

[keep up]. SCOPE helped me reflect theologically. It asked of me, where does this fit

into your faith? Maybe you don’t agree with everyt hing [in your study] but you

understand the logic of it. The church is not stationary. People are the church.”

Ricky Allen is the pastor of Hickory Grove U.C.C., in Raleigh, NC, a

congregation organized in 1880. Originally a rural church, Hickory Grove is located in

an area effected by urban sprawl. Allen describes it as a family type, relationship based

congregation of about fifty active members. While the church was a little larger in the

past, they have remained about the same size over the years. Their ministers have always

been bi- vocational, serving

the congregation part-time.
Allen, who has his
“I think more and more these programs are going to become
vital. These programs can become complementary components
of ministry leadership preparation. They need to be
undergirded. Churches deserve competent leadership even
though they are unable to afford a seminary trained person.”
Raymond Hargrove, Interim Conference Minister

69
own printing business, attends classes on Saturdays in the associate degree program at

Shaw University. He is about half- way through SCOPE. Before “accepting the call to

ministry” he was a deacon in his home church. Describing his call he says, “I felt like

God was giving me a sermon. I talked with my pastor and he said that often God calls

people into ministry in this way. I tried to resist the call, but once I decided to be

obedient to the voice of God, things began to change.” The mentoring relationships of

his home pastor and of a professor at Shaw have been very important formational

influences on his life and leadership.

Isaac Thomas, pastor of Rowland Chapel U.C.C. in Henderson, NC, is also a

student in SCOPE. Rowland Chapel, founded in 1884, is a congregation with a mix of

professionals and other people working in the public sphere. About two thirds are rural

and one third urban. The church is growing with a strong 18-35 age group and, according

to Thomas, a high level of energy and creativity. Using their buildings to full capacity,

they average about 200 in attendance for Sunday worship and Sunday School. Their

former pastor, a gradua te of SCOPE, recently died, leaving the congregation

unexpectedly in the pastoral search process. Late in that process, the search committee

initiated conversations with Thomas.

Thomas grew up in the Rowland Chapel congregation, where he had been a

“There are those who deacon for a number of years and was serving as chair of the
have wanted to cut back
on associate degree board when called to be their pastor. The former pastor had
programs. I have resisted
that because there are so
many churches that need been his mentor and model for leadership. He says that at
leadership. Someone
needs to say, ‘this is
important.’” first he was concerned about becoming the pastor of his
Dr. Joe Paige, Faculty
,Shaw University
home congregation, but after conversations with the

70
association minister and a period of prayer and discernment, he was led to say “yes to

God”. When the church extended a call to him he went to the conference office for a

recommended program of studies. Consequently, he entered the Shaw University

associate degree program as a SCOPE student.

Veola Johnson enrolled in SCOPE in 1986, after a period of resisting the call to
“In 1985 I felt
ministry. She finished the program in 1995. called to preach.
I rejected it totally
at first. It (her
Johnson says that she has been active in church call) was
confirmed by a
as long as she can remember, involved in music pastor friend. In
1986 I accepted
this call. I prayed
ministry and as a Sunday School teacher. In about it. Why not
my husband, not
me. I would
1991 she went to Union Grove U.C.C. as an support him all
the way but not
assistant and stayed on as the pastor in 1993 me.”
Veola Johnson
when the former pastor left. Union Grove is

located in an urban community in Henderson, NC. The church, founded in 1978, is a

family style congregation of about fifty active members. Currently, they meet in a

converted house but plan to build a new building soon. Summing up her vision for the

church, she says, “We want to see ourselves as more than just a haven, but as

contributing to the community. We want to have a daycare for children and for the

elderly. We want to do things for families. We also want to start a tutorial program. We

are already part of a group that feeds people in the area. We contribute money and food.

We are looking for spiritual growth and growth in numbers. We worship once a week

and have a prayer service. We plan to add a Wednesday night worship once a month.”

Rocky Branch U.C.C., Buckhorn, NC. was started as a brush arbor church in

1870. It is a country church, well- maintained, sited on a large piece of land surrounded

71
by tobacco fields. The church building burned in 1987 and was rebuilt the following

year. Recently they have added a new wing for classrooms, church offices, and a pastor’s

study. They average just under a hundred in attendance each Sunday. According to

Deacon Ruben O’Neill, Sr., who has been a deacon of the church for twenty years,

ministers have never lived in the community. As he puts it, “They were only preachers,

not pastors”, coming only on the weekends. While their current pastor, Harvey

Hartsfield, does not live within the community, he does spend “pastoral time” there.

We visited with Mrs. Georgia Shaw and her daughter Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Shaw, the

elder “Mother of the Church,” is in her 90’s. She has been a member of the church since

1925. Mrs. Smith is the church historian. She was baptized in the creek, which flows

through the church property, when she was ten years old. She told us of changes in the

church over the years. Membership of the church has remained relatively stable, but

where there was once a resident community with a school, most people now drive from a

distance, some from as far away as Raleigh and the southern border of Virginia. The

Sunday School numbers have declined as the congregation has gotten older. Most of the

children now are grandchildren of church members. They once had revival meetings

with three services a day. Now they only have night services, and they have trouble

getting people out for those. No longer are revivals for purposes of conversion but have

become means for revitalizing the membership. Before Hartsfield came, the church met

only once a month for worship. When he began his ministry they changed to twice a

month and are now meeting every Sunday.

72
 Harvey Hartsfield works as an Associate Funeral director and as a teacher’s

“A lot I have done in my personal life has led back to ministry. When I was assistant at a local
asked to become a deacon, I thought that was my calling, but it was not a
satisfying call. I was an industrial supervisor at the time of my call. I
changed my occupation to insurance agent to give more time to study and school. Rocky
preparation for ministry.” Harvey Hartsfield
Branch is the second

church that he has served. Like others we interviewed he was mentored into ministry as a

deacon in his home church. He is a graduate of SCOPE. In addition to Sunday worship

he conducts two bible studies every week at the church. About forty people attend each

of these. He wants to make use of the new church wing for some kind of community

service. At first they were planning to offer a day-care for children, but because of

liability issues they are now considering some sort of senior citizens care center.

His spouse, Joyce Hartsfield, a sixth grade teacher, has also responded to the call

to ministry. She has completed one course in the SCOPE program but is finding it

difficult to get courses that are near enough and offered in workable time blocks. Rocky

Branch has called her as associate minister though she is not licensed by the association.

“We work together,” she says. To which he replies in confirmation, “When I was sick

she stepped right in.”

In all of the above congregations, and in these Afro-Christian churches in general,

ministry leadership emerges from the lived faith of communities as individuals

experience God’s calling and are confirmed and mentored into ministry by their

churches. The question that SCOPE addresses is how to recognize and enrich the locally

authorized ministries already present.

73
Nebraska Shared Ministry: Gloria Dei, Grace, Berea, and St. Mark E.L.C.A.

Churches

The Nebraska Shared Ministry includes four E.L.C.A. congregations spaced

approximately equidistant from each other in a triangular pattern from Lodgepole to

Chappell to Oshkosh, Nebraska, in the counties of Cheyenne, Deuel, and Garden. Once

centered among thriving farm communities, these churches struggle with the problems of

declining population associated with the major part of the Nebraska panhandle.

Community businesses and institutions throughout this area are engaged in a struggle for

survival. Along Highway 30 from Sidney to the intersection with I-80, small towns that

once bustled with activity present a ghostly quiet. Boarded up buildings give mute

testimony to what once was and is no more. In Lodgepole the vacant and weathered

opera house reflects the losses of the past forty years in even greater human depth than

the declining census numbers for that period. From 1960-1990 Cheyenne County, which

includes Sidney, dropped from 15,000 people to 9,500. In the same period Deuel

declined from 3,100 to 2,200, and Garden, from 3,500 to 2,500. While a one-third

decrease in population itself is startling in its significance, the deficit in local financial

and cultural capital precipitated by that exodus is staggering. In the midst of such

change two-thirds of the people remain adapting and recreating communities reflective of

the times. Berea, Gloria Dei, Grace, and St. Mark churches are among those, redefining

how ministry is delivered in geographically remote and isolated areas.

Gloria Dei, located in Lodgepole, was organized in 1921 as Immanuel

Evangelical Lutheran. Prior to the 1960’s it was the largest of the four congregations.

Today it has about forty-five members. In 1955, at the peak of its growth, it built a new

74
building and changed its name to Gloria Dei. Its building is a fine facility, well-

maintained and more than adequate for its present size.

Grace Church began about forty years ago in Chappell as a split from the local

Missouri Synod church. It has never had more than about forty members. It meets in a

small but attractive church building facing Highway 30.Today it has about 30 members.

Berea Church is located between Chappell and

Oshkosh in a country church building built by Swedish

immigrants. Surrounded by farmland it presents an

idyllic picture as one approaches along Highway 27. It

currently has about ninety members, half of its size in

the 1950’s.

St. Mark is the largest of the four churches with one hundred and forty active

members, and a Sunday attendance of eighty. Founded in 1906, St. Mark had been yoked

with Grace Lutheran Church Lewellen until 1997, at which time it chose to go with the

shared ministry.

