Discontent with the Church's theological training led to the formation of a Foundation for Theological Education
On the night of July 22, 1975 Dr. Ed Robb was in prayerful "fear and trembling" over a revolutionary address he was about to deliver at a national Good News convocation meeting in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina.
His topic—the dismal state of theological education within the United Methodist Church.
Robb and other evangelicals within the denomination had been unhappy for years over the narrow-minded liberalism dominating the church's official seminaries. But no one had yet called for sweeping reforms. That was about to change.
When it came time for him to speak, Robb let it all go. He told the overflow crowd, "A church prospers or declines because of its leadership. Our denomination is suffering from weak, ineffective ministerial leadership. I am convinced that our seminaries bear a major portion of the responsibility.
"Most United Methodist seminaries, if not all," Robb stated, "are committed to contemporary theology.... I am asking for a new openness to evangelical education in United Methodism."
This bold afront stung the administrators and faculty of our denominational seminaries. Robb's remarks were picked up by The United Methodist Reporter, Newscope, and the major wire services of the secular press. Within hours his address was catching the attention of church leaders everywhere. Some leaders reacted harshly.
A letter published in the UM Reporter by world famous UM theologian Dr. Albert Outler struck back with the hardest blow. Robb soon published a letter defending his position.
For several weeks Robb and Outler seemed to represent opposite stances on the issue. But ironically, neither of them had talked personally. Eventually Dr. Robb phoned Dr. Outler's office (located at Perkin's School of Theology, in Dallas) "to clear the air." In doing so, he discovered that the two of them had much more in common than they thought, or the press indicated.
In the next several months their conversation increased and intensified. Robb's concerns were seen by Outler to be more than critical salvos fired blindly, and Outler's perspective from within the system helped to provide substance to the concerns. The result was a "wedding of mind and heart" between the two. They determined to do something positive and long-lasting for the cause of theological education in United Methodism.
Both men went to work and contacted respective friends and supporters. By late 1976 A Foundation for Theological Education (AFTE) was born. In its first publication AFTE stated its main goal: "to encourage United Methodist seminaries to be open and responsive to evangelical Christianity." In order to reach this goal, several strategies developed.
First, AFTE kicked off the John Wesley Fellowship program. The founders reasoned that the best way of influencing the theological direction of the UM seminaries was to provide a supply of evangelical scholars. So they decided to provide large three-year scholarships to first-rate evangelical students who were studying for their doctoral degrees and were committed to teaching in UM colleges and seminaries.
The Fellowship program began with five students and has involved 27 young men and women so far. "John Wesley Fellows" are currently enrolled in some of' the most prestigious universities in the world: Princeton, Hebrew Union, Yale, Duke, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, and several others. Armed with Ph.D.s from such institutions, these young scholars could have tremendous impact on theological education in the years immediately ahead!
Some of them have already finished their studies and are teaching. Dr. Richard Hayes is a professor at Yale Divinity School, and John Tyson is teaching at Houghton College. (I was in the first group of Fellows, and am now a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary.)
But so far, no Fellow has been hired by an official UM school. The central question of the program remains—will our official colleges and seminaries practice pluralism by employing qualified, evangelical scholars?
Each December the Fellows gather for their Annual Christmas Conference. Drawing on the tradition of the first Christmas Conference in American Methodism, they come together to encourage one another and engage in theological reflection.
The foundation is governed by a 14-member board, including several well-known church officials. Bishops Finis Crutchfield and Earl Hunt are trustees, and so is Dr. Albert Outler, Ed Robb's former critic.
Dr. Kenneth Kinghorn, also a trustee of AFTE and Provost of Asbury Theological Seminary, sees the fellowship program as meeting an immediate need in the church—the need for "a cadre of leaders who [are] in a covenant relationship with each other to lead according to New Testament models, and to settle for nothing less than excellence."
As you might expect, this one phase of AFTE's ministry demands annual funds in excess of $100,000. But to John William Ricketts, Senior Vice President of TAMKO Asphalt Products in Joplin, Missouri, the cost is worth it. He writes, "Hundreds of concerned Methodists are giving thousands of dollars because they believe that Wesleyan scholars with superior educational credentials can change the direction of our church."
As important as it is this only begins to describe the ministry of AFTE. A second dimension provides creative study opportunities. To date the foundation has sponsored two major theological colloquies—defined as a meeting of people to exchange ideas—at the University of Notre Dame (1979 and 1982).
At each colloquy leaders like Martin Marty, Albert Outler, Richard Neuhaus, Carl F. H. Henry, Richard Lovelace, and Thomas Langford have wrestled with the issue of increasing secularism in the church and world. Differences have not been minimized, but far more points of consensus have been recognized. The AFTE colloquies hold the potential for becoming a fresh expression of ecumenicity and a new base for unity among Christians.
The third aspect of AFTE is its encouragement of evangelical scholarship at United Methodist colleges and seminaries. As enrollments decrease in American education, the need for financial security increases.
One way to do this is to provide chairs of scholarship (endowed positions for professors). The cost is high and progress is slow, but wherever a chair is established, scholarship in a given area is assured for generations to come. Already AFTE has worked closely with the Texas Annual Conference to endow a Chair of Wesleyan Studies at Perkins School of theology.
The spirit of A Foundation For Theological Education is largely described by Ed Robb in his writing, Why I Am A United Methodist. He says,
I praise the Lord for all that is good in United Methodism. I pray He will deliver us from all that is contrary to His will. May we appreciate the diversity in our denomination while finding our unity in Christ…. Let us uphold truth and never compromise. Let us recognize weaknesses where they exist and strive for change where necessary. Above all, let us be loyal to Christ and give Him glory, praise, and honor.
A Foundation for Theological Education exists to do exactly that.
This article was published in Good News magazine (March/April 1983).