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Seabury contact: Rebecca Wilson, 330-524-2067, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Wartburg contact: Janelle Koepke, 563-589-071, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
DUBUQUE, IA and EVANSTON, IL, January 13, 2010—This week two students from Wartburg Theological Seminary, an ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) seminary in Dubuque, begin Anglican studies courses at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, a seminary of the Episcopal Church USA. Their enrollment marks the beginning of a new formal partnership between the schools that allows students to study at both institutions. The agreement was approved enthusiastically in December by both faculties.
“We are excited both about welcoming Episcopal students to Wartburg and encouraging them to complete specific requirements through the diploma in Anglican Studies at Seabury-Western,” said the Rev. Dr. Craig Nessan, academic dean at Wartburg Theological Seminary. “This cooperation will assist Episcopal students to complete all of their academic requirements without placing additional burdens upon them. The communal formation at Wartburg Seminary conforms in many ways to the Anglican ethos. We will be looking for other mutually beneficial ways to enhance our partnership with Seabury-Western and the Anglican Communion in the coming years.”
The first Wartburg students, who join students from the Chicago area and Iowa, Indiana and Kentucky, are enrolled in “Episcopal Church History and Polity” and “Anglican Liturgy and Music,” both two-week intensive courses. The courses form part of Seabury’s new Anglican Studies program, designed to offer Anglican studies to Episcopal students in university divinity schools and seminaries of other denominations as well as to people preparing for ministry who are not enrolled in a seminary degree program. In the future, Seabury intends to offer Anglican studies to people training for ministry locally and cooperate with dioceses to provide seminary-level education for lay and ordained people.
“The Episcopal Church and the ELCA are in full communion, and we are delighted to build on our common Christian understanding through shared theological education,” said the Rev. Dr. Ellen Wondra, academic dean at Seabury-Western. “We welcome Wartburg students to Seabury and look forward to a fruitful relationship between our institutions.”
Wartburg Theological Seminary is one of eight theological schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Wartburg is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools and educates women and men to serve the church as ordained and lay leaders. Established in Dubuque, Iowa in 1854, Wartburg Theological Seminary is in its 156th academic year. www.wartburgseminary.edu
Seabury is what's next in a seminary: Our theological education—from single classes to certificates and doctoral degrees—embodies generous Christianity and is open to the intellectually and spiritually curious. For church leaders, for seminarians, and for pilgrims and seekers, Seabury’s innovative programs are rooted in the Episcopal tradition and presented with academic rigor. Find out what’s next at www.seabury.edu.
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