Southwest professor appointed to Anglican Communion Theological Education group
Episcopal News Service. March 11, 2010 [031110-05]
ENS staff
The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge has been appointed to the steering committee of the Anglican Communion Theological Education working party.
"This committee provides a great opportunity to connect theological educators in the Episcopal Church with those working in different contexts around the communion," Kittredge, professor of New Testament and dean of community life at the Episcopal Church-affiliated Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas, told ENS March 10. "All of us are very interested in the issue of Anglican identity and the potential of education to define, teach, and form people in this tradition that we share."
Kittredge, whose research specialty is hermeneutics and the letters of Paul, has taught at Harvard University and the College of the Holy Cross. She currently serves as assisting priest at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Austin.
Theological Education in the Anglican Communion (TEAC), as it was formerly known, has been in existence since the early 2000s when it was established as a working party of the Anglican Communion primates. In May 2009, the Anglican Consultative Council agreed via Resolution 14.08 to a new phase of the group's work, which will be called TEAC2, and includes an international steering committee.
During its first meeting in Canterbury at the beginning of Lent, the steering committee established five goals and priorities: facilitation of networking, development of resources, funding, communication, and advocacy.
The new phase of TEAC shares the values of the original group regarding theological education: "that it should be life-long, multi-faceted, and accessible to all, encouraging active learning, attending to context as well as content, and valuing the vital ministry of theological educators," according to a release about Kittredge's appointment.
TEAC2 intends to sponsor a consultation for theological college principals; build on the work done at a consultation organized for women theological educators in 2008; develop a database of Anglican theological educators and educational institutions; translate key resources into a variety of languages used in the Anglican Communion; and explore development of a web-based course in Anglican studies, the release said.
A communique from the recent meeting is available here.
Other members of the steering group are:
- Archbishop Colin Johnson (Toronto, Canada, Chair)
- The Rev. Dr. Sathianathan Clarke (India) - unable to attend the 2010 meeting
- Canon Dr. Ed Condry (UK, Canterbury)
- The Rt. Rev. Dr. Michael Fape (Nigeria and TEAC Regional Associate)
- The Rt. Rev. Dr. Chad Gandiya (Zimbabwe)
- The Rev. Dr. Helen-Ann Hartley (UK)
- The Rev. Sally Sue Hernandez Garcia (Mexico and TEAC Regional Associate)
- The Rt. Rev. Kumara Illangasinghe (Sri Lanka)
- The Rev. Professor Cynthia Briggs Kittredge (USA)
- The Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen Pickard (Australia)
- The Very Rev. Dr. Patrick Tanhuanco (Philippines)
- The Rev. Dr. Joseph Wandera (Kenya and South Africa)
- Sue Parks (representing the staff of the Archbishop of Canterbury)
- Clare Amos (director of theological tudies, Anglican Communion Office, and secretary to TEAC2)