wfn.org | Episcopal seminaries receive Lilly grants

[ENS@ecunet.org]

For more information contact:
Jame Solheim
Director
Episcopal News Service
jsolheim@dfms.org
212/922-5385
http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

2000-121

Episcopal seminaries receive Lilly grants to improve use of 
information technology 

by James Solheim

     (ENS) Four seminaries of the Episcopal Church were among 40 
theological schools in the nation to receive grants from the 
Lilly Endowment to improve their use of information technology in 
teaching. 

     The General Seminary in New York, Virginia Theological 
Seminary, Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Pennsylvania 
and the School of Theology at the University of the South in 
Sewanee, Tennessee, each received a grant for $300,000. The 
grants are designed to assist them in gaining access to important 
theological resources, train faculty and staff in use of new 
technologies, as well as maintaining and updating those 
resources.

     "Improving the quality of theological school teaching is a 
central focus of the Endowment's grant-making in religion," said 
Craig Dykstra, vice president for religion. "With this initiative 
we expect theological schools to develop their capacities to use 
computer-based technologies to enhance teaching and learning. Our 
long-term goal, of course, is to enrich American Christianity 
with a generation of knowledgeable ministers who can lead vibrant 
and healthy congregations in this country."

Mixed blessing of technology

     "This grant will allow us to grasp the opportunity for 
enhancing both our curriculum content and teaching approaches, 
linking our faculty and students with other scholars throughout 
the world," said Dean Guy Fitch Lytle of the School of Theology 
in Sewanee. He pointed out that graduates of the school "minister 
in environments marked by increasingly sophisticated 
expectations, powerful technological resources, and an exploding 
mass of information. It is crucial that they, as leaders of the 
church, have the skills and knowledge to use those resources and 
the wisdom to assess critically the mixed blessing of technology 
in our culture."

     At Virginia Seminary, the grant will be used to create a 
faculty computer lab for new designs in teaching, as well as 
equip faculty to use electronic resources in the classroom and 
upgrade classrooms for the use of new technologies. Seminary 
faculty will work with faculty and students at a local university 
to redesign courses. Initial pilot projects will include courses 
in Old Testament Studies and Church History.

     Dean Martha Horne said that the grant "will provide 
tremendous assistance as we seek to prepare men and women for 
positions of religious leadership in a society that is 
increasingly dependent on technology." She pointed out that the 
grant hastens the implementation of a strategic plan the seminary 
adopted in 1998, calling for exploration and integration of new 
technology that supports the goals of the seminary.

     The General Seminary in New York will establish a computer 
learning center in the library and renovate two classrooms to 
provide multimedia capability and high-speed Internet access. 
"Our staff and faculty are eager and enthusiastic about these 
innovations," said Dean Ward Ewing. "They will assist us greatly 
in equipping the leaders of our church to communicate, teach, 
learn and live the Gospel in our rapidly changing world."

--James Solheim is director of the Episcopal Church's Office of 
News and Information.