THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION IN AMERICA

Author(s): R. L. Kelly
Source: Christian Education , JULY, 1923, Vol. 6, No. 10 (JULY, 1923), pp. 504-512
Published by: Penn State University Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41174495

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504 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION IN AMERICA

A Study of One Hundred and Sixty-one Theological

Schools in the United States and Canada

The following unsolicited comments are presented from so

of those who have read one or more chapters of the book.
"I want to congratulate you on the thorough study that yo
have made and the wise conclusions which you have reached.
Wallace Buttrick, Chairman, General Education Board.
"I have read the chapter on 'Educational Effectiveness' w
the greatest interest and profit. It strikes me as having dig
the material with unusual thoroughness and having presente
with unusual readability. While completely sympathetic,
vigorous and, I am sure, will be helpful in its criticism." - C
Fürst, Secretary, The Carnegie Foundation.
"I have read the two chapters with great interest. Stre
properly laid on the fact that other professional schools - a
and medicine, have become professionalized, while theology
not, that its schools remain academic in organization and
cedure. That is the whole problem." - Paul Monroe, Direc
ScHool of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.
"I am sure that this work you are doing so thoroughly wi
of value to the entire church." - Citarles H. Brent, Bishop o
Protestant Episcopal Church, Buffalo, N. Y.
"The work is a most valuable one which needs greatly t
done. The volume will undoubtedly have a wide reading
predict for it a large service." - Thomas Nicholson, Bishop o
Methodist Episcopal Church, Chicago, III.
"The chapters which I have read indicate that you are wor
on the right lines and that the volume ought to mark a very
tinct stage in the history of theological education in this cou
On the whole, I believe your report is an admirable documen
ought to be of great use. I hope that its publication will ma
thrill throughout the church in this country."-^. Douglas M
kenzie, President, Hartford Seminary Foundation.
"Really, I want to congratulate you. The repart seems t
to be admirably well done. «I am greatly impressed wit

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 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 505

magnitude of the survey and believe y

better." - Shailer Mathews, Dean, The Div
versity of Chicago.
"I believe you made so clear to the grou
of our common problems as to lay the
ferences of the representatives of ou
schools." - O. E. Brown, Dean, Vanderb
Religion.
"I was gratified over the conference in Nashville and count the
whole experience an indication of better days. I return the second
chapter, lit is intensely interesting and I have no criticism to
make." - Paul B. Kern, Dean, School {of Theology, Southern
Methodist University.
"It seems to me that you have covered accurately and admirably
the facts as to the university schools of theology." - Willard D.
S perry, Dean of The Theological School in Harvard University.
"You have certainly made a most discriminating and vital
survey of facts. I shall want to have the book as soon as it is off
the press." - V. G. A. Tressler, Chairman of the Faculty, Hamma
Divinity School.
"While you do not write precisely as we would on the subjects
treated, yet we are surprised at the general accuracy of your state-
ments." - Henry E. Jacobs, President, The Lutheran Theological
Seminary in Philadelphia.

"I want to thank you again for the very valuable conference in
Cleveland, which exceeded my expectations. Your clear putting
of the issues is very helpful. I am sure the book will do much
good." - Edward I. Bosworth, Oberlin Graduate School of
Theology.
"It is comprehensive. It is also what reports very seldom are,
- brilliant as a piece of analysis and of generalization." - Nathan
R. Wood, President, Gordon College of Theology.

"You have put the educational world under great obligation for
the careful and painstaking review you have given the theological
situation." - Charles N. Stuart, President, Garrett Biblical In-
stitute.

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506 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

