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Center for a Higher Calling
Atlanta ranks 4th for graduate theology degrees
The study of God is alive and well on Atlanta campuses.
While scientists in local university labs examine the physical world, some of the country's top theologians are exploring spiritual matters. At the same time, they're training students for the Christian ministry.
Each year hundreds of future theologians and clergy receive advanced degrees from metro Atlanta institutions. The region ranks fourth among the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas in graduate degrees awarded in theology and religious vocations, topped only by Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, according to the ARCHE study "Higher Education in America's Metropolitan Areas."
Overall, bachelor's and higher, the metro Atlanta area ranks sixth in theology degrees awarded. From 1989 to 2005, the number of those degrees in the Atlanta area increased by 67 percent – the second largest numeric increase among the top 50 metropolitan statistical areas.
Cooperating Campuses
Atlanta "is one of the major centers for theological education in the United States," said Alan Culpepper, dean of Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology and chairman of the Atlanta Theological Association. ATA includes metro Atlanta's four major theology schools (plus two in South Carolina): Mercer's McAfee, Emory University's Candler School of Theology, Columbia Theological Seminary and the Interdenominational Theological Center.
Each school has its strengths, Culpepper said. By collaborating and sharing resources, they can provide their students a deeper, more diverse experience. Through ARCHE and ATA, students can cross-register at other schools, use their libraries and archives, and attend many of their special events.
Citing the institutions' collegiality, Jan Love, dean of the Emory's theology school, said "It's just a joy to be in a city where there's a critical mass of professionals who do theological education."
Community as Classroom
The Candler school's setting in Atlanta is crucial, as Atlanta itself offers great opportunities for learning, Love said. Students in Candler's master of divinity program-the basic degree for ordination to the ministry-are required to spend time in "contextual education," she said. That means they must get out into the community to learn how to minister in different settings.
In Atlanta, she said, students can work in homeless shelters, food banks, hospitals, "big-steeple" churches, inner city and suburban congregations and, just a few miles away, in rural parishes.
Those students contribute both insight and elbow grease to those ministries. And the theology programs often lead the way in tackling tough political and social issues-from AIDS to immigration- from a Christian perspective.
"Having seminaries and institutions of higher learning that are willing to deal with these issues, not just in the context of the classroom but in the community, it certainly brings a richer environment for anyone living in this area," said Jane Jelks Jones, senior director of external affairs at ITC, which comprises six predominantly African-American seminaries in different denominations.
Only a city with such rich theological resources could support yet another collaboration, Faith and the City, organized in 1999 by former ambassadors James T. Laney and Andrew Young. Through it, leaders of the theology schools work with other civic leaders to promote the idea of bringing a moral dimension to civic concerns, across religious lines.
"It invites seminaries to remember, and helps students realize, that pastors are not only congregational leaders but also community leaders," said Columbia's dean of faculty, Cam Murchison.
Such programs help Columbia attract students who'll be the religious leaders of the future, he said.
A look at ARCHE-member theology schools:
Candler School of Theology, Emory University (founded 1914)
Candler is known for its affiliation with the United Methodist Church, but its students come from and practice in many denominations. As part of Emory, Candler students have had access to world-known religious figures such as the Dalai Lama and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as well as former President Jimmy Carter. Its Pitts library has one of the country's largest and best theological collections.
Columbia Theological Seminary (founded 1828)
As an institution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Columbia's primary mission is to train leaders for the ministry-but that doesn't always mean the pulpit. The seminary's Center for Lifelong Learning gives practicing clergy and lay leaders a chance to learn from Columbia professors both on campus and in other settings.
Interdenominational Theological Center (founded 1958)
ITC is a consortium of six seminaries, each part of a distinct Christian tradition: Gammon Theological Center, United Methodist; Morehouse School of Religion, Baptist; Turner Theological Seminary, African Methodist Episcopal; Phillips School of Theology, Christian Methodist Episcopal; Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary, Presbyterian Church (USA); and Charles H. Mason Theological Seminary, Church of God in Christ. Together they make up perhaps the country's top institution for African-American church studies.
McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University (founded 1994)
Theological education has been central to the mission of Mercer since the university was founded by Georgia Baptists in 1833. More than 160 years later, Mercer's separate school for theology was founded on the university's Atlanta campus. McAfee is a partner institution of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, an organization of moderate Baptists formed in 1990.
Undergraduate Study
In addition to these graduate programs in theology, several ARCHE schools offer undergraduate or graduate degrees in religious studies: Agnes Scott College, Clark Atlanta University, Emory University, Georgia State Univerisity (where it is the fastest-growing department), Morehouse College, Spelman College and University of Georgia.
To search for degrees in theology or religion, visit the ARCHE Degree Search page.
By Gayle White
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