Eastern Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries Board Meets in an Expansive Mood

The Board of Directors of the Eastern Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries gathered in a retreat setting at the Bon Secours Center outside Baltimore, Maryland, September 18-20, 2006. In a two-day planning session that preceded the official board meeting, members engaged in wide-ranging discussion, which followed a review of the Cluster’s 12-year history and current programs and emphases. As a prelude to extended conversations, presentations on key principles for successfully developing and sustaining "networks" were offered by the Rev. Dr. Robert Bacher, planning consultant to the Cluster, and Ms. Jill Schumann, president of Lutheran Services in America. Both pointed to key ingredients necessary for successful networking: establishing clear understandings of purpose, fostering effective communication, and respecting the individual identity and integrity of each partner as a sense of common purpose emerges.

During the dozen years since the Cluster was organized as a cooperative venture of Gettysburg, Philadelphia and Southern (in Columbia, SC) Seminaries, a wide range of programs have been carried out under the Cluster’s umbrella. Educational and inspirational programs for youth, formation events for persons preparing for diaconal service, as well as a doctoral degree and other programs have earned the Cluster widespread respect. Separated by hundreds of miles, the three schools nevertheless have merged their library collections into "One Library Under Three Roofs." Most recently, through receipt of a $3 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, the Cluster has launched Project Connect, a massive effort to engage many "arms" of the Lutheran church in encouraging young persons contemplating their vocational callings to consider serving as clergy. An overview of the highly successful first year of the Connect effort, which has touched the lives of hundreds of young persons, was offered in an energetic presentation by Mr. Donald Johnson, its director.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), sponsoring church body for all three seminaries, has encouraged the Cluster to foster and support development of a broad "network" of theological education for laity as well as those serving or responding to calls for clerical service. Following the retreat conversations, Eastern Cluster Board Members made a strong commitment to join with others in forming such an ongoing network. Voicing her enthusiasm for the formation of a network, that initially may focus on lay education, the Rev. Sara Lilja, chair of the Cluster’s planning committee, said, "This is exciting! We have come a long way together. Now we are encouraging the development of something larger where other partners will increasingly need to provide leadership." A steering committee of nine persons, headed by Dr. Nelvin Vos of Allentown, PA, was named to take the next steps in network development.

In addition to conducting its routine items of business, the Cluster board discussed the ongoing financial challenges before all seminaries in the current era. Through receiving grants that support some existing seminary programs, and by realizing efficiencies in collaborative ventures such as the common library, the Cluster is assisting the three seminaries in cost containment. The Cluster has allocated resources to support faculty collaboration among the schools, including an online theological journal, joint lecture series, and common efforts in response to growing calls for informed theological perspectives on significant issues before the Church.

In his summary remarks at the meeting’s conclusion, the Rev. Donald J. McCoid, Bishop of the ELCA’s Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod and Cluster board chair, observed, "This may have been a historic meeting as we determined to forge ahead into new endeavors. We have come to know one another better as sisters and brothers sharing important work on behalf of the Church."