Eastern Cluster of Seminaries reports expanding collaboration, reviews evaluation

PHILADELPHIA (November 4, 2003) – So, how’s it going?

Representatives of the Eastern Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries met for two days recently to consider an evaluation of the decade-old initiative to work more closely together. The three seminaries forming the Cluster are Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS), Columbia, SC; the Lutheran theological Seminary at Gettysburg (LTSG), and The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP).

Meeting at LTSP to assess the evaluation was the Cluster Board consisting of members of the individual seminary boards. Also on hand were coordinators of Regions 7 and 8 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The evaluation took a look at the effectiveness and the efficiency of collaborative efforts with a look to helping to strategize for future direction. The Cluster Board also heard collaborative reports from various seminary disciples (admissions, communications, fund-raising, the Doctor of Ministry program, finance and operations). Those reports included citing how admissions officers are working together on collaborative recruiting and marketing strategies, and focused on how the Theological Education with Youth (TEY) program and other youth efforts are receiving new identity and collaborative promotional approaches. A strategy is also under way to have a collaborative approach to promoting all lay continuing education opportunities of the three schools across the three regions.

Another highlight included welcoming two new seminary deans – Dr. Robin Steinke of Gettysburg, and Dr. Michael Root of Southern. The Cluster Board also had a discussion about the proposed churchwide restructuring and possible implications for clusters/seminaries. The Board also heard an exciting report from Pastor Bill Bixby about the first year of cooperative efforts between LTSP and LTSG regarding the expanding TEY initiative. Finally, plans were discussed for the first-ever meeting of the Board via video conferencing, set for the spring of 2004.

The Cluster historically has been working toward:

• Moving the seminaries beyond their current organizational structures to establish collaborative efforts that meet the changing mission needs in a rapidly changing culture of the Church in the eastern United States.
• Staffing Cluster programs jointly to manage human resources effectively and efficiently in order to sustain programs long-term and offer professional growth opportunities for faculty and staff.
• Impacting each of the schools in such a way as to attract, prepare and support a wide variety of leaders for the Church.
• Providing long-term financial savings for the schools by eliminating the duplication of efforts and providing administrative oversight of Cluster programs.
• Ensuring maximum strategic effectiveness and efficiency.
• Providing significant, increased marketing opportunities, which allow each of the schools working together to reach new constituencies and provide enhanced collective visibility to the schools.

The evaluation process was conducted by the Rev. Robert Bacher and involved interviews with the three seminary presidents, the chair of the Board Planning Committee, the Cluster project coordinator, and reviewing documents such as the Bylaws and Continuing Resolutions, Memorandum of Partnership, and past Board minutes. A set of questions was prepared and critiqued. Then 25 interviews were conducted including presidents of the three seminaries, past and present Cluster Board chairs, Cluster Board members, past and present Deans, past and present Advisory Synod Bishops, ELCA Division for Ministry executives, the Cluster coordinator and the Cluster project coordinator and three administrative assistants.

Evaluation highlights included the following:

The "one library in three locations" agreement has proved to be the most visible accomplishment of the Cluster so far. The agreement enables the libraries at the three schools to collaborate on distribution of resources across seminary lines. Technological innovations have eased this sharing. The agreement has paved the way for increased research opportunities, eliminating duplication of resources.

Four Eastern Cluster cooperative programs – the Doctor of Ministry, Diaconal Ministry, Distance Education and The Lutheran Theological Center in Atlanta – are supported by a grant from the Teagle Foundation. The evaluation respondents said the Doctor of Ministry program is proceeding "quite well" with an "increased number of students" and noted it is "well organized."

The Diaconal Ministry Program was described as "wonderful." The report said it needs "more support from the (ELCA) Division for Ministry" and said it was unsure how the program is functioning for all eight of the ELCA seminaries.

Distance Education was described as "needs long-term support" and having "good beginnings….Much is expected." Questions included, "Will professors really use this? Are we expecting too much too soon? Is Fisher’s Net effective?"

The Lutheran Theological Center in Atlanta was described as "need to know more. Can’t really say. It is certainly needed. Are we making progress on multicultural leader development?"

Thirteen respondents said strategic planning was the most urgent and important next step.

Other suggestions included having a two-day retreat for presidents and deans, clarifying the roles of Cluster leaders, developing greater faculty involvement and developing new joint programs.

Under "additional comments" interviewees made suggestions such as focusing on lay education and having a Cluster newsletter.