Page 1 of 7 Accomplishments for each of Southeastern Baptist Theological Ministry Assignments that create "value added" to the Cooperative Program dollars allocated to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary: I. Assist churches by programs of prebaccalaureate and baccalaureate theological education for ministers. In 2014, The College at Southeastern accomplished several important tasks that added value to the work of the Cooperative Program. The college added several new degrees including, Biblical Studies, Revised Theology, and Justice and Social Ethics. All these programs provide training to Southern Baptist students to serve Christ around the globe. Moreover, the college researched and started a 5 year program that trains future pastors. This program allows students to earn a bachelor s degree and an MDiv in 5 years, significantly shortening the time and financial restraints that prevent young men from training for pastoral ministry. In addition, the college established a variety of new partnerships with missionaries in North America and around the world. These partnerships help facilitate our Global Studies degree program by giving students a semester on the field doing real missionary work. All of these initiatives add significant value to the work of Southern Baptists through the Cooperative Program. II. Assist churches by programs of master s level theological education for ministers. In the past year, Southeastern Seminary has focused on several areas to strengthen our work in assisting churches by programs of master s level theological education for ministers. First, we want to make certain we are listening to our constituents as we prepare young ministers. We have thus completed a survey of 1000 evangelical pastors, and we have conducted interviews with several pastors in the area surrounding the seminary. This information has helped to inform us as we prepare for an overall curriculum review in 2015. Indeed, we are working toward a five-year combined BA/MDiv degree with a heavy focus on practical pastoral training. Second, we are relaunching our Southeastern Center for Pastoral Leadership and Preaching, with a decided commitment to providing more practical training. Dr. John Ewart, director of the Center, has coordinated trainings this past year related to marriage/weddings and change/conflict. All of these trainings are presented live but then recorded for future use in the classroom.
Page 2 of 7 Third, Southeastern has restructured our administrative team to give more attention to online education. Those changes have strengthened the way we offer lectures via online training, and the student feedback has been positive. III. Assist churches by programs of professional doctoral education for ministers. Southeastern s Doctor of Ministry program has focused on several areas to strengthen our work in assisting churches by programs of professional doctoral education for ministers. First, a new specialization in church revitalization led by Dr. Chuck Lawless began in an effort to help pastors of churches plateaued or declining. We recognized, while the convention has a very healthy desire to start new churches, the need for revitalization of many existing churches is great. This specialization allows students to engage in seminars and assignments designed to equip students for leading church revitalization. Second, we are offering a new focus in the leadership specialization on next generation ministry. Dr. Alvin Reid has partnered with outstanding church leaders to focus on leading next generation ministry. This focus comes as a response to the need to strengthen our ministry approach to youth, children, and parents. This new focus will include age-related issues, disciple-making concerns, family development, ministry leadership, and the development of a strategic plan for a wholistic approach to next generation ministry. Our vision is to impact a new generation to make a great impact on Great Commission and Great Commandment work. Third, we continue to enlist quality practitioners to serve as faculty members and guest lecturers for the DMin seminars and workshops. Since the DMin degree is a professional degree designed to equip ministers to be more effective, the need exists to insure practical guidance fitting the church setting today and into the future. These enlisted practitioners, coming from various size churches and ministries, join our campus faculty in offering up-to-date program content to enable ministers to serve and lead effectively. Fourth, every effort has been made to offer a robust academic program to undergird the practical nature of the degree. Every seminar and workshop has been carefully evaluated to insure a high standard of education without sacrificing the practical instruction. Offerings have been strengthened as a result of the on-going evaluation. Every course offers opportunity for development in knowledge, attitudes, and actions through a mixed-method approach to learning. Assignments have been updated to insure quality development. The Ministry Project, required of every student, has been improved to complement the kind of strategic work required in successful churches today. More students have completed their DMin work this year than in the recent past due in part to the improved Ministry Project process. Today, a strong academic and practical degree has emerged to equip ministers for effective ministry in local churches.
