In Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, character Bill Gorton ask Mike Campbell, “How did you go bankrupt?” to which Campbell famously replies, “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”

This is what's happening to theological education right before our eyes.

Last week I posted about Luther Seminary's recent decision to sell their campus. Since then, there's been a cascade of similar announcments.^[1]

Vanderbilt University, a Methodist affiliated school, announced last week they have placed their divinity school in receivership. This quote from from an email sent to students and faculty by Dean Yolanda Pierce and Deputy Provost Tracey George is revealing in more ways than one:

"As a lawyer, I know from lived experience that 'receivership' is interpreted to mean bankruptcy, because in the real world, receivership means bankruptcy," George told the Banner. "But in higher education, it's more like a corporation when they're doing a review of the organizational structure of one of their units."

There is a meaningful distinction between bankruptcy and recievership. But it strains credulity for the school to imply this action is not due to financial pressure. Indeed, they admit as much later in the story.

Also last week, the University of Edinburgh, an historic church of Scotland affiliated school, announced the elimination of its Bachelors and Masters of Divinity programs:

Changes in ministerial training across Scotland led to the closure of the B.Div and M.Div programmes, after the Church of Scotland chose to concentrate training in a single institution. Our relationship with the Church remains active through postgraduate opportunities, short courses and ongoing collaboration in areas of shared interest.

At the very least, it appears the freestanding divinity school model is no longer a viable business.

Finally, Claremont School of Theology (CST), also a Methodist affiliated school, last week announced the launch of Claremont International University:

CIU will launch with a Master of Arts in Education designed for educators and educational leaders seeking new approaches to teaching and learning in a world marked by accelerating change and deepening interdependence. Grounded in process-relational thought and a whole-person approach to education, the program places particular emphasis on the role of education in contributing to the emergence of an ecological civilization—one committed to human and planetary flourishing.

CST has had an especially rough go these past few years. After a failed merger with Willamette University, they lost a lawsuit with The Claremont Colleges for the right to sell their 16 acre campus at market rate – a finacial windfall that would have helped secure their future. Instead, they downsized operations and relocated to the Westwood United Methodist church facility.

I don't have any first-hand knowledge about this new endeavor, but based on their description and what I know about CST, my guess is that it is an attempt to leverage the Center of Process Studies international footprint to grow through online international students, especially from China. Thanks to John Cobb's work, the Center for Process studies has cultivated a deep engagement with China over the years.

All of this, of course, reflects the widespread transformation of not just theological education, but higher education in general on a global scale. The University of Edinburgh, mentioned above, is not just closing its divinity programs, it is axing 90 programs across the board.

The world is changing fast. As with churches, the issue is not so much whether seminaries are dying, but rather, what kind of death they will choose; the kind that remains in the grave or the kind that resurrects to new life.

UPDATE: I can't believe I missed this news from August 16th that Chicago Theological Seminary is no longer accepting new students and has relinquished its facility to The University of Chicago. Today Yale Divinity School announced that Chicago Theological Seminary has entered "formal neotiations...to become the Chicago Theological Institute at Yale Divinity School." Mergers – which appear to be increasing among churches as well – are one indicator of a declining industry.

Notes