Consortium Seen as Advance for Theological Education
Diocesan Press Service. October 8, 1971 [95-13]
NEW YORK, Oct. 8 -- Creation of a consortium of three Episcopal seminaries "to establish common policies, standards and practices, and to carry them out to their utmost practicable extent," was announced here today, Provisions of the agreement range from exchanges of faculty and students in the current school term to the forming of a corporate entity in anticipation that all functions of the seminaries may be merged at some future time.
The Episcopal Consortium for Theological Education in the Northeast comprises these three non-profit schools 0 Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, Mass,; Philadelphia Divinity School, and The General Theological Seminary, New York. The announcement was made jointly by their deans, the Very Reverends Harvey H. Guthrie Jr., Cambridge; Edward G, Harris) Philadelphia, and Samuel J. Wylie, New York.
Dean Wylie, serving as spokesman for ECTENE, said that its organizational costs were underwritten by a grant from The Episcopal Church Foundation, a national laymen's organization that supports the work of the Church. The funds were made available following endorsement of the plan by the Church's Board for Theological Education.
"The Board is pleased to encourage this progressive move by the three seminaries," said The Right Reverend Frederick J. Warnecke, Bishop of the Diocese of Bethlehem, Pa, and chairman of BTE. "Cooperation in theological education not only makes economic sense, but also brings to richer fulfillment the original promise to those who would devote their lives to communicating the word of God."
Exchange Program Begun
Immediate effects of the agreement, Dean Wylie said, will be the inauguration of "modest" exchange programs involving faculty and students.
"Each of the schools has outstanding professors in various fields," he said. "By adjusting their course loads so that they may teach at all three locations, we will give instant added strength to each faculty." He added that sabbatical schedules are being standardized among the three institutions to provide backup staff assistance where needed.
A start in student interchange is being made this semester, he said, permitting students to choose their study locations, "It may be possible," he continued, "for a student to enroll at one seminary and gain his degree at another." To this end, he said, appropriate common policies on recruitment, admissions and requirements are being worked out among the member institutions.
Mergers Made Possible
On the subject of eventual merger or consolidation of the schools Dean Wylie explained that should this become necessary -- and there is wide belief that Episcopal theological education does not need as many separate schools as it now has -- the changeover can best be carried out by institutions already working together within a corporate framework that permits relocation of the various entities in one center. "This is a prime purpose of the consortium," he said.
He added that another significant provision in the articles of incorporation enables the consortium to "solicit, acquire and hold" common funds for administrative purposes and for underwriting its functions.
He said other activities and benefits that might be expected in the near future or over the long term are:
Joint study conferences, retreats, meetings and discussions involving students and/or faculty.
Cooperative hiring and assignment of faculty members.
Over-all curricular planning.
Exchange of research facilities.
Provision for any Episcopal seminary that so desires to join ECTENE.
"More important, perhaps, than the specifics, is the fact that the three seminaries now have a meeting ground on which to discuss issues, plan together for the future and make co-ordinated operating decisions," Dean Wylie concluded. "We envisage the consortium as a resource of great worth to the common cause of theological education for the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. Indeed, this could mark the start of a new era in theological education."