Describes a new lay education program at Wesley Theological Seminary called "Equipping Lay Ministry," which is a part of an overall emphasis on partnerships with congregations. It is one of the things Wesley is doing to cultivate a "culture of the call" renewing a commitment to invite persons to acknowledge and explore their calls to ministry,…

Discusses the absence of education about disability in theological education and the need to integrate studies of disability into the education of religious leaders. (SLD)

Surveyed schools that are members of the Association of Theological Schools to investigate the state of assessment of learning for religious vocation. Responses from 84 schools show considerable interest nationwide in assessment of learning and demonstrate characteristics of schools that are exploring new approaches to assessment of learning for…

Distills recent literature on learning and assessment in higher education to extract insights useful in theological education. The most useful insights appear to be those found in the K-12 literature and parallel professions. (SLD)

This two-part article, drawn from a workshop on diversity sponsored by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), reflect theologically and practically about how the workshop can serve ATS schools and wider publics, and how ATS can better serve these constituencies through its programs, bringing the reality of diversity into the center of…

Presents comments of three Association of Theological Schools presidents on issues and challenges facing theological education. The comments from Joseph C. Hough, Jr., Richard J. Mouw, and Robert M. Franklin came at the August 2000 meeting of the Panel of Advisors of the Auburn Center for the Study of Theological Education. (EV)

Offers an historical overview of the Association of Theological Schools' response to the challenge of diversity in theological education. Reviews the pre-1996 experience of the association and the process of the "Quality and Accreditation" project that resulted in the redeveloped standards now in place, with reflections drawn from the…

Using data from the National Survey of Hispanic/Latino Theological Education, recommends that accrediting agencies convene alliances of seminaries and theological schools that are publicly committed to increasing the number of their Hispanic students, faculty, and administrators. Suggests that seminaries can expand their pool of students by…

Reflecting on personal conscientization to the dynamics of difference during a career as theological educator and administrator, explores how these differences should influence the pedagogy of theological education. Offers suggestions for altering pedagogical practices: diversification of assessment, clear and expansive articulation of guidelines…

This three-part article offers three observations on racial/ethnic student diversity in theological education. The first provides a personal reflection by an ethnic faculty member on diversity as an educational tool. The second reports the voices of students on their experiences of diversity in their theological studies. The third presents…

The mainline seminaries' study group of the Public Character of Theological Education project gathered participants in two separate small conferences to talk about the role and experience of schools in training persons to provide public leadership. This article describes the project and offers resulting observations and recommendations. (EV)