Leading Chapters

Theological Education in America, which is now in the pres

of the George H. Doran Company, New York, is devoted to
critical but sympathetic and constructive consideration of o
hundred and sixty-one seminaries in the United States and Canad
The book is the work of the secretarial staff of the Council of
Church Boards of Education. The Executive Secretary was asked
to assume editorial responsibility; he was assisted in interpreta-
tion and the preparation of the manuscript by Associate Secre-
taries Foster and Beam. The tabulators and other technical
assistants were Olive Dunn, Esther Foster, and Virginia Merritt.
The book is published under the auspices of the Committee
on Social and Religious Surveys, 370 Seventh Avenue, New York
City, of which Dr. John R. Mott is Chairman. Other members of
the Committee are : President E. D. Burton, President William H
Faunce, Dr. James L. Barton, President K. L. Butterfield and
Mr. Raymond B. Fosdick.
In the framing of their plans and in general criticism of the
manuscript, the authers have had the assistance of an Advisory
Committee selected for their intimate acquaintance with the semi-
nary or general educational field and their acknowledged leader-
ship of the forces of Protestant Christianity in America. The
members of the Advisory Committee were Bishop Charles H
Brent, of the Protestant Episcopal Church; Bishop Thomas
Nicholson, of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; President Robert
J. Aley, Butler College ; Dean Charles R. Brown, The Divinity
School of Yale University; Dr. Wallace Buttrick, Chairman of
the General Education Board; Professor John M. Coulter, the
University of Chicago ; President L. L. Doggett, the Internationa
Young Men's Christian Association College, Springfield, Mass.
Principal Daniel J. Frasser, the Presbyterian College, Montreal;
Dr. J. W. Graham, General Secretary, Department of Education,
Methodist Church of Canada; President Frank P. Graves, The
University of the State of New York; Dean Paul B. Kern, School
of Theology, Southern Methodist University; Professor J. L.
Kesler, School of Religion, Vanderbilt University; Professor
Kenneth S. Latourette, Yale University; President W. D. Mac-
kenzie, Hartford Seminary Foundation; President George W.

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 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 507

Richards, The Theological Seminary of the

the United States; Professor G. A. Johnsto
logical Seminary; President J. Ross Steven
logical Seminary; Dr. Henry H. Sweets, Sec
tive Committee of Christian Education and Ministerial Relief of
the Presbyterian Church in the United States; President W. O.
Thompson, Ohio State University; Dr. V. G. A. Tressler, Chair-
man of the Faculty, Hamma Divinity School ; President Wilbert
W. White, The Biblical Seminary in New York; President Nathan
R. Wood, Gordon College of Theology.
At the suggestion of the Advisory Committee, the Committee
on Social and Religious Surveys authorized the convening of
seminary men at central points to hear and discuss the findings of
the study before they should be put in final shape for publication.
Eleven such conferences were held in the following cities : Chicago,
Hartford, New York, Philadelphia, Nashville, Cleveland, Mon-
treal, Toronto, Berkeley, Cal., Vancouver, and Minneapolis. At
these conferences, which proved most helpful, representatives
were present from nearly all the principal seminaries of the
United States and Canada.

Educational Methods and Equipment

The book as now completed opens with a brief introductory

chapter, sketching the historical background of seminary develop-
ment on the American continent.
Chapter II, "Educational Effectiveness," discusses :
The theological seminary as an instrument of professional
education.
The various types of seminaries in America.
Organization and control of the seminaries (comparison with
methods of control of colleges and universities).
The methods of selection and installation of seminary
teachers.
Policies of' seminary administration.
Productive scholarship in the seminaries, degrees of faculty
members, research work and public service rendered by semi-
nary professors.
The seminary attitude toward freedom of speech.

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508 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

Policies regarding sabbatic leave, retir

part-time teaching, etc.
Academic procedure - entrance requi
scholarship, requirements for graduat
and électives.
Financial limitations.
Methods of teaching and their results.
Spiritual life within the seminaries.

Chapters III and IV : The Programs of Study

Very careful tabulations have been made which show the various
phases of the current programs of eleven typical seminaries. The
same type of chart is used here as that which was so successfully
employed by the office in connection with the intensive study o
college curricula.
Boston University School of Theology (Methodist Episcopal)
Cedarville Theological Seminary (Reformed Presbyterian)
College of the Bible, Transylvania College (Disciples)
General Theological Seminary (Protestant Episcopal)
New Church Theological School (Church of the New Jeru-
salem, Swedenborgian)
Oberlin Graduate School of Theology (Undenominational -
Congregational affiliation)
Southern Baptist Theology Seminary
Union Theological Seminary, New York (Undenominational)
Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia (Pres-
byterian, U. S.)
Western Theological Seminary (Presbyterian, U. S. A.)
Wycliffe College (Church of England)
Next, seven seminaries representing the larger Protestant de-
nominations in America are studied in such a way as to show th
development of their programs during the past fifty years. Thes
are:

Baptist (Rochester Theological Seminary)

Congregationalist * (Oberlin Graduate School of T

* Oberlin is and has always been independent by charter but in friendly unofficial
affiliation with the Congregationalists.