With the leadership of Keith Pfeifly at Berea and Brenda Pfeifly at St. Mark, these

four churches have covenanted together to share three ministers, two ordained and one

parish ministry assistant. The three ministers rotate worship leadership among the

churches, spending two Sundays with a congregation before moving on to the next. They

share pastoral ministries according to particular gifts that each brings to their vocation.

This adaptation was initiated because of economic and geographic stressors

“We know there always is a pastor here. There is someone affecting the churches. Two of
to call on. This saved us from closing our doors.”
Church Member the churches were no longer able

75
to attract seminary-educated leadership and had called Parish Ministry Associates,

graduates of the judicatory-based program of the E.L.C.A. in Nebraska. Conversation

among the pastoral leaders and among the churches they serve eventuated in a trip to

review a shared ministry approach in North Dakota, the Tri-County Ministry. This

experience generated considerable energy and enthusiasm among the congregations, at

one time involving eleven area churches, ten Lutheran and one Presbyterian.

Conversations proceeded through a task force comprised of congregational leaders from

the participating churches, eventuating in the four congregations cited above deciding to

begin the experiment.

In conversations with members of the task force it is clear that although pastoral

leadership enabled the vision to take shape, the process and outcome was lay leadership

driven. As one task force member informed us, the pastors did not meet with the

committee every time, and when they did, the committee always met for one hour prior to

the presence of the clergy. According to Keith Pfeifly, each congregation moved slowly

and deliberately into the new model. They see this as a long-term strategy, not as a stop-

gap measure. Members of the congregations in various ways asserted that this strategy

has enabled them to look beyond a mentality of survival. There has been some resistance

from a minority of folk. No one we interviewed was openly opposed to the shared

ministry, but they reported that there was opposition within their congregations. A few,

concerned about the continuity of ministry within their community, did not like the team

concept. Others were resistant to women in the ministry and feared that the team

approach would leave them with no choice in that matter.

76
 When asked to compare ordained leadership with Parish Ministry Associates,

interviewees unanimously spoke highly of the PMAs who have served their

congregations. On one occasion the conversation proceeded as follows:

Respondent one: “They do the same work. We are satisfied.”

Respondent two: “We are conservative Lutherans. We want theologically educated
ministry.”
Respondent three: “ We like the old disciplined theology. I am happy with the PMA’s
theology, but we don’t want the disciplines of the church lost.”
Respondent four, with emphasis to make her point: “The PMAs are theologically
trained!”

One can detect
here some underlying
ambivalence. In terms of
“There always is a need for ordained pastors to assure good order in
the whole church. The issue is what pastors and lay people can do
together. This model is sort of a return to the model of the 18th and
19th centuries. Circuit riders would visit churches periodically, but
most congregations got along quite well.”
--Shared Ministry Task Force Member

practice the PMAs function very well, but there remains the suspicion that the churches

get something more, something less tangible, in a seminary-trained person. When asked,

if they could afford a seminary educated pastor , would they still choose a PMA, the

answer was “no”. They believed that an “ordained pastor had more cards to play”, more

professional skills, and more time to devote to the work.

Nevertheless, when the conversation turned to the Parish Ministry Associate who

is currently a member of the team, there was only prais e. Judy Gifford is a middle-aged

woman who entered the first class of PMAs. She had been very active in Lutheran

Women’s work and was a church secretary. She has an A.A. degree, but because of

family responsibilities never went on to complete her B.A. She notes that two of the five

students in her PMA class went on to seminary and that she would like to do that also but

does not have the resources. She drives ninety miles from Paxton to Chappell every

week and spends three days on the field. She obviously loves her ministry and goes

about it with energy and enthusiasm. The one sermon we heard her preach was well-

77
constructed, thoughtful, and delivered in a warm, relational style. Her worship leadership

is done with authority and presence. People find her to be a caring and personable

minister.

The Parish Ministry Associates program was begun as a means to enrich the

leadership of local congregations and many of its students begin their program wanting to

improve their skills and knowledge in what the y are already doing in their churches. The

serious shortage of pastoral leadership in the region, however, has caused the PMA

program to become a source for supply and interim ministers, and in some cases sole

pastors. The Shared Ministry experiment offers another possibility that teams seminary

educated and judicatory educated people in collegial ministries, addressing the issue of

declining local financial and institutional capital by reconfiguring the presence of pastoral

leadership in a long term mission strategy. Instead of mirroring the social isolation and

resistance to change that is a part of their context, these congregations are being renewed

by a model of ministry that is cooperative, collegial, practical and sufficient. An example

of the expanding sense of mission is the gift to the E.L.C.A. Synod of Nebraska by a

member of the Gloria Dei Church of nearly a section of prime wheat and prairie land.

Now named Sullivan Hills Outdoor Ministry Camp, the project is envisioned as an

ecumenical ministry to be of service to people of Western Nebraska Buildings already are

being constructed on the site.

The Impact of Denominational Judicatory-Based Programs

Our study of the impact of judicatory-based alternative theological study

programs suggests that denominations must attend to the varieties of options that may be

available to prepare persons for authorized ministries. In many cases, these programs tend

78
to democratize access to substantial theological education. These programs engage

people in the midst of their home and life situations and return them to ministry in those

locations. The programs may have another significant purpose: to fulfill the needs for

adult theological education. To some extent, the programs continue the lay education

movements of the 1950’s and 1960’s. This is evidenced in those programs that tend to

graduate persons who stay in their present life situations. There is not an exodus of

persons from one life work or vocation into full time church work. In this way, the

programs tend to democratize access to the resources of theological education. This is

not a new phenomenon as Timothy George documents well in “The Baptist Tradition” in

Theological Education in the Evangelical Tradition, ed. D.G. Hart and R. Albert Mohler,

Jr.

Our site visits to congregations indicate that preparation for ministry in one of the

denominational judicatory programs does not lead to a decline in the competence of

ministry leadership, given the contextual situations and needs being served. At the same

time, we found a longing, in some settings, for a seminary trained clergy person.

However, in all cases this was not predicated on the inadequacy of the lay pastor or

commissioned leader trained in the judicatory program. In more than one situa tion

ministry leadership had been redefined and reconfigured adding both breadth and depth

to the ministries of the congregations involved.

Issues and Challenges for Denominational Judicatory-Based Programs

This study of denominational judicatory-based study programs addresses the

complexity, the diversity, and the multiplicity of these programs. To state any one

79
implication from our study may address one program and its context, but it may not speak

to another situation. However, we do believe there are some common issues that call for

further discussion and action among those responsible for denominational judicatory

programs, those in national denomination offices charged with theological education, and

those who represent the graduate theological schools.

Appreciation for local congregations and their communities, recognition and

inclusion of the multitude of gifts of the baptized, and the democratization of theological

study are attributes which we have seen to one degree or another in each of our visits.

Nonetheless, our study reveals some critical issues that need to be addressed when any

theological education option is developed and implemented.

First, our research confirms for us that local or regionally developed theological

education programs are workable options that support the mission of congregations often

considered to be unique, whether by size, financial resources, ethnicity, or geographic

location. Such communities may well be served by leadership prepared in accordance

with the needs of those congregations and taken from a local pool of leaders that desire to

exercise their baptismal gifts in authorized ministries. We suggest that more research is

needed to assess denominational judicatory program outcomes in terms of graduates’

readiness for ministry and their roles within a specific denomination’s mission.

The second issue has to do with the manner in which these programs can move

beyond being developed to meet a crisis or problem (for example, the small, under

funded congregatio n), to existing in mission that supports the renewal of local

congregations and their wider communities. It is important that the renewing and

revitalizing potential in these themes be nurtured and developed as contributions to the

80
whole church and its future, not just as interim arrangements. Denominations and

agencies of theological education would do well to engage in strategic theological

discussions of the nature and deployment of theologically trained people. The Northern

Michigan program is an examp le of such ecclesiological grounding that is theologically

sound and responsive to its situation.

Third, the programs require resources for educational design and curricular

content. These programs must direct their courses of study to students of quite diverse

educational backgrounds. At the same time, student constituencies may be less plural

culturally and theologically than membership in their wider denominations and student

bodies of theological schools. Key figures in these programs need opportunities to

communicate with some regularity and to have available resources to assess the inputs

and outcomes of their educational practices and the quality of mentoring required to

guide students through programs that have limited on-campus involvement. Witho ut

exception there is a need for curricular materials that are learner oriented, designed for

alternative time schedules or periodic events, structured for collegial learning

environments, and fully representative of higher theological education. At issue is how,

in the long run, these programs will offer the depth and breadth of ministry preparation

that is sufficient to meet the demands that called forth the alternative model of education

in the first place.

Fourth, conversations must be initiated between these programs and the

theological schools and national denominational theological education offices. At issue

are the topics that allow for an informed discussion of what constitutes the depth and

breadth of education necessary for ministry preparation. Within these discussions should

81
be a serious consideration of the relationship of theological education models and the

ecclesial communities for whom leadership is prepared. As well, our research has

uncovered a vibrant discussion already in process as to what constitutes authorized

ministry leadership and the forms that leadership takes. Efforts must continue to define

within and among denominations the ways innovation may occur in the delivery systems

of theological education.

