CBF creative leadership and theological education

By Suzii Paynter

Ask anyone. CBF congregations have a reputation for thoughtful, well educated leaders.

If you are in the office of a CBF pastor or staff member, check the bookshelves (or Kindle/iBooks account) – they are loaded. Theological preparation is not accidental; it has been expanding exponentially in the Fellowship.

Until the Fellowship began to develop widely in the mid 1990s, Baptist theological education was almost exclusively expressed as free standing seminaries. But this was not to be the only face of the future.

Because of the many talented scholars in our midst, something unpredictable happened on the way to the future: new expressions of theological education developed as the Fellowship matured.

New forms of theological life have been introduced for Baptists by the Fellowship community. Seminaries developed in tandem with Baptist universities, and Baptist Houses of Study developed in tandem with other national divinity schools – both models that were new to the Baptist landscape since 1990.

In addition, patterned after historical Baptist tradition, we birthed free-standing seminaries as well. The Fellowship now relates to 15* seminaries and divinity schools, with more in sight.

This diversity is a reflection of the creativity of the Fellowship and overall changes in theological education across the nation. Today, the Fellowship’s partnership with so many institutions is something of a unique laboratory of relationships in a changing world of ministerial preparation.

Theological education, like global missions, is one of the most important things that we do together. Clearly, no one church can be a seminary or divinity school for all people. The CBF State and Regional Organizations play an important role in cultivation, support and strength of all the related institutions.

The rich community of learning that characterizes the seminaries and divinity schools that serve the Fellowship, although characteristically unique at each of the 15 institutions, is a model of koinonia that equips and inspires clergy leaders into lifelong ministry. But it is also an unpredictable frontier.

We have been creative and flexible. We will need to continue our resourcefulness as a greater Fellowship to address these trends:

• Regionalized, sometimes isolated, learning – candidates taking advantage of local seminary programs rather than being able to join a program where their cohort in school will also be their colleagues in ministry.
• Student debt – students leave undergraduate programs with debt and seminary adds the burden of more debt. Many leave seminary with debt the size of a mortgage.
• Next generation professors – much of the Cooperative Baptist identity in our settings is tied to the strong identity of leading professors, many of whom will reach retirement in the next 7 years.
• Church engagement and mentoring – seminarians are in need of congregational placements for meaningful internships and residencies in a variety of local settings. Upon graduation, ministers need places to live into their call.
• Theological exclusion – education grants often exclude theological education from higher education funding in loans and grants, and thus the path to PhD education in theological disciplines is more difficult than in other disciplines.
• Identity in a plethora of schools – the Fellowship needs ways of expressing identity in a variety of educational settings. One size will not fit all.

What will the Fellowship do next to support 21st century theological education for church health and life in the context of pluralism for a tradition of excellence? Among other topics, the CBF Ministries Council will consider these opportunities and look at questions like these:

• Will local congregations include seminary giving as a part of missions giving? What portion of a mission budget, no matter how small, could be dedicated to seminary training?
• What ways could a congregation embrace a seminary intern or resident on a regular basis so that the church is more closely related to the cultivation of calling?
• What seminary could be in partnership with your church for the benefit of teaching and learning? What professors or students could be available to teach or join in ministry?
• Is there interest in contributing along with other churches to an endowed scholarship fund set up by the CBF Foundation for theological education? How can small gifts build into larger support for theological education?
• How will the Fellowship create leadership training so that people from various seminary backgrounds can develop identity and friendship in ministry?
• Is there a way to support the next generation of the Fellowship’s leading scholars?

Education is always an interplay of developing dialogue and apprenticeship. In the church, especially, the education of the leader is also the outline for the teaching and learning paradigm that guides the life of the learning congregation. The Fellowship is in need of thinkers, practitioners and dreamers to continue our creative practice of nurturing theological education.

*Seminaries developed in tandem with Baptist universities: McAfee at Mercer University, Logsdon at Hardin Simmons University, Truett Seminary at Baylor University, Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Gardner Webb University Divinity School, Campbell University Divinity School and Baptist University of the Americas.

Fellowship free-standing seminaries: Central Baptist Theological Seminary,
Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, International Baptist Theological Seminary (Prague) and Baptist Seminary of Kentucky.

The Baptist Houses of Study at the following institutions: Candler Seminary at Emory University, Duke Divinity School, Brite Divinity at Texas Christian University and the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.