tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320087.post1620172829734384956..comments2024-03-07T17:08:03.583-05:00Comments on Lionel Deimel’s Web Log: TSM and The Episcopal ChurchLionel Deimelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08363018512775944659noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320087.post-62077512209398524792013-01-20T01:27:26.777-05:002013-01-20T01:27:26.777-05:00I think you should concentrate on gay and lesbian ... I think you should concentrate on gay and lesbian issues; they're the only ones interested in becoming clergy anyway.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320087.post-4352403498761710342012-12-14T12:13:33.790-05:002012-12-14T12:13:33.790-05:00Thanks, Bruce. I think you paint a pretty clear pi...Thanks, Bruce. I think you paint a pretty clear picture of the current seminary world from an Episcopal perspective. As The Episcopal Church shrinks, it is becoming increasingly difficult to support a denominational infrastructure. I surely don’t have any special insight as to how to deal with this reality. What do we let go? What do we hold on to at all costs? Where do we have to make allowances for changed circumstances? Whatever the right answers, I hope we find them in time.Lionel Deimelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08363018512775944659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320087.post-72010372006868436332012-12-14T11:47:47.364-05:002012-12-14T11:47:47.364-05:00Interesting to note that the former Episcopal Semi...Interesting to note that the former Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest, in Austin, has also changed its name, now "The Seminary of the Southwest." So far as I know the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge is the only remaining of our 11 accredited seminaries to have "Episcopal" in their name. In an era of declining numbers in the Episcopal Church (as in many other "mainline" denominations) seminaries are tossed into a multi-denominational marketplace for students. Trinity is of course professedly "an Evangelical Seminary in the Anglican Tradition." I expect there will be an increasingly diverse student body there, in terms of denominational background, as time goes on, but that a number of Episcopalians of the Evangelical tradition will continue to choose to study there. My impression is that Trinity is a very fine academic institution, but that the theological and social culture is probably not for everyone. (Of course, the theological and social culture of EDS is probably not for everyone either!) <br /><br />An interesting related question is the evolving role of "accreditation" as a seminary "of the Episcopal Church." With robust Anglican programs in places like Duke and SMU and with several excellent nearby Canadian schools (Wycliff and Trinity) with a number of Episcopalian students and with a tendency of dioceses to support ordinands studying closer to home in diocesan training programs or at Presbyterian, Lutheran, or other non-denominational institutions, the percentage of Episcopalian clergy who have 3-year M.Div. degrees from seminaries formally associated with the Episcopal Church is I think declining rapidly--again, driven primarily by the general economic and demographic decline of the Episcopal Church rather than by our recent divisions.<br /><br />Bruce RobisonBruce Robisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00193701138386039942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320087.post-49587357380789337342012-12-13T06:10:28.806-05:002012-12-13T06:10:28.806-05:00Yes, it is. If we are to create a healthy Episcopa...Yes, it is. If we are to create a healthy Episcopal diocese, we need to increase the number of clergy educated at other seminaries.Lionel Deimelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08363018512775944659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320087.post-54664591149237818832012-12-12T23:31:56.793-05:002012-12-12T23:31:56.793-05:00It's interesting that four of the five ordinan...It's interesting that four of the five ordinands for your diocese's upcoming ordination service are TSM graduates.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05550857893746750680noreply@blogger.com