Finally, these alternatives in theological education appear to challenge the notion

of “professional” preparation for ministry and re- introduce the notion of ecclesial

discernment and preparation to fulfill a call. Thus, denominational judicatory based

programs and regional theological schools, together, present the possibility for a broader,

richer fabric of education for ministry leadership and, consequently, a fuller recognition

and use of the gifts of the baptized. Wider theological education is facing the question of

the appropriate role and interconnection among its institutional parts. How is it possible

to weave a fabric of collaboration and to do so in times when resources are stretched to

their limits?

The above issues and challenges are real. For the present, alterna tives to graduate

theological education may not be in the forefront of denominational expectations for

authorized ministry. Nonetheless, we tend to agree with the judgment of C. Kirk

Hadaway and David A. Roozen in Rerouting the Protestant Mainstream: “Revitalized

mainstream Protestant denominations must become progressive, decentralized

movements: Communions of affirmation, memory, and partnership that welcome all to

experience God’s life-changing presence and to celebrate Scripture, the historical witne ss

82
of the church, and reason, as guides for making God’s presence alive, in themselves and

in the world.”

If this movement toward a more democratized approach to theological education

is to materialize in an intentional way the following questions increase in their relevance

for the shape of theological education for this era: what is the relationship between

ordained and lay leadership; what is meant by the ministry of the baptized or the

priesthood of all believers; and what is the relation of context to the nature of ministry?

We believe these programs are here to stay for the long haul and that they have the

potential for the renewal of the church and for fuller recognition and inclusion of the

ministries of all the baptized.

83
 Appendices

Initial Mail Questionnaire

ALTERNATIVE THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION PROJECT

UNITED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE TWIN CITIES

3000 Fifth STREET N.W., NEW BRIGHTON, MN 55112

THIS BRIEF QUESTIONNAIRE WILL HELP TO DEVELOP A BRIEF PROFILE OF THE TYPE OF
ALTERNATIVE THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS THAT PREPARE PERSONS FOR VARIOUS
TYPES OF AUTHORIZED MINISTRY. WE ASK YOU TO READ THE RESEARCH PROJECT
DESCRIPTION ON THE BACK OF THE ENCLOSED LETTER. IT OUTLINES THE SCOPE OF THE
PROJECT. WE ASK THAT YOU RETURN THE QUESTIONNAIRE IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. WE
ASK THAT YOU SEND US ADDITIONAL MATERIALS DESCRIBING YOUR PROGRAM. NOTE: TWO
QUESTIONNAIRES ARE ENCLOSED IN THE EVENT YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE PROGRAM . YOU
MAY REQUEST MORE QUESTIONNAIRES OR INFORMATION BY E-MAILING US AT:
ateproj@pclink.com OR BY CALLING US AT 612-633-4311 EXT 137.

1. Name or title of alternative theological education program:

______________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Telephone: ______________ e-mail: _____________ web site _______________

2. Control or ownership of the program: (check one or add comment as noted)

____an independent effort of a judicatory (if checked, note below location of judicatory)
____regional
____national
____a cooperative effort of a judicatory and seminary
____a seminary developed program
____a cooperative effort of the judicatory with another educational institution or school
____other (please describe)

3. Governance of the program ⇐and⇒ 4. Year Program started: _______

(check all applicable)

_____a committee or board of a denominational ⇓

judicatory
_____an independent committee or board of directors

_____a seminary or other educational institution 5. Current number of students

_____a cooperative effort of the judicatory and in the program: _______
another school/educational institution
_____other (please describe)

6. Predominant goals of the program: (check all that apply)

____to support or address the needs for pastoral leadership of congregations

____to support or address the needs for lay ministry within congregations
____to support or address the needs for new church development for particular communities
____other (please describe)

84
 ⇐and⇒
7. Types of students the program primarily 8. Type of ministry for which program is
is directed to serve: (check as many as apply) intended to prepare persons:
(check
as apply)
_____bi-vocational ____ordained
_____second career ____commissioned or licensed
_____ethnic minority ____general lay leadership
_____other (please describe) ____other (please describe)

9. Estimated number of program graduates serving in ministry for which they were prepared:
_______

⇐and⇒
10. Funding of the program is: 11. If tuition or fees are charged, who pays?
(check all that apply) (check all that apply)

____through tuition and fees ____student pays

____denominational subsidy ____denomination pays
_____regional ____congregation pays
_____national ____other (please describe)
____special grants
____other (please describe)

12. The faculty/instructors or mentors

for the program are:

_____mostly area pastors

_____mostly seminary faculty
_____a fairly even balance of the above
_____other (please describe)

If available, would you please send us:

a. Any promotional and curricular materials that describe the purpose and structure of your
program
b. Any reports or evaluations of your program

Name of person completing this questionnaire (in the event follow-up is needed):

_____________________________________________ Phone number

_________________

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS PROJECT

85
 Survey Telephone Questionnaire:
Program Directors

1. I note that your program was founded in ______. Would you tell me something about what was
“behind” the program’s founding?

Cue: Did denominational leaders sense there were particular issues that stimulated founding the
program?

Was this a particular project of a group?

Were there groups of congregations or lay people encouraging this?
Cue: Is work completed in your program sufficient for the authorization of ministry within the
denomination?

2. Who were to be the main beneficiaries of the program, that is, were there any groups or target
audiences to benefit from the program?

Cue: Who do you hope the program finally benefits?

Cue: Does this continue to be the target audience(s)?

3. At this time we would like to discuss your students. Would you tell me about several students you
might term as “typical”?

Cue: Is there an age range that seems to represent the students?

Are your groups mostly men or women or about balanced in terms

of gender? Age?

What are the interests, concerns that motivate them to study in

your program?

Who encourages a student to engage in study in your program?

Pastor
Spouse
Church Board
Self motivated
4. We are interested in how people are eligible to study in your program. Would you outline the
procedure of admission:

Cue: Any educational background requirements

Recommendations required.

5. Tell us about how your program is governed?

Cue: How is it governed?
If people have complaints, who hears and acts on them?
Does the governing board set policy, such a designing curriculum,
approving those folk who sU.C.C.essfully have completed the program

6. Does your program have a relationship with a Seminary or College? What is it

and how does it work?

86
 Cue: Does the seminary/college have any control over courses, admissions?
Is there any degree granted through the college or seminary for work
completed in your program?

7. Would you tell me about a course that would be a representative example of

courses taken in your program?

Cue: Do you ask instructors to follow a particular format for courses in

terms of readings, assignments…etc?
Cue: Do students write paper?
Cue: Is there a process of evaluation?
Cue: How would you describe the educational method of your program?
--emphasis on in class discussion/work/content
--emphasis on relating study to church/ministry context
--use of case studies
8. We are interested in how you “deliver” educational services in your program: that is: are your
courses taught in a location by faculty (where)
Do you use independent reading program
Do you use mentors to work with students
Do you use Internet or computer based learning?

9. How are faculty selected for the courses?

Cue: Use seminary/college faculty
Cue: Use area experts, e.g., social workers/counselors?
Cue: Use area pastors.
Cue: Use denominational staff

10. How would you describe the ways your program forms or shapes persons
in their intellectual and spiritual lives?
Cue: Use words such as “spiritual formation” and “functional skill development”

11. Would you tell me about a couple of people who have completed your full course
of study in terms of how you see them applying their work in their program?

Cue: Are any lay pastors, cannon IX priests, or other authorized or commissioned
ministries?
Have any engaged the ordination preparation process?
Have any gone to seminary or other advanced study?

12.. We are interested in interviewing two students and two faculty from two programs. Would you
be willing to give us names that we could contact?

13. Are there any insights you would like to share about the emergence of these special theological
education programs that you believe would assist in our research process?

We do wish to talk with others. Would you be willing to give us the names of two

faculty and two students with whom we can further talk?

87
 Survey Telephone Questionnaire:
Faculty/Teachers

1. Would you tell me something about how you heard about and were asked to be an instructor in the
study program offered by _____(insert name of program______.
• Cue: How long have you been involved in the program?
• Cue: How many courses have you taught: get titles/topics.

• Cue: What primarily motivated you to do this instructing?

• Cue: Before being asked to engage in this work, had you heard about the program?

• Cue: What had you thought about the program –that is, did you have any preconceived ideas
about it?

• Describe some of the motivations for study you see in the students who were in the course(s) you
taught?

• Cue: Who do you hope the program finally benefits?

• Cue: Does this continue to be the target audience(s)?
• Cue: Do they look forward to some sort of authorized ministry?

2. At this time we would like to discuss your students. Would you tell me about several students you
might term as “typical”?

• Cue: Is there an age range that seems to represent the students?

3. Are your groups mostly men or women or about balanced in terms

of gender? Age?

4. What are the interests, concerns that motivate them to study in

your program?

5. Who encourages a student to engage in study in your program?

• Pastor
• Spouse
• Church Board
• Self motivated

6. We are interested in how people are eligible to study in the program? How do you understand the
background requirements for study in the program

7. Tell us about how you understand the governance of the program in which you taught?
• Cue: How is it governed?
• If people have complaints, who hears and acts on them?
• Does the governing board set policy, such as designing curriculum,
• approving those folk who sU.C.C.essfully have completed the program.
• Cue: How are faculty and students involved in this governance, e.g., in shaping curriculum…?

