Message from the President

Now is the time to respond to God’s call!

I was humbled, challenged and heartened by Dr. Charles E. Booth’s prophetic message on the evening of my inauguration as president. Humbled because, as he reminded us the task ahead is far more than we, as a seminary, can accomplish apart from God’s direction and help. Challenged, because Dr. Booth reminded us so vividly that in this world deep darkness reigns in many, many places. Heartened, because God’s dynamic light and salvation in Jesus Christ is sufficient to bring hope, peace, joy and love through the power of the Holy Spirit to transform every place of darkness and gloom into a vibrant haven of God’s New Creation!

Do we dare to believe it? If so, what could possibly be more compelling or urgent?

One year ago, United Theological Seminary adopted a new tag line. It was and is an audacious prayer: Spirit Led, Renewing the Church! This action flew in the face of nauseatingly redundant reports of church decline and the mass exodus of young persons from mainline and evangelical churches ostensibly on account of institutional irrelevance and liturgical boredom.

Why would a little seminary like United be nuts enough to announce its intent to grow its mission and vision for the Renewal of the Church and work to develop a market plan and curriculum to support such a purpose? Why would the humblest United Methodist seminary with Evangelical United Brethren roots still staunchly undergirding us look the devil of mainline and evangelical church decline in the face and tell it to get behind us? In other words, to get out of our way?

It is really not about us. Rather, it is about that to which the Spirit is calling all of us. At United we are standing on the authority of the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit because God is calling us to recruit and educate faithful leaders for the life-transforming mission of Jesus Christ in this world! At United, we think there is nothing more compelling or urgent in all of God’s creation.

This means that the seminary and the church will need to work together to recruit a new generation of faithful leaders for the church who will not settle for decline and death. These will be persons who dare to believe the Gospel themselves are gifted and graced by God for ministry leadership and who are willing to take on in-depth study of the Bible, history, theology and ministry skills. They will be persons prepared to witness to the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the areas of preaching, worship, personal and social holiness and prophetic accountability. They will be persons bold to accept and put on the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22).