Lancaster Theological Seminary : 2004 Seminar
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Lancaster Theological Seminary is a regional ecumenical seminary of the United Church of Christ. As the United Church of Christ began to explore multiple paths toward ordained ministry, including paths that did not involve seminary education, regional Conferences of the UCC requested LTS to support their education of ministers who would not pursue masters-level theological education. Education programs designed for licensed and other lay ministers were already in place in many conferences of the UCC, and Lancaster faculty members had taught in several of these programs on an ad hoc basis. Now the conferences were requesting more systematic attention from the Seminary faculty and administration.
At the same time, Lancaster Seminary perceived several stress factors related to this development.
• It was not clear how these multiple paths to ordination might affect seminary enrollment.
• As in many other seminaries, Lancaster’s faculty already complains of being too busy. With two relatively new non-degree initiatives implemented – one for clergy and one for youth – Lancaster faculty members were already servicing a variety of Seminary constituencies beyond the classroom.
• Lancaster Seminary perceived a pressing need to cultivate its expanding constituencies both within and beyond the UCC. With financial contributions from local congregations dwindling, and with potential declines in the number of inquiring ministerial candidates, Lancaster was seeking new ways to serve the church and new relationships that would also nourish its future vitality and provide new revenue streams.
Recent re-accreditation reports confirmed what the Lancaster faculty and administration already believed. The Seminary excels at delivering intensive, face-to-face formation for ministry through its three degree programs. Faculty members had not specifically cultivated institutional expertise in educating laypersons and candidates for ministry who either had not completed college or required alternative forms of education.
(Download the full Report through the links below.)
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