ATLANTA — In her final public appearance as president of Columbia Theological Seminary, the Rev. Laura Mendenhall said this is a good time for the church and seminaries to review and change how they work together.
Speaking to the biennial Healthy Ministry Conference — one of ten conferences gathered here June 11-13 under the auspices of the inaugural Big Tent event — Mendenhall used the analogy of a gardener pruning a plant to encourage healthier growth.
“We know that most plants grow best, are most healthy and productive, when they are regularly pruned back,” she said. “But pruning is not easy; it’s hard work. I have to be convinced of the necessity in order to cut off what appears to be good. But unless pruned, a plant gets spindly and less productive.”
Extending the horticulture image, Mendenhall said it might be time to “graft” seminaries and the church, which “need to become one plant in order to more faithfully and effectively serve Christ’s mission in the changing world.”
“The seminaries should be working directly for the church’s health and productivity, anticipating the church’s changing needs,” said Mendenhall.
Working as one organism, she said the new “plant” could seek to answer the questions “What does the church need in its pastoral leaders today and tomorrow? Are the right candidates attending seminary? Are seminary graduates prepared to lead?
“This would help us provide leaders who can integrate knowledge and skill for the world’s changing needs.”
Mendenhall suggested re-examining the seminaries’ use of higher education as a model for serving the church. For example, in the higher education model professors set electives that they want to teach. Shouldn’t seminaries set curriculum after receiving input from pastors and church leaders?
She added that the higher education model encourages the “best and brightest” to continue post-graduate studies, not accept a call to a pastorate.
The audience, mostly members of presbytery committees involved in the support of ministerial candidates and pastors, reacted with “amens” and applause when Mendenhall noted, “In the higher education model, faculty are being asked to teach and mentor for a vocation that is not their own.”
But she also said that the church must be more selective in choosing candidates to send to seminary.
“The church must be discerning,” said Mendenhall. “Just because someone is a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, a faithful member of the church, does not mean they are the best pastor for the church.
“The church needs leaders who love God and love God’s people, who have strong relationship skills that encourage others to follow Christ, who are passionate, gifted and know how to multiply those gifts, who are bright and creative, who are mature in judgment and integrity, who are emotionally and spiritually whole, who are risk-takers for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Mendenhall concludes almost nine years as Columbia’s president at the end of June. She is stepping down to become a senior philanthropic advisor with the Texas Presbyterian Foundation in Austin, where she was a pastor before accepting the call to Columbia Seminary.
The Healthy Ministry Conference is being held here June 11–13 in conjunction with nine other conferences as part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Big Tent event.
John Sniffen is associate editor of Presbyterians Today.
