Episcopal Seminaries Struggle to Survive
by Mary Ann Mueller, VOL:
Ten accredited theological seminaries and schools for ministry and one, unaccredited Episcopal divinity school, unevenly dot the American Episcopal landscape. An independent study of the state of these seminaries reveals that seventy percent of these institutions have fewer than 100 students.
Their decline follows the bell curve of The Episcopal Church as it experiences loss in members, parish closings and an inability to attract a younger generation of Americans. Many believe that issues like the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopacy, the embrace of pansexuality and homosexual marriage now enshrined in canon law, reflect a Church that lacks a distinctive message separate from the prevailing culture.
These are: General Theological Seminary (New York City); Berkeley Divinity School at Yale (Hew Haven, Connecticut); Episcopal Divinity School (Cambridge, Massachusetts); Trinity School for Ministry (Ambridge, Pennsylvania); Virginia Theological Seminary (Alexandria, Virginia); School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee (Sewanee, Tennessee); Nashotah House Theological Seminary (Nashotah, Wisconsin); Seminary of the Southwest (Austin, Texas); Bexley Hall & Seabury-Western Theological Seminary Federation (Chicago, Illinois); Church Divinity School of the Pacific (Berkeley, California); and Bishop Kemper School for Ministry (Topeka, Kansas).
Presently, the Episcopal seminary scene is rather fluid. In a story recently posted by the Institute on Religion & Democracy’s Juicy Ecumenism blog, it was revealed that at least three Episcopal seminaries — Bexley-Seabury, General and Episcopal Divinity — were some of the smallest divinity schools in the country.
Juicy Ecumenism reports: “Among the smallest accredited Protestant seminaries in the nation are three Episcopal seminaries: Bexley Hall Seabury-Western Theological Seminary Federation with 17 fulltime students enrolled, General Theological Seminary with 34 fulltime students, and Episcopal Divinity School with 35 fulltime students.”
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