8. Would you tell us about the course you taught?

88
• Cue: Was there a unique teaching approach or method you took to address the uniqueness of this
educational set up or situation.
• Cue: How would you describe the educational method of your program?
--emphasis on in-class discussion/work/content
--emphasis on relating study to church/ministry context
--use of case studies
• Cue: Was there a syllabus with reading and writing assignments?
• Cue: Is there a process of evaluation?
• Is this evaluation similar or different than other evaluations you have given in your other teaching?
9. How would you describe the ways your program forms or shapes persons in their intellectual and
spiritual lives?
• Cue: Use words such as “spiritual formation” and “functional skill development”

10. Were you paid an honorarium for teaching? Does the amount compare with stipends paid, for
example, in other professional setting in which you have worked?
• Cue: Church
• Cue: Teaching in a college or seminary?
11. Would you tell me about a couple of people you know about who have completed your full course
of study in terms of how you see them applying their work in their program?
• Cue: Are any lay pastors, cannon IX priests, or other authorized or commissioned ministries?
12. Have any engaged the ordination preparation process?
13. Have any gone to seminary or other advanced study?
• Cue: What goals do you have for yourself?
14. Are there any insights you would like to share about this course of study that would help us gain an
insight into how it serves those it benefits?
• Cue: What are the strengths of the program in which you taught?
• Cue: Are there any particular issues or problems you see present in your program?
15. What do you see are the advantages for the church in having a program such as this?
16. What are the problems for the church?

89
 Survey Telephone Questionnaire:
Students

1. Would you tell me something about how you heard about and got involved in the study program
offered by _____(insert name of program______.

• Cue: What primarily motivated you to do this study.

• Cue: Who was the main figure to encourage you to engage in this study: pastor, spouse, friend….? --
or was it just yourself?

• Cue: Would you tell me something about your background that leads you into this type of study?
What

• Cue: Did you pastor tell you about this program or did you hear about it from another source?

• Cue: Was the key reason you engaged in the program to secure some sort of authorized
ministry within your denomination? (By authorized ministry I mean some sort of recognized ministry
that involves certification, licensure as well as ordination?)

2. Describe some of the motivations for study you see in your fellow students to engage in this course of
study?

• Cue: Who do you hope the program finally benefits?

• Cue: Does this continue to be the target audience(s)?
• Cue: Do they look forward to some sort of authorized ministry?

3. At this time we would like to discuss your students. Would you tell me about several students you
might term as “typical”?

• Cue: Is there an age range that seems to represent the students?

4. Are your groups mostly men or women or about balanced in terms

of gender? Age?

5. What are the interests, concerns that motivate them to study in

your program?

6. Who encourages a student to engage in study in your program?

• Pastor
• Spouse
• Church Board
• Self motivated

7. We are interested in how people are eligible to study in your program. Would you outline the
procedure of admission:

• Cue: Any educational background requirements

8. Recommendations required?
9. Tell us about how your program is governed?
• Cue: How is it governed?

90
 • If people have complaints, who hears and acts on them?
• Does the governing board set policy, such a designing curriculum,
• approving those folk who sU.C.C.essfully have completed the program.
• Cue: How are students involved in this governance, e.g., in shaping curriculum…?

10. Do you get any academic credit for your study through a seminary or college?
11. Would you tell me about a course that would be a representative example of
courses taken in your program?

• Cue: Was there a syllabus with reading and writing assignments?

• Cue: Is there a process of evaluation?
• Cue: How would you describe the educational method of your program?
--emphasis on in class discussion/work/content
--emphasis on relating study to church/ministry context
--use of case studies
12. How would you describe the ways your program forms or shapes persons
in their intellectual and spiritual lives?
13. Cue: Use words such as “spiritual formation” and “functional skill development”

14. Would you tell me about a couple of people who have completed your full course
of study in terms of how you see them applying their work in their program?

• Cue: Are any lay pastors, cannon IX priests, or other authorized or commissioned ministries?
15. Have any engaged the ordination preparation process?
16. Have any gone to seminary or other advanced study?
• Cue: What goals do you have for yourself?
17. Are there any insights you would like to share about this course of study that would help us gain an
insight into how it serves those it benefits?
• Cue: What are the strengths of the program you are in?

• Cue: Are there any particular issues or problems you see present in your program?

18. . We do wish to talk with others. Would you be willing to give us the names of one

other student colleague with whom we could talk?

19. Thanks so much for participating in this interview

91
 Program Site Visit Protocol
Alternatives in Theological Education Project
1. Context
Location
Program description
Meeting space
Number of attendees
Sponsorship

2. Participation
Why people commit to this program of study
Community developed in this program that keeps a person involved.
Importance of program to keep ongoing participation

3. Journey
How it comes about that one decides to be in the program
Benefits of the journey
Hardships of the journey

4. Formation
How a person’s life is influenced (shaped or changed) by being in the program
How the educational community stimulates growth
How the style of education is implemented, e.g., through
Readings Worship
In class work Practice
Instructional methods Knowledge
Interactions

5. Institutional Form
How one sees the program as a school
How one sees the program as a school of the church
How and why the program exists
Why the program is in this place
Strengths and weaknesses

6. Transformation or Outcomes
Needs met by person being in program
Ecclesial needs being met
Changes in congregation resulting from participation in the program
Changes in wider community resulting from program particpation
Beneficiaries of program

7. Interviewees

8. Observations and Journal

92
 Preparatory Requests for Congregational Visits

Can you help us with the following:

1. Basic demographic, social, economic, cultural information about the communities in which these
congregations exist? Either providing such for us or pointing us to resources.
2. Can you set us up with someone who will give us a drive-through or walk-through of the community?
3. Are there people among community leaders who are not members of the congregation but know the
congregation and would be willing to be interviewed regarding the place the church and/or minister
holds in relation to the community?
4. Can you set up the following interview situations for us (about 1 ½ hours for groups and 1 hr for
individuals:
• A meeting with the governing body of the church?
• Interview with the member(s) who is/are seen to be the church mentor(s) and/or bearer(s) of the
church’s history and traditions?
• Interview with the person(s) trained in the judicatory program and serving the congregation?
• Interview with the supervisor, mentor, missioner to whom the judicatory trained minister(s) are
responsible?
• Any other persons related to the church who may be significant for understanding the church and
its leadership? This could possibly be a focus group of, for example, age representatives in the
congregation.
5. Can you arrange for us to have copies of or time to review any historical documents or “history of the
church”? And to meet with the church historian if you have an officially designated person different
from the above mentioned “mentor?”
6. We want to worship with the congregation and perhaps sit as observers if there are significant meetings
going on while we are there.

93
 Site Visit Protocol

Question 1: ESTABLISHING THE GEOGRAPHIC/PHYSICAL CONTEXT.

q Geographic location and physical landscape of the community.

q General sense of physical character of community.
q Population / Demographics / Economic Factors.
q Church building: location, physical appearance
q Feeling about the location: good, satisfied, proud, disappointed, et.al.

Question 2: CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL IDENTITY AND PRACTICES.

q Where/when was the congregation founded? Wider historical context of that founding?
q Key changes that have occurred over time shaping congregation and wider community.
q Whom do congregation members see themselves as in the larger community? (As a
congregation? As individuals?)
Founders? Builders? Innovators? Leaders?
q Sense of feeling about that history: good, satisfied, disappointed, et.al. Has this sense
changed in any way?

Question 3: CURRENT IDENTITY.

q How does congregation look upon itself: continuous or discontinuous with the past?
q How do people describe themselves in their wider community and denomination?
q How is current church life and practice described?
q How does the lay pastor model conform to, conflict with, or shape current identity?

Question 4: LEADERSHIP: PRACTICE AND CONCEPT.

q How do interviewees describe leadership within the congregation?

q How does the current lay pastoral model develop or inhibit the development of leadership in
the congregation?
q Some descriptive and evaluative comment on the role, function, and symbolism of lay pastor.
q How did model of lay pastor come about and be accepted by congregation
q Leadership or organizational deployment: how has this changed over the years?

Question 5: VISION (GOALS OR PURPOSE OF CONGREGATION’S MISSION.

q How does the congregation see both its place and purpose in the local community: de facto
and envisioned?
q How does the congregation see its relation to the denomination?
q How does the congregation see its relation to a wider/global world?

Question 6: THEOLOGICAL / ECCLESIOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDINGS AND RATIONALE.

q Information relative to this question may be gained in more indirect ways

§ By asking“Why” questions,
§ By listening for meanings attributed to events and practices, and
§ By listening for contrasts of intentions and actual outcomes.
q Ask questions such as: In what ways do you see this as God’s will for you? For this
congregation?

94
 Alternatives in Theological Education:
A Questionnaire

While some questions require a brief written response, we ask that you be sU.C.C.inct and use key words
or concepts that you believe convey your experience in the program. Other responses require a check off.
Your replies are confidential.

Please note: when you read the initials “ATE” (alternative in theological education program), please
substitute, in your mind, the course of study in which you participate(d).

