Theological seminar
A theological seminary is a training facility in which theology is taught. Depending on the seminar, admission takes place according to its own regulations, in many cases a detailed, not just formal, application is required. Some institutions charge tuition or school fees , while others pay a grant to their students.
A building, a course of study or an event can also be described as a theological seminar . The latter, together with a supplement to the subject, is especially the case for practical-theological and systematic-theological seminars .
background
In addition to the state-run seminars, there are numerous church or free seminars, institutes and educational establishments that train future theologians for church service or research at a university.
University courses in theology focus on academic training and are usually not very practice-oriented. Universities of applied sciences sometimes offer very practical courses of study. Training for a theological profession is not regulated by the state in Germany and is therefore organized through universities , private schools and institutes , among others . The term “theologian” is not protected, but there are protected academic degrees, such as Magister or a diploma in theology.
Seen worldwide, most seminars are carried and financed by the churches themselves. In Central Europe, some churches have a state promise to participate in theological training on the basis of church treaties and similar regulations. Thus in Germany the federal states are involved in the training with seminars attached to state universities. In addition, there are also independent seminars: in such seminars, internal training is mainly carried out or supplemented. Theoretical training at such a seminar is usually supplemented by internships or practical training units at a preacher's or priest seminar .
In the English and German-speaking areas, many of the state-independent theological seminars are evangelical . To this end, two umbrella organizations have been formed in Germany: In 1963, the Conference of Biblical Training Centers (KBA) was founded, which today comprises 36 theological seminars and is close to the free churches. In 1971 the Conference of Missionary Training Centers (KMA) was founded, which comprises 13 theological seminars and is recognized by the Protestant churches. The evangelical journal ideaSpektrum lists a total of 62 theological schools with around 4,300 students in German-speaking countries in 2016; 47 of these are in Germany (with around 3,300 students), 11 in Switzerland (with 700 students) and 4 in Austria (with 300 students).
Overview of theological seminars
The following overview, which does not claim to be exhaustive, names various theological seminars regardless of whether it is e.g. B. is an institution that enables a full theological course, or only enables a certain aspect of a theological training, or whether it is a so-called course or a building that bears this name.
Institutions that are essentially a theological seminar or are similar to one, but without being called that, are to be searched for below under See also or under one of the keywords mentioned there.
Surname | country | carrier | Denomination or conf. Alignment |
founding | Number of students | Remarks, special |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia Theological Seminary (CTS) Atlanta | United States | Presbyterian Church (USA) | possibly | 1828 | 450 | ||
Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) | United States | Private | ev.-free | 1924 | 2084 | dispensationally shaped | |
Eden Theological Seminary St. Louis | United States | United Church of Christ | possibly | 1850 | 1000+ | ||
European Theological Seminar (ETS) | Germany | Church of God Germany | possibly Pentecostal | 1958 | 67 | ||
Fuller Theological Seminary | United States | Private | possibly | 1947 | 4000 | wide and globally oriented | |
General Theological Seminary | United States | Episcopal Church in the USA | anglik. | 1817 (?) | 202 | ||
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Boston | United States | Private | possibly | 1969 | 2137 | Merger of Gordon Divinity School (1889) and Conwell School of Theology (1888) | |
International University of Liebenzell | Germany | Liebenzell Mission | possibly | 2011 (1899) | 192 | State-recognized BA courses | |
Intercultural Theological Academy | Germany | Liebenzell Mission | possibly | 2012 | State-recognized BA courses | ||
London School of Theology (LST) | England | Private | possibly | circa 1945 | 350 | until 2004: London Bible College (LBC) | |
Lutheran Theological Seminary - Leipzig | Germany | Evangelical Lutheran Free Church | ev.-luth. | 1953 | 3 | Predecessor institutions since 1876 | |
Pentecostal Theological Seminary (PTS) | United States | Church of God (Cleveland) | possibly Pentecostal | 1975 | 200 | ||
Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) | United States | Presbyterian Church | possibly | 1812 | 500 | ||
Regent College Vancouver | Canada | Private | possibly | 1968 | 500 | ||
Rhineland Theological Seminar | Germany | Mission and Education Work New Life | possibly | 1985 | 105 | non-denominational | |
Adelshofen Theological Seminar | Germany | Adelshofen life center | possibly | 1958 | 61 | ||
Bienenberg Theological Seminar | Switzerland | u. a. Conference of the Mennonites of Switzerland (Old Anabaptists) | ev.-Mennonite | 1957 | |||
High School Herborn | Germany | Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau | possibly | 1584 | ThS since 1817 | ||
Theological seminar of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches | Germany | Association of Evangelical Free Churches | bapt. | 1880 | 76 | Also: Theological seminar Elstal University of Applied Sciences |
|
Berea Theological Seminary | Germany | Federation of Free Church Pentecostal Congregations | possibly Pentecostal | 1951 | 78 | ||
Theological seminar in Aidlingen Bible School | Germany | Deaconess House Aidlingen | possibly | ? | 9 | ||
Ewersbach Theological Seminar , since 2011: Ewersbach Theological College | Germany | Federation of Free Protestant Congregations in Germany | ev.-free | 1912 | 63 | ||
Reutlingen Theological Seminar , since 2008: Reutlingen Theological University | Germany | Methodist Church | ev.-meth. | 1877 | 65 | ThS until 2008 | |
St. Chrischona Theological Seminary | Switzerland | Pilgrim mission St. Chrischona | possibly | 1841 | 108 | ||
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) Deerfield | United States | Evangelical Free Church of America | ev.-free | 1897 | 1231 | ||
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York | United States | Presbyterian Church | possibly | 1836 | 350 | ||
Westminster Theological Seminary | United States | Private | possibly | 1929 | 621 | influenced by Calvinism | |
Nossa Senhora da Fatima Seminary | East Timor | Archdiocese of Dili | Roman Catholic | 1936 | |||
Peter and Paul Seminary | East Timor | Archdiocese of Dili | Roman Catholic | 1933 |
Remarks
- ↑ Bible schools and theological seminars in German-speaking countries. ideaSpektrum 42, 2016, pp. 26-27.
-
↑ Abbreviations
- anglik .: anglican
- bapt .: baptist
- ev .: evangelical (either in the sense of evangelical-uniert or different evangelical denominations like presbyterian and evangelical-reformed)
- ev.-freik .: evangelical-free church
- ev.-luth .: evangelical-Lutheran
- ev.-meth .: evangelical-methodist
- Roman Catholic: Roman Catholic
- ↑ Website CTS ( Memento of the original from August 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Website DTS
- ^ Website Eden Theological Seminary ( Memento of the original from September 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Gordon-Conwell website
- ^ Website PTS
- ^ Regent College website
- ^ TEDS website