[3081] PCT considers revamping seminaries to increase influence, help local churches

PCT considers revamping seminaries to increase influence, help local churches

Reported by Sam Lee

Written by Lydia Ma

During a forum on PCT higher education on February 19, 2011, PCT General Secretary Andrew Chang suggested all three PCT seminaries seriously consider the possibility of merging and creating a “Presbyterian United Seminary” in the future.

Chang explained that the challenges being self-sufficient were taking their toll on every seminary and many tasks could be done with more efficiency and achieve further cost-savings if these seminaries became one.

He listed examples such as supporting three board of directors, hosting 3 different student recruitments, maintaining equitable financial distribution, etc. was a financial burden for all three institutions and the General Assembly which not only created resource waste, but also hampered each seminary from gaining an edge among seminaries in East Asia.

If all PCT seminaries were merged into one, there would be less duplication of services, better allocation of resources, less financial burden for all, and more administrative efficiency. More importantly, a unified PCT seminary could exert much more influence in Taiwan.

The primary goal of theological education is to train pastors and help them become more like Christ. Chang said that if all three seminaries were merged, students on the typical 3 year program could take classes at three campuses – that is, one year in Tainan, one year in Taipei, and one year in Hualien. This would enable them to see different environments and interact with different ethnic groups, which would equip them for their church ministries later down the road.

In related news, Chang Jung Christian University School of Theology – the first university with an accredited seminary in Taiwan – Dean Wang Chung-yao observed that seminaries based within colleges or universities is the current world trend. He added that not only does this trend facilitate dialogue between different disciplines within an university, it also helps seminaries to be heard when they issue statements with a prominent university’s name backing them up.

Reflecting on the standings of seminaries in Taiwan, Wang said seminaries had limited influence in Taiwan in the past because KMT governments and western seminaries were at odds with contextual theology – a basic tenet of PCT’s mission statement and its seminaries.

But with the loosening of regulations that were disadvantageous to theological education in recent years, Wang believes that setting up seminaries within universities might offer the former an opportunity to rise up and increase its standing among other academic institutions. This would also elevate the standing of pastors and churches nationwide and help Christians and theologians to become voices of influence in society.