1. Gender: ___Male ___ Female ⇒ 2. Age ______ ⇒ 3. Denomination _______⇓

⇓
4. Briefly note something about your life history that led you to participate in the ATE program?
Comments might include work, history of volunteer work, family experience, a key life incident,
avocations, etc.

⇓
5. As you consider your involvement in your home congregation prior to entering the ATE program,
would you say that you were:

____ quite heavily involved

____very involved
____moderately involved
____not very involved
____not involved much at all

comment:

⇓
6. How were you introduced to the possibility of engaging in a course of study through the ATE program
in which you are (were) engaged? If there are several influences, rank them 1,2, 3 etc. (with 1 being
most important.
____suggestion of pastor
____suggestion of spouse
____suggestion of friends
____suggestion of denominational official
____suggestion of another person in ATE program
____personal discernment or insight
____suggestion from or discernment from congregation
____other (comment)

⇓
7. Check the education you completed prior to your being admitted to the ATE program:
I completed: (check the “last” education you completed)
____high school
____vocational or technical school
____some college
____basic college degree
____graduate study
____other (note or comment)

Have you taken any seminary courses: ___yes ___no

95
8. Check all that apply below that relate to your experience prior to being in the ATE program preparing
you for ministry:
I engaged in:
____study groups in my congregation
____denominational study retreat or continuing education events
____interdenominational study retreats or continuing education events
____personal study and reading in areas of religion or theology or
ministry
____took a seminary course
____on campus
____off campus
comment:

⇓
⇓
9. Note one key way the ATE program met your expectations and one key way the program
did not meet your expectations:

Met Expectations:

Did Not Meet Expectations:

⇓
10. In what ways did you feel challenged in the course of study in which you engaged and in what ways
did you feel least challenged?
Most challenged:

Least challenged:
⇓
11. After completing the ATE basic requirements, how would you term your continuing leadership
involvement within your home congregation?
______significantly less involvement
______less involvement
______involvement about the same
______more involvement
______significantly more involvement

comment:

⇓
12. Because of your study in the ATE Program, were you: (check one)
____ordained ____commissioned ____licensed or certified
note designation other than given above:
⇓
13. If your study has led to placement or assignment or call where your gifts in ministry are used, how did
this take place?

⇓
13b. Was your call/assignment in your ___home membership congregation
___other congregation
___community or service ministry
___other (note this)

96
14. Briefly describe the site and context of your place of ministry (e.g., I assist a pastor in two small rural
parishes that have membership of less than 20 and cannot afford a pastor….)

⇓
15. Is there a stipend associated with you ministry? ____yes _____no
(go to “17” if you answer “no”)
⇓
16. If there is a stipend, how important is the income from this work to your total financial well being?
_____stipend is very important for my total financial well being
_____stipend is important “ “
_____stipend is neither important or unimportant “ “
_____stipend is unimportant “ “

comment:
⇓
⇓
17. Is your ministry: ___basically supply preaching
_ __part time in one church
___part time in more than one church
___full time in one church
___full time in several churches
Comment on other option if relevant:
⇓
18. Besides your ministry (noted in 17, above), indicate other work in which you, also, engage:
___ no other work (if checked go on to 19)

(complete items below if you did not check “no” above)

___full time employment

___part time employment
___retired
___home maker
___other (comment)

⇓
19. How would you describe your relationship with other seminary-trained clergy in the community where
you minister?
Among other clergy in your community
____very accepted
____accepted
____accepted with reservations
____not accepted
comment:

⇓
20. How would you describe your relationship with other seminary-trained clergy in your denomination?
____very accepted
____accepted
____accepted with reservations
____not accepted
comment:

97
21. What additional continuing education do you find you need for want to enhance your ministry? Rank
1,2,3, etc. (with 1 being highest priority)
____more study like I have just completed
____study at a seminary
____engage in distance education (internet or other technology)
____work with a mentor
____other

Note below (in order of priority to you) subject areas in which you would like more study (e.g.,
Christian ethics, pastoral care, theology, Christian education……)
____________________ ____________________ ____________________
⇓
22. If seminary education had been available when you started the ATE program, would that have been an
option for you?
_____yes ____no ____maybe

Comment:

⇓
23. Do you have any interest in attending a seminary?
____yes, for a short period of study
____yes, for a degree
____no

Please comment briefly on your response:

⇓
24. If you have an interest in attending seminary, what is needed to make this possible? (note two things
that would make it possible and two things that hinder or limit this possibility)

⇓
25. In what ways do you see theological seminaries or schools relating to and supporting the type of
alternative for theological education in which you participated?

⇓
26. List three contributions you believe programs like the one in which you particiate(d) offer for the
future of the churches’ ministries:

Thank you for completing this questionnaire

And sharing in the work of this project

98
 Coding Categories

(1)About Project

(2)Actors
(2 1)Founders
(2 2)Director
(2 3)Student
(2 4)Mentor
(2 5)Teacher

(3)Program Mission Motivation

(3 1)Target Audience
(3 2)Economic
(3 3)Location-Geography
(3 4)Gifts Development
(3 5)Church's Mission in the World

(4)Ecclesiology

(5)Pedagogy

(6)Program Value, Importance

(7)Program Design, Curriculum

(7 1)Structure
(7 2)Collegial Formation and Support
(7 3)Resources
(7 4)Evaluation
(7 5)Spiritual Formation
(7 6)Admissions Requirements

(8)Program Characteristics
(8 1)DefinedCourseCurriculum
(8 2)FacilitatedStudy
(8 3)Independent Study
(8 4)CongregationBased

(9)Local, Global Dimensions of Ministry

(10)Ministry Leadership
(10 1)Models of
(10 2)Quality of, plus or minus
(10 3)Outcomes, Benefits, Detractions

99
(11)Role of Background Issues
(11 1)Gender in Ministry
(11 2)Ethnicity_Race in Ministry
(11 3)Age in Ministry

(12)Student Motivation
(12 1)Life Transitions
(12 2)Service to People
(12 3)Divine Will and Call
(12 4)Personal Enrichment and Formation

(13)Observations about Seminary

(14)Relationship to Clergy Structure and Authority

(15)Vocational Issues

(16)Issues to Addressed

(17)Nature/Reform of Theological Education

(20)Contextual Variables
(20 1)Physical
(20 2)Economy
(20 3)History
(20 4)Change Plus or Minus

(21)Congregational Attributes
(21 1)Size of
(21 2) Constituency of
(21 3) Vision or Mission of
(21 4)Vitality of

(70)Telephone Interview Questions

(70 1)* Involvement
(70 2)* Founding of the Program
(70 3)* Motivations
(70 4)* Beneficiaries
(70 5)* Typical Students
(70 6)* Eligibility
(70 7)* Governance
(70 8)* Relationship With Seminary-College
(70 9)* Representative Course-Delivery
(70 10)* Academic Credit

100
 (70 11)* Faculty-Honorarium
(70 12)* Spiritual Formation-Skill Formation Feedback
(70 13)* People Who Have Completed The Program
(70 14)* Names Of Students-Faculty
(70 15)* Mentor
(70 16)* Clergy Response
(70 17)* Family-Friends Response
(70 18)* Advantages-Disadvantages For The Church
(70 19)* Strengths-Weaknesses
(70 20)* Insights
(70 21)* Other

(71)Survey Questions
(71 1)*1Gender
(71 2)*2Age
(71 3)*3Denomination
(71 4)*4Biography to ATE
(71 5)*5Prior ATE Home Cong Involvement
(71 6)*6How Introduced to ATE
(71 7)*7Ed prior to ATE
(71 8)*8Prior learning study prior to ATE involvement
(71 9)*9ATE met/not meet expectations
(71 10)*10Challenge/not in ATE program
(71 11)*11Continued involvement home cong after ATE
(71 12)*12Post ATE ministry authorization
(71 13)*13Where call to
(71 13 1)*13bHow called
(71 14)*14Ministry context
(71 15)*15Stipend
(71 16)*16Stipend importance
(71 17)*17Ministry type
(71 18)*18Other work besides assigned ministry
(71 19)*19Relat community clergy
(71 20)*20Relat same denomination clergy
(71 21)*21Additional continuing ed desired
(71 22)*22Option of seminary ed before ATE
(71 23)*23Interest to attend seminary after ATE
(71 24)*24What would make possible to attend seminary
(71 25)*25How seminaries could support ATE
(71 26)*26Three contributions of ATE to future of churches' ministry

(72)Notes, Memos, Insights

(73)Key Quotes

(100)Attributes

101
(100 1)Locations
(100 1 1)Northern Michigan
(100 1 2)Nebraska
(100 1 3)Tennessee
(100 1 4)Canada
(100 1 5)New York
(100 1 6)Texas
(100 1 7)N Carolina
(100 1 8)N. Dakota
(100 1 9)California
(100 1 10)Alaska
(100 1 11)Ohio
(100 1 12)Virginia
(100 1 13)Oklahoma
(100 1 14)Iowa
(100 1 15) Missouri
(100 1 16)S. Dakota

(100 2)Denomination
(100 2 1)U.C.C.
(100 2 2)PCUSA
(100 2 3)E.L.C.A.
(100 2 4)Episcopal
(100 2 5)UMC
(100 2 6)U.C.C.anada