Page 3 of 7 IV. Assist churches by programs of research doctoral e IV. ducation for ministers and theological educators. In Fall 2014 the Ed.D. program transitioned from a schedule of eight on-campus weeks per year to a schedule of four on-campus weeks per year. This adjustment was accomplished by moving the content of one day of class to the online learning environment. Commuter students, who form the majority of the Ed.D. student body, have expressed appreciation and support for this new format. Students travel long distances to come to campus (for example, Arizona, Colorado, and New Jersey). Students starting in the Spring 2015 cohort will travel from Idaho, Missouri, and Ohio. The new class schedule has increased the accessibility of the program, as more students are able to commit to the four weeks of travel per year, as opposed to the previous schedule. This encourages students to remain in ministry and reduces the time away from their local churches and families. In concert with Southeastern s diversity initiative, the Ed.D. program continues to have diversity of gender, race, national background, and vocation. Graduates and current students are participating in significant ministries around the world. Two current students are involved with a network of pastors who focus on urban ministry. The program director spent time in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Panama in 2014. Five of the twelve students in the incoming Spring 2015 cohort are international students. The Ed.D. program is designed to equip and train believers for ministerial service in congregations of any culture. Program completion continues to be a hallmark of our Ed.D. program. Six students graduated in May 2014 and nine graduated in December of 2014. Of the six May graduates, two are in higher education, three serve in local churches, and one is a Christian school teacher. Of the December graduates, five are in local church ministry, two are in higher education, and two work in nonprofit organizations. In the past year, The Ph.D. program has implemented 6 new areas of study for students who would like to study at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. This development is vitally important for students who wish to study in the areas of: Systematic Theology, Historical Theology, Apologetics and Culture, Theology and Worship, Philosophy of Religion, and Preaching. These new areas of study will better equip pastors and teachers in these diverse areas of study so that they, in turn, might train the next generation of students. This helps develop depth in the life of the SBC at an academic level, which is necessary for the future of the denomination. These pastors and teachers will be qualified to enter into SBC colleges and universities to train the next generation in these areas with an orthodox, evangelical, Baptist theological foundation. We believe this is a huge accomplishment.
Page 4 of 7 Another important milestone with these areas of study is that they are all offered in Modified Residency Format. What this means, in practice, is that students in these areas of study will come to campus twice annually (for two to three week on-campus seminars) over two or three years. This format allows students to remain in their current ministry assignment while engaging in Ph.D. studies. All seminar and degree requirements for the students in the areas of study with modified residency are identical to the students taking normal residential seminars. Although some areas of study can be delivered in a modified residency format, students can progress in any area of study while in residency at SEBTS. Without a doubt, this flexibility provides added value to those pastors, ministers, and teachers who currently serve in a ministry context and do not want to leave it to move to SEBTS as a full-time resident. In terms of curriculum, the Ph.D. Office has implemented in 2014 the full change of the foundation seminar for all Ph.D. students, entitled Introduction to Research and Integration. In this seminar, all students will be grounded in a Christian spirituality of the academic life: what does it mean to wed heart and mind for the glory of God as one studies for the qualification of the Ph.D. This is an essential question that is explored in terms of practices and prayer with biblical and theological foundations. Additionally, the seminar trains students to think across disciplines as they are trained by multiple faculty to develop: 1) a spirituality of the academic life, 2) integration of faith and learning, 3) robust critical thinking, 4) theological integration for their area of study, 5) excellence in the discipline of writing. In this way, the student receives added value for their experience in the Ph.D. program, equipping them to be better instruments in the fields of the Lord.
Page 5 of 7 What opportunities or challenges do you see on the horizon from 2015 and beyond that would necessitate changes, or new directions, in how SEBTS is accomplishing each Ministry Assignment? I. Assist churches by programs of prebaccalaureate and baccalaureate theological education for ministers. There are two significant priorities that The College at Southeastern has for the coming year. First, the college will complete a curriculum review of its core curriculum that started Spring of 2012. Specifically, the college will assess the efficiency and progress of the History of Ideas program to ensure that it succeeds in training students. In addition to this, the college is currently reviewing the workload of these courses and the potential they have to positively or negatively impact the FTEs of the college. All of these efforts are essential for making sure that the college delivers the very best education that it possibly can and makes efficient use of CP dollars. II. Assist churches by programs of master s level theological education for ministers. Southeastern Seminary, like most educational institutions, faces several challenges. For example, students are taking fewer hours per year, often due to increased work, family, and church commitments. While a challenge, this change also affords us an opportunity to review our course scheduling, course workload, etc., to make certain we are meeting student needs. Increasing numbers of online students are also requiring us to evaluate how we best connect with them and shepherd them through a degree program. The challenge is to make ministry education as personal as possible while using a delivery system that complicates that task at times. At the same time, online education opens the door for us to educate greater numbers of students, thus widening our influence for the gospel. Further, the desire of churches to provide local-church based training for their own students is growing; thus, Southeastern is seeking ways to center education in the local church without sacrificing our role as an educational institution. Again, though, this change provides opportunity as we strengthen partnerships with the very churches that make our work possible. III. Assist churches by programs of professional doctoral education for ministers. The Doctor of Ministry program faces numerous challenges. One challenge involves creating quicker program response to match the swift ministry changes occurring today. Southeastern regularly undertakes an outstanding process for affecting academic change through a series of academic checksand balances to insure quality educational offerings within the framework of Southern Baptist expectations. The DMin program must create a program framework to stay current with ministry trends while following the academic approval process. The program structure needs to be nimble and supple to meet current ministry directions and challenges.
