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December 22, 2009 by Gerald Hiestand
Who Needs the Pastor-Theologian?
The pastor-theologian programs of organizations such as the Center for Theological Inquiry, and the Presbyterian Church USA (both programs are discontinued) follow a nearly identical organizational model as the SAET—we each host symposiums, bring together a diverse body of pastor-theologians and academic theologians, present papers, and pursue publishing, etc. Yet for the CTI and the PCA, such activities are meant to further the pastor’s effectiveness as a local-theologian, not primarily to season the body of orthodox theological reflection.
The SAET however, is primarily concerned to further the pastor’s ability to serve as an ecclesial theologian to the broader theological community. We encourage writing not primarily because the pastor is lacking (or even his local church), but because orthodox theology is lacking. Orthodox theology itself is most fundamentally in need of the pastor-theologian.
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Welcome to saet-online.org, the online home of The Society for the Advancement of Ecclesial Theology (SAET). The SAET is an organization dedicated to assisting pastor-theologians in producing biblical and theological scholarship for the renewal of orthodox theology, for the renewal of the church.
Operating within the historic evangelical tradition, the SAET believes the contemporary bifurcation between the pastoral calling and theological formation has resulted in the loss of a distinctly ecclesial voice in orthodox theology. The SAET seeks to resurrect this voice...(continue reading)SAET Bloggers
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Good points; I wonder, too, if another reason is that orthodoxy is more closely preserved in the local church than in academia?
At least historically, it seems to be the case that heterodoxy has been primarily introduced via academic channels, with the local church the last bastien of orthodoxy. (Witness, too, the same course of influence in the opposite direction, taking place in some parts of the Southern Baptist conference, wherein the seminaries– especially Southern– have engaged in a deepened recommitment to orthodoxy, which has slowly resulted in the local churches also increasing in their orthodoxy.) Could this be coincidence in history? Or could Ecclesial Theology/Theologians be a means for protecting orthodoxy because of this tendency?
Also, two minor points of question/correction: first, I believe you may have the above references (to the other institutions) backwards, as it appears at first glance that CTI is still active, while the program for the PC-USA is now defunct. Second, I’m sure it was a typo for you to refer to the “Presbyterian Church of America” instead of the “Presbyterian Church- USA” which is the current iteration of the former. But some of your readers, less acquainted with American Presbyterian history, might mistake you to mean the Presbyterian Church IN America, which is a very different denomination.
12/26/09 1:10 PM | Comment Link
Ed,
Thanks. Good point about the local church being more theologically stable than the academy. I don’t think it’s a coincidence, but I’d have to think more about why there’s a correlation.
And thanks for the corrections. CTI is still active, but their pastor-theologian program is not.
12/26/09 3:08 PM | Comment Link