(100 3)Site Notes

(100 3 1)Congregation
(100 3 2)Program

(100 4)Consultation Notes

(100 5)Stories

(100 6)Written Resources

102
 Partial List of Programs

United Church of Christ

Lay Academy
P.O. Box 435; DeForest, WI 53532-0435
UCC- Wisconsin Conference
Program started in 1994
Leads to: commissioned or licensed ministry, general lay leadership

Lay Ministry for the 21st Century

P.O. Box 177; Palmerton, PA 18071
UCC – Tri-Penn Conferences
Program started 1996
40-50 Current Students
Leads to: Certification in Church Leadership, Commissioned or Licensed Ministry
0 graduates serving in ministry at this time

Partners in Ministry
2560 Clearview Avenue NW; Canton, OH 44718
UCC- Eastern Ohio Association
Program started 1967
25 Current Students
Leads to: Certified or Licensed Ministry, general lay leadership
5 graduates serving in ministry at this time

Lay School of the Church

601 W. Riverview; Dayton, OH 45406
UCC- SW Ohio/Northern Kentucky Association
Program started in 1992?
21 Current Students
Leads to Licensed Ministry, general lay leadership
? graduates serving in ministry at this time

Yankton College Licensed Ministry Program

3500 S. Phillips Avenue, #121; Sioux Falls, SD 57105
UCC – Yankton College in cooperation with South Dakota/Northern Plains Conferences
Program started in 1996
35 Current Students
Leads to Licensed Ministry
0 graduates serving in ministry at this time

Licensed Ministers for Pulpit Supply

227 W. Broadway; Bismarck, ND 58501
UCC – Northern Plains Conference (North Dakota)
Program started 1990
5 current students
Emp: general lay leadership/pulpit supply
9 graduates serving in ministry

103
Lay School of Religion
416 Wentz Street; Tiffin, OH 44883
UCC- NW Ohio Association
Programs started 1971
18 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
20+ graduates serving in ministry

Licensed Ministry Training Program

1100 West 42nd Street; Indianapolis, IN 46208
UCC- Indiana/Kentucky Conference
Program started 20-30 years ago
25-30 current students
Emp: general lay leadership
20 graduates serving in ministry
Note: ownership of program is the UCC with the Disciples of Christ

Untitled Program
825 M Street, Suite 201; Lincoln, NE 68508-2251
UCC – Nebraska Conference
Program started Fall 1998
0 current students
Emp: Commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
0 graduates
Note: Cooperative effort of 2 judicatories (UCC and Disciples) in same geographic area

Licensed Ministry School

320 S. Maple Avenue; Greensburg, PA 15601
UCC – Penn West Conference
Program started 1960’s
6 current students
Emp: General lay leadership – conducting worship services
20 graduates serving in ministry

Lay Ministries Training Program c/o Northwest

24017 27th PL. W; Brier, WA 98036
Counseling and Consulting Associates
UCC – 2 NW Conferences (Washington)
Program started 1995
23 current students
Emp: Commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
18 graduates serving in ministry

Minister’s Training Class

P.O. Box 1447; Kailua-Kona, HI 96745
UCC – Hawaii Island Assn.
Program started 1995
12 current students
Emp: Licensed and locally ordained ministers
7 graduates serving in ministry

104
CAML/LAMP
617 N. First St.; DeKalb, IL 60115
UCC – Illinois Conference
Program started 1980’s (early)
12 current students
Emp: Licensed ministry/general lay leadership
200 graduates serving in ministry

Lay Ministry Training and Licensed Ministry Program

P.O. Box 325; Highland, IL 62249
UCC – Illinois South Conference
Program started 1994
16 current students
Emp: Licensed ministry/general lay leadership
3 graduates serving in ministry

Center/Learn
600 42nd Street; Des Moines, IA 50312
UCC – Iowa Conference
Program started 1991
30 current students
Emp: Licensed ministry/general lay leadership
28 graduates serving in ministry

Lay Ministry Program

3049 East Genesee Street; Syracuse, NY 13224
UCC – New York Conference
Program started 1975
31 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership/supply preaching
15 graduates serving in ministry (5 have gone on to seminary and ordination)

LINK
UCC - Western Association, Southern Conference

SCOPE
200 Davis Road; Hillsboro, NC 27278
UCC – Southern Conference, Eastern Association. Progra m started 1982. 14 current students. Emp.
Ordained Ministry. About 20 graduates.

Episcopal Church
Institute for Christian Studies
1017 E. Robinson Street; Orlando, FL 32801
Diocese of Central Florida
Program started 1974
35-45 current students
Emp: ordained,commissioned,licensed ministry/general lay leadership
Too many graduates to count

School of Christian Studies

129 Wilson Street; Carlisle, PA 17013
Diocese of Central Pennsylvania
Program started 1973
21 current students
Emp: vocational diaconate/general lay leadership
44 graduates serving in ministry

105
Diocesan School of Theology
2100 S. Maryland Parkway, Suite 4; Las Vegas, NV 89104
Diocese of Nevada
Program started 1975
50+ current students
Emp: Continuing Ed for all baptized ministers/those on Canon III.9 ordination track
N/A graduates of program

Deacons School
Box 149; Fond du Lac, WI 54936-0149
Diocese of Fond du Lac
Program started 1987
7 current students
Emp: ordained (Diaconal) ministry
8 graduates serving in ministry

Theological Education and Ministry Support (TEAMS) Academy

P.O. Box 10337; Fargo, ND 58106
Diocese of North Dakota
Program started 1996 (earlier version 1981)
Varies current students
Emp: Ordained,commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
40 graduates serving in ministry

Diocesan Study Program

P.O. Box 5400; Charleston, WV 25301
Diocese of West Virginia
Program started 1990
25 current students
Emp: ordained ministry/general lay leadership
10 graduates serving in ministry

Pastoral Visiting Lay Eucharistic Ministry Training Program

P.O. Box 207; St. Mary's City, MD 20686
Diocese of Washington (DC)
Program started 1994
Up to 25 current students
Emp: Provide Eucharistic ministry to those unable to come to church
130 graduates in 1997 serving in ministry

Untitled
804 East Juneau Street; Milwaukee, WI 53202
Diocese of Milwaukee
Program started 1970’s
5 current students
Emp: ordained (deacons) ministry/pastoral leadership
35 graduates serving in ministry

Ministry Formation Project

225 37th Street; Des Moines, IA 50312
Diocese of Iowa
Program started 1995
15 current students
Emp: general lay leadership/prep. for local ordination
0 graduates (yet) – but all are serious lay ministers

106
Deacon Formation Program
1108 Anderson Street; Durham, NC 27705
Diocese of North Carolina
Program started 1984
8 current students
Emp: ordained (deacon) and facilitate servant ministry by lay people
28 graduates serving in ministry

Diaconal Training Program for Permanent Deacons

502 West Sumter Street; Shelby, NC 28150
Diocese of Western North Carolina
Program started 1978
8 current students
Emp: ordained as Deacons – pastoral leadership of congregations
50 graduates serving in ministry

Missouri School for the Diaconate

P.O. Box 15748; Kansas City, MO 64106
Diocese of Missouri
Program started 1990
8 current students
Emp: to educate postulants and candidates for ordination as Deacons
30 graduates serving in ministry

Diaconal Formation Program

42 N. Lockey Woods Road; Beacon, NY 12508
Diocese of New York
Program started 1992
20 current students
Emp: to form, educate and prepare person for ordination to the (perpetual) diaconate
40 graduates serving in ministry

Deacon Formation Program

2230 Euclid Avenue; Cleveland, OH 44115
Diocese of Ohio
Program started 1990
0 current students (new class in process of being formed)
Emp: Ordained (education and training for the diaconate)
11 graduates serving in ministry

Institute for Christian Leadership

3560 Kings River Road; Pawleys Island, SC 29585
Diocese of South Carolina and Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry
Program started 1997-8
6 current students
Emp: ordained
0 graduates (yet)
Note: planting new congregations is one of the goals of this program

107
Paths to Service
1205 Denali Way; Fairbanks, AK 99707
Diocese of Alaska
Program started 1971
14 current students
Emp: Canon 9/lay leadership
7(?) graduates serving in ministry

Mutual (Baptismal) Ministry

131 E. Ridge Street; Marquette, MI 49855
Diocese of Northern Michigan
Program started 1986
53 current students
Emp : ordained,commissioned or licensed ministry
127 graduates serving in ministry
Note: predominate goal – support ministry of all the baptized sacramentally and in daily life

Alternative Theological Education in Los Angeles (ATELA)

P.O. Box 512164; Los Angeles, CA 90051
Diocese of Los Angeles
Program started 1991
3 current students
Emp: ordained ministry
4 graduates serving in ministry
Note: governed by the Diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry

Ministry Exploration and Education Program

1335 Asylum Avenue; Hartford, CT 06105-2295
Diocese of Connecticut
Program started 1993
23 current students
Emp: general lay leadership/beginning training for vocational Deacons
? graduates
and
? name of program (Alternative Training for Spanish speaking persons)
Diocese of Connecticut
Program started 1997
8 current students
Emp: Ordained ministers – pastoral leadership of Hispanic congregations
? graduates

