Episcopal Press and News

Search the Episcopal Press and News

Year

All 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962

Enter search query

Board for Theological Education A Diverse Group

Diocesan Press Service. March 14, 1974 [74078]

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- One does not have to be a "professional theologian" to be a member of the Board for Theological Education (BTE) of the Episcopal Church.

The board does include professional theologians -- a professor of theology, an assistant professor of New Testament, a seminary dean, and an instructor -- but it also includes a diversity of vocations.

Two parish rectors -- one of whom is also vice-mayor of Miami, Fla. -- are members of the board. Three of the 15 BTE members are bishops of the Church. Other members of the board are seminary students, an investment banker, an elementary school principal, the director of an American Indian leadership program, and an insurance executive.

Several board members are trustees of Episcopal seminaries and many of them are active members of other boards and joint commissions/committees of the General Convention.

The members of the board, who were appointed jointly by Presiding Bishop John E. Hines and House of Deputies President, the Rev. John B. Coburn, will serve during the triennium 1973-1976.

The BTE's task involves studying the needs and trends of theological education and making recommendations concerning them; assisting the theological institutions in their work; promoting the continuing education of the clergy and programs for the education of the laity; and seeking support for the entire enterprise.

The General Convention at its meeting in Louisville, Ky., last fall, instructed the BTE, in consultation with the seminary deans and others, to establish a select committee to assess the needs for theological education in the accredited seminaries and other agencies preparing people for ordination, and to prepare a plan for the broad-based support of theological education. The select committee is in the process of formation and will begin its work soon.

Unlike other major denomination, the Episcopal Church does not now include the support of theological education in its national budget.

The members of the BTE are: Bishops: Bishop Ned Cole, chairman, Central New York; Bishop A. Donald Davies, Dallas; and Bishop John McG. Krumm, Southern Ohio.

Also, Other Clergy: The Rev. David R. Cochran, director, Dakota Leadership Program, Mobridge, S.D.; the Rev. Canon Theodore R. Gibson, Christ Church, Miami, Fla.; the Rev. Robert Gregg, assistant professor, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, Ill.; the Rev. Carter Heyward, graduate student and instructor, Union Theological Seminary, New York City; the Rev. Charles P. Price, professor, Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, Va.; the Very Rev. Hays H. Rockwell, dean, Bexley Hall, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Rev. Edward R. Sims, Christ Church, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Also, Lay Persons: James Lloyd Edwards, seminarian, Nashotah House, Nashotah, Wis.; Robert F. Gaines, insurance executive, Sacramento, Calif.; Mrs. Eloise E. Lester, seminarian, St. Luke's School of Theology, Sewanee, Tenn.; Charles L. Ritchie, Jr., investment banker, Philadelphia, Pa.; and Waldo J. Smith, elementary school principal, Detroit, Mich.

Dr. Almus M. Thorp, Sr., is executive director of the BTE, and William D. Nix, Jr., seminarian, Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, Austin, Tex., is consultant.