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 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 509

Methodist Episcopal (Garrett Biblical

Presbyterian U. S. A. (Princeton Theol
Protestant Episcopal (General Theolog
United Lutheran (Lutheran Theological
phia)
Undenominational (Union Theological Seminary, New York)
The present-day programs of these seminaries are compared
with one another and a section entitled "Group Observations"
having the historical background of fifty years, points out where,
how and to some extent why, seminaries differ in their selection
of curricular material and in their emphasis on particular elements
of the content that is common to the programs of all.
A sympathetic interpretation of the programs of the following
denominational seminaries is, in turn, succeeded by brief charac-
terizations of the work of the "university seminary" and the "small
seminary," as follows:

Seminaries of the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A.

Auburn Theological Seminary
Bloomfield Theological Seminary
Dubuque German College and Theological Seminary
Lane Theological Seminary
McCormick Theological Seminary
Omaha Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary
San Francisco Theological Seminary
Western Theological Seminary
Presbyterian Theological Seminary of Kentucky *

Seminaries of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Boston University School of Theology
Central Wesleyan and German Theological Seminary
Drew Theological Seminary
Garrett Biblical Institute
Iliff School of Theology
Kimball School of Theology
Macklay School of Religion
* A joint institution with the Presbyterian Church, U. S.

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510 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

Seminaries of the Protestant Episcopa

Berkeley Divinity School
Church Divinity School of the Pacific
D.eLancy Divinity School
Divinity School of the Protestant Episc
Episcopal Theological Seminary
General Theological Seminary
Nashotah House
Seabury Divinity School
Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia
Western Theological Seminary
College of St. John the Evangelist
Kenyon College Divinity School
University of the South
University Seminaries - general observations, with reference to
seminaries of this type, with special consideration of the Schools
of Theology of the University of Chicago and Yale University,
the Theological School in Harvard University, and Union Theo-
logical Seminary, New York City.
Small Seminaries - sketch of seminary life and procedure in the
relatively smaller institutions.
*****

Special consideration
est, among them sev
The City Church ; T
try ; Art, Architectur
Religious Education ;
This chapter ("Pro
closing with a statem
Chapter V : Students

The fourth chapter deals with students. Who are the students
in the seminaries today? Where do they come from? Why do
they come? What leads them to choose one seminary rather than
another? What are their ideals, aims, purposes? And how do
they develop in these respects while pursuing their course of
study? Tables, charts and graphs elucidate the facts and portray
the situation as it actually exists - a situation concerning which
there has been so much surmise and unreliable generalization in

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 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 511

the past. Here many a ceaseless, unfo

criticism hitherto rampant throughout the
The outline discusses in brief :
1. Tradition
2. Environmental Influence
Occupation of fathers
City residence
State sources
Migration
Church sources
College sources
3. Vocational Influences
Records
Segregation
Student life
4. Numbers
Alumni
Transfers
Present enrollment
Historical development
5. Supply and Demand
The reputed shortage of ministers
The status of the church
The status of the minister
Present conditions

Chapter VI : Problems

In general, discussion is strictly excluded from the earlier chap-

ters, whose sole purpose it is to set forth facts as the study has
revealed them. It seemed desirable, however, that some of the
more obvious implications should be noted, and a chapter was
added on "Problems," in which the following questions are raised
and data for working answers indicated:
/. Problems of Organisation and Function
1. What is a Theological Seminary?
2. Are Seminaries necessary or advisable?
3. Are there too many Seminaries ?
4. How should Boards of Trustees be organized?
5. What should the Seminaries teach?

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512 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

//. The Educational Standards of S

1. Should the Seminaries be standarized?
2. How many types of Seminaries?
3. How may educational values be enhanced?
4. What are the best methods of teaching?
///. The Enlarging Responsibility of the Seminaries
1. Are the Seminaries utilizing their environment?
2. Are they meeting their responsibilities -
(a) In the local community?
(b) In the program of American education?
(c) In interpreting science?
(d) In interpreting democracy?
(e) In their financial administration?
(f) In their contributions to Christian unity?
(g) As agencies of recruiting?
3. Are they centers of intellectual and ethical power?
4. Are they neglecting the prophetic gift?

Chapter VII: Individual Descriptions

More than one hundred pages of the book are devoted to br

descriptions of one hundred theological seminaries and colleg
written with a view to stating salient facts and not with the v
to institutional promotion. Institutions are listed alphabetical
by states or provinces for easy reference. These descriptions w
be of special service to church and colloge officers, and especia
to men engaged in recruiting for the ministry.
Appendix

The Appendix, which consists of many pages of original source

material, gives, in part, the scientific data upon which the book is
built.
* * * * *

The book will be illustrated

diagrams and pictures. It will h
will be very attractive in its m

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