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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 26, 1997

ELCA ADVANCES THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION NETWORK
97-06-016-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A committee overseeing the coordination
and planning for a system of theological education in the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is preparing for the next
step forward -- downsizing itself.  When the ELCA's Theological
Education Coordinating Committee met here Feb. 7-8 it had 15
members, including the presidents of eight seminaries.
     The ELCA inherited eight seminaries when it merged three
church bodies in 1988.  A six-year study of theological education
developed a plan for "a system of theological education" using
the seminaries as focal points for three "clusters" of the
church's resources for theological education, which includes
continuing education centers, colleges and other agencies of the
church on the territory.
     "Cooperation and collaboration are now the rule instead of
the exception," said the Rev. Joseph M. Wagner, executive
director of the ELCA Division for Ministry.  "Competition is not
of the same sort as in the past -- eight different institutions
competing against each other.  They're now competing for
solutions and working together toward solutions to common
problems."
     According to its design, when the committee meets again in
September, "one representative will be named from each seminary
cluster rather than from each individual seminary."
     The Rev. Robert L. Vogel, president of Wartburg College,
Waverly, Iowa, said the seminaries have been well represented in
the planning process.  He suggested that reducing the size of the
committee will emphasize the rest of the network and that the
committee could eventually work itself out of business once the
network is fully operational.
     The Rev. Roger W. Fjeld, president of Wartburg Theological
Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, said he was less anxious about that
transition now than he was two years ago when the church approved
it.  He said he trusts the goals of the committee and "the
vehicles to get there" -- the clusters.
     The Rev. David L. Tiede, president of Luther Seminary, St.
Paul, Minn., said the transition will work as long as the
committee continues to "stay the course" and not try to "create
the course."
     The committee will still have an important role in the
process toward a network of theological education.  "This group
helps manage tension, and that's a very valuable function," said
Tiede.
     "Each time we meet, I'm pleasantly surprised by the fact we
can tackle emerging questions and emerging issues which might be
sensitive and potentially very difficult," said Wagner.  "We have
built enough trust and a track record of addressing those issues
creatively that those are the results that happen almost every
time we meet."
     Wagner included using the Internet and satellite technology
for "distance learning" among the seminaries' cooperative
efforts.  "The seminaries are developing nitty-gritty things like
common accounting procedures to work together in building
economies.  They are all developing processes and plans for
common governance structures in the clusters.  They are thinking
about how to distribute the funds that come to the clusters," he
said.
     "These meetings are a way for us to bring those different
approaches together and learn from each other.  It's a very
exciting, very promising experience," said Wagner.
     "Where we are in history requires new forms of partnerships
and new forms of funding," said the Rev. Phyllis B. Anderson,
ELCA director for theological education.  One of the top
remaining issues of the committee is to recommend methods of
funding theological education.
     "We've got a long way to go before we start thinking as a
system," said Anderson.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html