The Future of Theological Education

There are very few books written about the future of theological education. I've had the chance to review most, if not all, of them.

This week, the Toronto Journal of Theology published my reviews of Daniel Aleshire's excellent book, Beyond Profession, and Barabara Wheeler's edited volume, Disruption and Hope. Both provide a thoughtful and important look at what might be around the corner for theological schools.

If you are interested in seeing what might be ahead for theological schools, I welcome you to read my review of Beyond Profession and my review of Disruption and Hope.
 

Theological Education Between the Times

In the coming months I'm going to review a book called Beyond Profession by Daniel Aleshire. I have not read it yet so I will refrain from making comments until I do. It is one of seven books in a series of writings focused around the theme, Theological Education between the Times (TEBT). Actually TEBT is not just a book theme, it's a project. Organized by Candler School of Theology at Emory University as a way to "reason together about the ends of theological education ... and to do this work in diverse communities that respect difference and resist domination" (https://tebt.candler.emory.edu/about), the project was launched in 2014 out of a recognition that the world was changing and theological educators needed to wrestle with the shifts.

Some good books have already been written, before the TEBT series, dealing with the future of theological education. Looking Forward With Hope edited by Valentín (I wrote about it here) and Disruption and Hope edited by Wheeler are two worthy contributions to the the future of theological education.

One of my favourite chapters in Valentín's book entitled "The Change We Need: Race and Ethnicity in Theological Education" was written by Willie James Jennings. Jennings woke me up to issues of "a centred white male subject" in most theological schools. I'm thrilled to see that Jennings has written one of the books in the TEBT series called After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging. That will certainly be on my "to read" list once I am finished with Beyond Profession.