wfn.org | Greenland needs more educated theologians

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Many positions for pastors are vacant

NUUK, Greenland/GENEVA, 23 November 1998 (lwi) - The fairly new but much
needed Theological Institute at Greenland's University and the country's
pastoral services are facing new challenges as undergraduates may take up
jobs in the home rule government before they complete their degree
courses.

According to the November 1998 issue of Church News from Denmark, the
newsletter of the Council on International Relations of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Denmark, many students at the Greenland University
where the theology institute is located, now have the choice of taking up
administrative jobs in the country's home rule before they have completed
their undergraduate courses.

In a situation where only two-thirds of the pastors have theological
training and one-third of the openings for pastors in the Greenland church
are vacant, this not only affects the church's work among the people but
also brings uncertainty into the future of the budding theological
institute.

The diocese of Greenland, with some 50,000 members is part of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark. More than 90 per cent of
Greenland's population comprises Lutherans.

Speaking to Denmark's Christian daily, Kristeligt Dagblad, Paul Erik
Engelhardt, the leader of the Theological Institute noted: "There is
certainly a need for educated theologians among the pastors here." The now
one-year-old institute currently has five students.

The curriculum and funding for the theological training program was
approved by Greenland's home-rule government in 1982, in response to the
church's concern for a shortage of pastors. Currently the students at the
institute can obtain a bachelor degree after three years of study and then
choose to become pastors in their homeland or continue studies at a
university in another country.

Formerly, pastors were trained in Copenhagen, Denmark and its
supplementary Greenland seminary. Theological studies in Nuuk include
strong emphasis on Greenland and its people.

The Greenland church is also concerned that not only are many other
confessions establishing themselves in this predominantly Lutheran country
of over 53,000 people but they are also trying to slur the differences
between themselves and the Greenland Church thus creating confusion.

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