Ministry Exploration and Education Program (MEEP)

1335 Asylum Avenue; Hartford, CT 06105
Episcopal Church of Connecticut
Program started 1992
22 current students
Emp: ordained, commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
35 graduates serving in ministry
and
Deacon Training Program
1335 Asylum Avenue; Hartford, CT 06105
Episcopal Church of Connecticut
Program started 1984
3 current students
Emp: Ordained (deaconal) ministry
30 graduates serving in ministry

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Youth Ministry School
1017 E. Robinson Street; Orlando, FL 32803
Dioceses of Florida and Central Florida
Program started 1995
20-30 current students
Emp: Commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership/lay staff youth workers
? graduates

Untitled Program
510 S. Farwell Street; Eau Claire, WI 54701
Diocese of Eau Claire
Program started 1996
1 current student
Emp: ordained ministry
0 graduates (yet)

Mutual Ministry Development Committee

RFD #1, Box 2275; Liberty, ME 04949
Diocese of Maine
Program started 1997
40+ current students
Emp: Ordained (in the past) ministry/commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
40 graduates serving in ministry

Ministry Studies Program of the Whitaker School of Theology

15801 Joy Road; Detroit, MI 48228
Diocese of Michigan
Program started 1990
9 current students
Emp: Ordained ministry/general lay leadership
? graduates
and
Whitaker School of Theology
15801 Joy Road; Detroit, MI 48228
Diocese of Michigan
Program started ?
300 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
N/A graduates – one does not graduate from this program

SW Florida School for Ministry

P.O. Box 491; St. Petersburg, FL 33731
Diocese of SW Florida
Programs started 1998
110 current students
Emp: Ordained, commissioned, or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
N/A graduates (yet)

Deacon Formation Program (OACES)

5635 E. 71st Street; Tulsa, OK 74136
Diocese of Oklahoma
Program started 1980
15 current students
Emp: ordained, commissioned or licensed ministry

109
30 graduates serving in ministry
and
OACES Inc. (Opportunities for Adult Christian Education and Spirituality
Diocese of Oklahoma
Program started 1989
250 current students
Emp: ordained, commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
N/A graduates

Diocesan School of Theology

P.O. Box 12126; Seattle, WA 98102
Diocese of Olympia
Program started ?
Many current students
Emp: Ordained (diaconate) ministry, commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
800 graduates serving in ministry

Diaconal Formation Process

Diocese of Colorado
Program started 1994
14 current students
Emp: to train and form vocational Deacons
15-20 graduates serving in ministry

School for Ministry

245 E. 13th Avenue; Spokane, WA 99202
Diocese of Spokane
Program started 1991
90 current students
Emp: Ordained,commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
20-30 graduates serving in ministry

Education for Ministry/University of the South

335 Tennessee Ave; Sewanee, TN 37383-0001
(cooperative effort with the Disciples)
Program started 1970’s
7500 current students
Emp: empower laity/general lay leadership
1000/yr graduates

Niabrara School of Ministry (South Dakota)

500 South Main Street; Sioux Falls, SD 57104
Program started 1970’s
25 current students
Emp: ordained (Canon 9) ministry/general lay leadership
20 graduates
Note: this is a continuing ed based program for non Mdiv degreed persons

United Methodist Church

United Methodist Course of Study School

210 Bishops Hall; Atlanta, GA 30322
At Emory University, Candler School of Theology
Program started ?
270-300 current students
Emp: ordained ministry/general lay leadership

110
Ohio Valley Course of Study School
221 E. Gates Street; Columbus, OH 43206
Program started 1994
196 current students
Emp: ordained,commissioned or licensed ministry
4 graduates serving in ministry (just began graduating students this year)
Note: currently they only educate part-time local pastors but they are developing a proposal to become a
regional center with a different educational model than the other centers

West Virginia Part-time Local Pastor’s

700 Wheeling Avenue; Glendale, WV 26038
Course of Study School
Program started 1993
50 current students
Emp: ordained, commissioned or licensed ministry
50 graduates serving in ministry
Note: issues addressing the program included in the material

Arkansas Area Extension

1811 Jefferson Street; Conway, AR 72032
Course of Study School
Program started 1995
70 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry

Tennessee/Holston Course of Study

Lambuth Box 438, Lambuth University; Jackson, TN 38301
Program started 1998
0 current students (yet)
Emp : ordained ministry
0 graduates (yet)

Saint Paul Course of Study School (Kansas City, MO)

5123 Truman Road; Kansas City, MO 64127
Program started 1960 (when seminary was founded)
220 current students
Emp: ordained, commissioned or licensed ministry
500-600 over 30 years graduates

Course of Study School

Perkins School of Theology, S.M.U.; Dallas, TX 75274-0133
They did not send a questionnaire along with the material, so information regarding data requested is not
reflected on our summary sheets.
Emp: this program is for those who choosing not to enter the United Methodist ministry through the
seminary route but through the alternative route as “local pastor”
Note: All materials were sent in Spanish as well as English.

Claremont School of Theology

1325 N. College Avenue; Claremont, CA 91711
Program started ?
119 current students
94 regular COS
10 Hispanic COS
15 Licensing school
Emp: ordained ministry
90% of graduates are serving in ministry

111
Mississippi Course of Study
Millsaps College, P.O. Box 151550; Jackson, MS 39210
Program started ?
200+ current students
Emp: ordained,commissioned, or licensed ministry
40 graduates serving in ministry
Note: included in the materials is the annual report on the program

Partnership in Ministry/Extension COS with Garrett Evangelical Seminary

1502 Sanders Drive; Auburn, IN 46706
Program started 1992
80 current students (15-20 License to preach)
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry
No graduates (this is a 10 year program)

Course of Study at Wesley

Wesley Theological Seminary
Washington, D.C. 20016

Course of Study at Duke

The Divinity School
Box 90966
Durham, NC 27708-0966
ELCA

Lay Pastoral Associates Program

2415 13th Ave. S; Great Falls, MT 59405
Montana Synod
Program started 1997
12 current students
Emp: licensed ministry/personal enrichment/general lay leadership
4 graduates serving in ministry
Note: especially designed to provide licensed ministry in small geographically isolated congregations in
Eastern and North-Central Montana

Parish Mi nistry Associate Program

1512 Avenue G; Gothenburg, NE 69138-1716
Nebraska Synod
Program started 1993
38 current students
Emp: certified ministry
17 graduates serving in ministry

Lay School for Mission

Northern Great Lakes Synod
Program started 1991
25 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
10 graduates serving in ministry

112
Melanchthon Institute
2353 Rice Blvd.; Houston, TX 77005-2696
Texas
Program started ?
? current students
Emp: general lay leadership
N/A graduates (not a degreed program)

Lay School of Ministry

16 Tri-Park Way; Appleton, WI 54914
East-Central Synod of Wisconsin
Program started 1996
54 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
N/A graduates

Lay School of Ministry

P.O. Box 730; Rice Lake, WI 54868
NW Synod of Wisconsin
Program started 1993
56 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
60 graduates serving in ministry

Lay Missionary Training Program

801 S. Waverly Road, Suite 201; Lansing, MI 48917
North/West Lower Michigan Synod
Program started 1993
15 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry
? graduates

GIFTS (Growing in Faith to Serve)

Box 370; Bismarck, ND 58502
Western North Dakota Synod
Program started 1989
200 current students
Emp: general lay leadership
N/A graduates (approx. 8 students who are preparing for ordained leadership)

Certified Lay Ministry

818 Spruce Street; Hoquiam, WA 98550
Southwestern Washington Synod
Program started 1990
16 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry
10 graduates serving in ministry

Disciples of Christ
Lay Theological Institute
4325 W. 29th Avenue, Suite 369; Denver, CO 80212
Colorado
Program started 1996
11 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry
10 graduates serving in ministry

113
Preacher Enrichment Preparation Program (PEPP)
1336 Montgomery Hwy. S; Birmingham, AL 35216
Alabama
Program started 1991
10 current students
Emp: ordained, commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
12 graduates serving in ministry

Alternative Track in Preparation for Ordained Ministry

0245 SW Bancroft, Suite F; Portland, OR 97201
Oregon
Program started developed 1996 – still on paper
0 current students
Emp: ordained ministry
0 graduates
Note: program developed to address needs of candidates wanting to attend seminary but can not relocate

Lay Ministers School

1125 Red Mile Road; Lexington, KY 40514
Kentucky
Program started 1991
32 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry
N/A graduates

Licensed Minister Mentor Program

1011 North Main Street; Bloomington, IL 61701
Illinois
Program started 1980’s
14 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry
40 graduates serving in ministry

Lay Academy
Dept. of Religion and Philosophy/Barton College; Wilson, NC 27893
North Carolina – Barton College
Program started 1995
22 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
7 graduates serving in ministry

Ohio Commission on Ministry - Alternative Ordination Track

P.O. Box 299; Elyria, OH 44036-0299
Ohio
Program started 1996
? current students
Emp: ordained ministry
0 graduates (yet)

Lay Institute
6212 Craigmont Road; Catonsville, MD 21228-1235
Capital Area
Program started 1995
35-40 current students
Emp: Prep. for licensed ministry/general lay leadership
0 graduates (yet)