Page 6 of 7 Second, the addition of the new distance PhD offerings will create a challenge for the DMin degree to offer, regularly, the very best equipping program and a better system of advertisement to project the virtues of the program. The director believes student prospects with high grade point averages will begin migrating to the new distance PhD program, an opportunity past student prospects did not have. This new opportunity to pursue the PhD without moving to campus will require careful explanation of the distinctions of the two programs to help student prospects make the right choice. The distinctions will require the DMin leadership and faculty to produce exceptional practitioner results to facilitate future growth. Second, the distinctions of the two outstanding degree programs will require a better recruiting strategy to project the merits and differences of the programs. Third, the DMin program needs to develop a more varied and student friendly delivery model. The ongoing growth and popularity of the online delivery system will necessitate a more creative approach to program delivery. While today s program requires limited trips to campus, effort must be taken to identify other delivery approaches to minimize campus trips without jeopardizing the quality of the program, while upholding the academic standards set by the accrediting agencies. The delivery possibilities will provide opportunity for greater numbers of SBC ministers to participate. All three challenges speak to how the Doctor of Ministry program will assist churches through the development of ministers. In every case, the DMin program will need to strive for quality, change, professionalism, clarity, and strong biblical foundations to equip pastors to serve and lead more effectively in the local church. IV. Assist churches by programs of research doctoral education for ministers and theological educators. The Ed.D. program will continue to emphasize the importance of best practices in online instruction. One of the program s new learning outcomes is to model for students a variety of instructional techniques. The purpose of this is twofold: enhance greater learning as the students participate in core classes, and provide those students who hope to teach online in the future with valuable experiences in a virtual classroom. In addition, we are challenging students to apply online instructional techniques and social media skills in their local church context. An ongoing research project is focused on the value of the cohort model. The director and a recent Ed.D. graduate hope to complete a research project related to the cohort model for publication in a higher education journal. This investigation includes the benefits and the advantages of Southeastern s cohort format. A variety of valuable dissertations are underway that will potentially make significant contributions to local church ministries. Students and faculty are working together to examine models and practices in youth ministry, children s ministry, crosscultural ministry, and adult Bible instruction. The Ph.D. program is working to wed heart and mind. This is important, and as mentioned above (re. the Introduction to Research and Integration seminar) so that our students will retain their heart for God and passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a goal to develop this so that students who matriculate into a teaching
Page 7 of 7 position in academic contexts (universities, colleges, seminaries) will retain their love for Christ as they serve him in the academy. This will translate to students that they train as well. So, one goal is to develop this further through Ph.D. Colloquia, publications and conferences, as well as keeping a close eye on effectiveness of curricula. The Ph.D. program is also working to develop further missional-mindedness amongst our students. In light of the truncated job market for biblical and theological studies in North America (this being true even despite recent upticks in jobs according to the SBL-AAR Jobs report 2014), our Ph.D. graduates must be prepared to work and serve in multiple ways. For the North American context, our students must develop preparedness and openness to serve in local church ministry contexts as bi-vocational ministers/pastors or church-planters. In light of the jobs reports coming out for higher education, entry level (Assistant Professor) academic tracks as well as adjunct tracks in schools of higher education are much more open than full time tenure track positions or positions for higher-rank professors. If our students will be willing to exercise their teaching/writing calling in the modified ways highlighted above, then they can serve the Church in a greater capacity. Another way the Ph.D. program can develop missionally is to place our students in majority world teaching contexts. All indicators point to the fact that Christianity is growing in the Global South and in contexts in the 2/3 world. These new converts and places of new growth need strong theological education, which SEBTS Ph.D. graduates can provide. Developing connections for teaching and academic work in the majority world is a continued challenge and goal for the SEBTS Ph.D. program. Finally, the Ph.D. program is developing new areas of study to launch in Fall 2015: Old Testament, New Testament, and Christian Ethics. Additionally, in the Fall 2015 the Ph.D. program will launch a new concentration in Theological Studies: namely, Public Theology. These new areas of study will equip pastors and teachers in quality exegesis and teaching of Scripture, Christian Ethics, and moral engagement in diverse publics.