TEEM and the future of theological education.

Swanson, Mark N.

In this issue of Currents in Theology and Mission, I am delighred to welcome as guest editor Dr. Moses Penumaka, Director of Theological Education for Emerging Ministries (TEEM) and Assistant Professor of Contextual Theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS) in Berkeley, California. Dr. Penumaka has gathered for publication here a set of three major presentations and a sermon given ac the 2009 and 2010 TEEM conferences at PLTS--annual events that have become a kind of think-tank with tegard to the future of theological education, for the sake of mission in a changing church.

TEEM is defined on the ELCA website as "a process by which the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American approves for the roster of ordained ministers those persons 'who by reason of age and prior experience' (Constitution 7.31.14) are qualified to participate in an alternative program of preparation for ordination. It is for exceptional persons who are identified for ministry in a specific context and complete theological education (non-M.Div. degree) and candidacy requirements." (1) The essays gathered together in this issue of Currents are remarkable in that they present TEEM not merely as an exceptional form of ministerial formation, or an accommodation to "special cases," but rather as a sign of our future, a laboratory of theological education, and a serious contribution to our thinking about what it means to be the church in mission in North America in the twenty-first century. We are invited to ponder the hopes and accomplishments of TEEM as we feel, think, and experiment our way into new forms of theological education and ministerial formation suited to a de-centered, post-Christendom, Spirit-driven church capable of bringing "changing ministries" to "changing cultures." One contributor here, PLTS President Phyllis Anderson, prophesies that "all our seminaries will change radically, perhaps beyond recognition," but suggests that a transformed seminary may have a future as "a vital node on a thriving network."

Such ideas (and prophecies) are not necessarily easy to hear-a: least for those who love and are heavily invested in the seminaries rhat face radical change. But rhese ideas do, in the first place, remind all of us (including and especially seminary professors like mc) that theological education and ministerial formation is the work of the whole church. Even in its most traditional form in the ELCA, the work of ministerial formation involves the families and congregations, colleges, camps, and volunteer experiences (and so on!) where faith is formed, gifts discovered, and vocation discerned. Seminaries have extraordinary "adjunct faculties" that include field education and CPE supervisors and the communities of the faithful around them, as well as the supervisors, lay committees, and congregations who participate in the remarkable American Lutheran institution of the full-time, year-long internship. But while we are reminded that theological education and ministerial formation is the work of the whole church, wc are also challenged to embrace and imagine this reality in new ways. The essays in this issue of Currents suggest that as the church is de-centered in post-Christendom North America, so increasingly will be theological education and ministerial formation. TEEM helps us sec what this might look like and gives us some leads and some space to imagine "thriving networks" by which the faithful will be edified and leaders raised up in the future.

And so, as I turn the word over to Dr. Penumaka, I offer him and his colleagues thanks for the rich offerings in this issue of Currents in Theology and Mission.

Mark N. Swanson

Co-editor of Currents in Theology and Mission

(1.) "Theological Education for Emerging Ministries," on the ELCA website under "Leadership" at http://www.elca.org/leadership/liderazgo/englishl/teem.html (accessed April 22, 2011).