“Student Needs are Academic Needs” and the Theological Library

Trends in the Association of Theological Schools and at the presenters’ seminary indicate increasing diversity of backgrounds and shifting student needs. A 2019 study by ITHAKA S+R of community college students, a population with substantial diversity, indicates a wider variety of student needs than what have traditionally been considered “academic needs.” It makes the case that all student needs are academic needs, many of which can be supported by the library. This aligns with the presenters’ view of their students’ needs and the library’s potential role. A discussion followed of the ways libraries can contribute with “service models” that respond to changing student needs.

DMin as Practical Theology

The Doctor of Ministry is a professional degree accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. As delineated by ATS, the theological program requires to meet specific learning outcomes in a minimum of 30 credit hours with a culminating project that contributes to the understanding of ministry practice. Practical theology is a discipline that seeks to take “both practice and theology seriously”. As a consequence, the DMin can be generally conceptualized as practical theology. However, this paper demonstrates a number of the specific ways in which this general claim can be substantiated. It does this with reference to a number of theoretical discussions within practical theology as to the discipline’s nature. It then examines the implication of this for the status of the DMin, student learning, program design, and the nature of the DMin project.

A Preview of Coming Attractions

The Association of Theological Schools (ATS) is the accrediting body for graduate theological education in the US and Canada. The ATS standards for accreditation have been rewritten, and the proposed new standards will be voted on at the ATS biennial conference on June 24, 2020. This session reviews five key changes in the proposed new standards and discusses the proposed new standard on library and information services.

ATS Women in Leadership: Celebrating Twenty Years

A publication dedicated to the leadership of women in theological schools, Editor Mary H. Young (Director of Leadership Education for The Association of Theological Schools) brings together essays discussing past and present research findings from the Association’s Women in Leadership initiative, as well as writings reflecting personal perspectives, experiences, and expertise to enhance the work and leadership of women in theological institutions.

Combining Accessibility and Pedagogical Effectiveness in a Hybrid Theological Education Program: A Case Study

As of 2017, the Association of Theological Schools had seen an increase in online course enrollment of 200% over ten years. It is therefore worth exploring in some depth the potential challenges and strengths of online and hybrid programs. This article describes one hybrid online-residential program, the Alternative Clergy Training at Sewanee (ACTS) program at the School of Theology at the University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee. Based on the experience of this program and contemporary research on the strengths of online and hybrid programs, it is argued that hybrid learning has significant advantages in its own right, perhaps especially for those who may be considered "hybrid clergy," the deacons and bivocational priests for whom the program was designed.

ATS Accreditation Standards: Brainstorming and Discussion

The presenters provided an overview of the two-year process (2018-2020) to redevelop the standards and procedures for accreditation of the Association of Theological Schools. The session elicited conversation among Atla librarians about the current accreditation standards and how future redesigned accreditation standards might best support the work of theological education, particularly theological libraries, librarians, information resources, and educational technology.

Collection Development for Theological Education

Students in graduate theological programs working toward ordination and a career in ministry in the Christian church require library collections that support their study of scripture, doctrine, ancient languages, and Biblical history and interpretation, as well as the practice of pastoral ministry, leadership, and administration. This chapter will discuss how to build collections at theological libraries measured against standards set by the Association of Theological Schools, the accrediting organization for theological schools in Canada and the United States; the importance of print and online reference works such as language dictionaries, atlases, and encyclopedias in theological library collections; indexes and databases for theological studies; important journals; the different categories of theological monographs; collection development policies; special collections in theological libraries; dealing with gifts and donors; and professional development resources for theological librarians.

Schleiermacher and the Construction of a Contemporary Roman Catholic Foundational Theology

When I was completing my book on foundational theology, I presented a paper on the concept of broad reflective equilibrium and foundational theology to a group of colleagues at a conference sponsored by the Association of Theological Schools. This paper summarized the book's concluding section, which dealt with the relationship between contemporary criticisms of foundationalism and a foundational theology employing the method of broad reflective equilibrium. It advanced a systematic and historical argument. Systematically, the section argued that the method of broad reflective equilibrium offered a vision of foundational theology that avoided the pitfalls of foundationalism, overcoming the foundationalism of fundamental theology. It appealed to current discussions about methodology, specifically, the discussions on reflective equilibrium in the philosophy of science and in political ethics. The historical argument appealed to Schleiermacher by relating Schleiermacher's stance on the relationship between systematic and philosophical theology to the conception of a nonfoundationalist foundational theology, employing the method of broad reflective equilibrium.

Globalization and the Teaching of Mission

The Association of Theological Schools in North America has adopted “globalization” as the major program emphasis for the 1990s. This is an analysis of the new opportunities which result for missiology and the missiologist within North American theological seminaries. Missiology can move from the periphery to the integrative core of the theological curriculum, relating globalization to the central task of the church and its ministry to be in mission.