114
 Presbyterian Church (USA)

CLP
1415 Waverly Road; Kingsport, TN 37664
Tennessee
Program started 1986
8 current students
Emp: commissioned ministry/general lay leadership
11 graduates (on going)
15 graduates (intermittently)

Cook College and Theological School

708 South Lindon Lane; Tempe, AZ 85281
Program started 1992
32 current students (residential program)
180 current students (extension program – no degrees)
Emp: Commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
10 graduates in lay ministry
6 graduates in college related programs
4 graduates in seminary
Note: A goal of this program is to support/address the needs for new church development for particular
communities (Native American, rural and urban)

CLP
890 W. Spiller Street; Wytheville, VA
Presbytery of Abingdon (VA)
Program started 1983
5 current students
Emp: commissioned ministry
25 graduates serving in ministry

Lay Preacher Training Program

5 East Main Street, P.O. Box 40; Bainbridge, NY 13733
Presbytery of Susquehanna Valley (NY)
Program started 1992
20 current students
Emp: commissioned lay pulpit supply preachers
23 graduates serving in ministry

Lay Pastors School

1323 Myrtle Avenue; Cincinnati, OH 45206-1708
Presbytery of Cincinnati
Program started 1998
UNK current students
Emp: commissioned ministry
4 graduates (from prev. program)

Academy for Lay Ministries and Personal Growth

300 N. Forest Road; Buffalo, NY 14221
Presbytery of Western New York
Program started 1996
20 current students
Emp: CLP/certified Christian Educators/Personal growth
0 graduates (yet)

115
CLP Training
309 South Fifth Street; Grand Forks, ND 58201
Presbytery of the Northern Plains
Program started 1998
0 current students
Emp: Commissioned ministry
6 graduates serving in ministry

Escuela Telogica Juan Bidot

SZ-14 Urb. Valle Hermoso, Hormiqueros, PR 00660
Presbytery of Puerto Rico (del Suroeste)
Inactive Program

Untitled Program
0245 SW Bancroft, Suite D; Portland, OR 97201-4272
Presbytery of the Cascades
Program started 1998
0 current students
Emp: CLP
? graduates

CLP
2002 Schuster Pkwy, #102; Tacoma, WA 98402-5373
Presbytery of _______ (Tacoma, WA)
Program started 1996
16 current students
Emp: commissioned ministry/general lay leadership
0 graduates (yet)

Mackinac Presbytery CLP

2206 Mitchell Park Drive; Petosky, MI 49770
Michigan
Program started 1995
4 current students
Emp: CLP
0 graduates
Note: Another program was included from Michigan titled Presbyterian Point Conference Center but it is
primarily for continuing education for pastors

Untitled Program
P.O. Box 278; Dresden, NY 14441
Presbytery of Geneva (NY)
Program started 1996
20 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
12 graduates serving in ministry

Christian Education/Lay Pastor Certification Course

6172 Busch Blvd., Suite 3000; Columbus, OH 43229
Presbyterian Synod of the Covenant (Ohio)
Program started 1996 (course for credit)
Current students – varies
Emp : Commissioned or licensed ministry/certification for Christian Educators
? graduates

116
South Carolina Lay School of Theology
515 Oakland Avenue; Rock Hill, SC 29730
5 Presbyteries in South Carolina
Program started 1992
100 current students
Emp: commissioned ministry/general lay leadership
75 graduates serving in ministry
Note: this program trains CLP’s for Presbyterian churches – the majority of those who attend the Fall and
Spring weekends come to learn more about their Christian faith and prepare themselves to be church school
teachers, Bible leaders, etc.

Lay Pastors Academy

601 Fifth Avenue; Watervliet, NY 12189
Presbytery of Albany
Program started 1990
9 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry
1 graduate serving in ministry
Note: evaluation of program included

Lay Pastor’s Training

45 Idlewild Road; Youngstown, OH 44515
Presbytery of Eastminster (Ohio)
Program started 1995
5 current students
Emp: commissioned ministry
4 graduates serving in ministry

CLP Program
1122 Camelot Circle; Birmingham, AL 35226
Presbytery of Sheppards & Lapsley (AL)
Program started 1995
0 current students (new class starts March 1998)
Emp: Commissioned ministry
12 graduates serving in ministry

Lay Academy
Box 1405; Storm Lake, IA 50588
Presbytery of Prospect Hill
Program started ?
22 current students
Emp: Commissioned or licensed ministry
N/A graduates (new program)
Note: Barbara Anne Keely included a letter sent to her as she is part of the leadership of this program.

Lay Pastors Training

5288 N. Old US Hwy 31; Rochester, IN 46975-7382
Presbytery of Wabash Valley
Program started 1997
16 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry
6+ graduates serving in ministry

117
CLP Program
4423 N. 24th Street, Suite 200; Phoenix, AZ 85016
Presbytery of Grand Canyon
Program started 1997
5 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry
0 graduates (yet)
Note: to provide alternative means of preparing lay pastors for those who are living/working in remote
areas and unable to attend seminary – also to provide a leadership pool

CLP Committee
2000 Haskell Blvd.; Muskogee, OK 74403
Presbytery of Eastern Oklahoma
Program started 1987
22 current students
Emp: commissioned ministry
22 graduates serving in ministry

Lay Pastor Committee of Transylvania Presbytery

412 Rose Street; Lexington, KY 40508
Kentucky
Program started 1993
15 current students
Emp: commissioned ministry
6 graduates serving in ministry

Lay Preacher’s Training

Presbytery of Northern New York
Program started 1997
5 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry
N/A graduates

Lay Preacher Workshops

803 E. College Avenue
Presbytery of Winnebago
Program started 1998
Current students – varies
Emp: general lay leadership
0 graduates (yet)

Commissioned/Certified Lay Pastor Program

4511 6th Avenue, Suite 204; Kearney, NE 68847
Presbytery of Central Nebraska
Program started 1992
15 current students
Emp: Commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
2 graduates serving in ministry

CLP/Pastor Training
520 2nd Avenue; South Charleston, WV 25303
Presbytery of West Virginia
Program started 1986
? current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry
30 graduates serving in ministry

118
Leadership Development for Ministry
4055 Abbott Drive; Willmar, MN 56201
Presbytery of Minnesota Valleys
Program started 1992
0 current students (one time program)
Emp: ordained, commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
18 graduates serving in ministry

Institute for Development of Lay Ministry

4055 Abbott Drive; Willmar, MN 56201
Presbytery of Minnesota Valleys
Program started 1998 (April)
0 current students
Emp: ordained, commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
0 graduates (yet)

Supply Preacher/CLP Training Program

P.O. Box 339; Yatesboro, PA 16263
Presbytery of Kiskiminetas (PA)
Program started 1997
19 current students
Emp: commisisoned or licensed ministry
N/A graduates

CLP Program
1514 E. 3rd Street; Bloomington, IN 47401-3733
Presbytery of Ohio Valley
Program started 1986
11 current students
Emp: general lay leadership (must be ordained elders)
8 graduates serving in ministry

CLP Program
1710 South Grant Street; Denver, CO 80210
Presbytery of Denver
Program started 1998
10 current students
Emp: commissioned ministry/general lay leadership
0 graduates (yet)

United Church of Canada

Dr. Jessie Saulteaux Resource Centre

Box 210; Beausejour, Manitoba (Canada) ROE OCO
Program started 1984
17 current students
Emp: ordained, commissioned, or licensed ministry
? graduates serving in ministry
Note: the Centre’s dual mandate is to prepare Aboriginal people for the ministry and to provide cross-
cultural education for the larger community
The Centre considers itself as ecumenical

119
Francis Sandy Theological Centre/Ontario.
Box 446; Paris, Ontario (Canada)
Program started 1987.
7 current students
Emp: ordained, commissioned, or licensed ministry/lay pastoral ministry certification
5 graduates serving in ministry

Ecumenical Programs

Missouri School of Religion Center for Rural Ministry

P.O. Box 104684; Jefferson City, MO 65110-4685
Program started 1982
13 current students
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry
20 graduates serving in ministry
Note: they are in the beginning stages of phasing out the MTS program in favor of an Eden certificate
program

Ecumenical Institute for Ministry

124 Hermose, SE; Albuquerque, NM 87108-2610
New Mexico Conference of Churches
Program started 1994
14 current students in MRS
~65 in certification program
Emp: commissioned or licensed ministry/general lay leadership
0 graduates (yet)

120
 References

Carroll, Jackson, Wheeler, Barbara, Aleshire, Daniel, and Marler, Penny Long, Being
There. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).

Hadaway, C. Kirk and Roozen, David A., Rerouting the Protestant Mainstream.
(Nashville: Abingdon, 1995). p. 122.

Hart, D.G. and Mohler, R. Albert,Jr., eds., Theological Education in the Evangelical
Tradition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1996).

Presbyterian Research Services, Presbyterian Survey. Louisville, October, 1997.

QSR: Non-numerical Unstructured Data Indexing, Searching, and Theory Building.

(Australia: Qualitative solutions and Research Pty. Ltd., June 1997).

http\\www.census.gov/, December, 1999.

121