Under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Wendy Deichmann, who became its president in 2008, United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio continues serving as a major force for spiritual and theological renewal in the United Methodist Church. While United’s faculty and students are hardly a conservative monolith, it stands out among the 13 official American United Methodist seminaries by having a very public, unapologetic institutional commitment to historic Christian orthodoxy, as encapsulated in the Nicene Creed.
United’s “Light the Fire!” church-renewal conferences have become annual gatherings for renewal-minded United Methodists while doing what few other United Methodist conferences do: offer the sort of ministry equipping that non-mainline evangelicals find attractive and helpful. This year’s “Light the Fire!” was held May 8-9 and focused on equipping church leaders for effective ministry with people with disabilities and mental illnesses. The 2015 “Light the Fire!” will be January 22-23 in Naples, Florida. (Early-registration discounts offered up to December 1!)
A key element of United’s turnaround has been its openness to the global Pentecostal/charismatic movement. The seminary recently began a formal partnership with Aldersgate Renewal Ministries, the UMC’s charismatic renewal group. Through this partnership, United now offers a fully accredited Doctor of Ministry (D. Min.) degree in Supernatural Ministry. Other fruit includes an annual Holy Spirit Conference (this year’s theme: spiritual warfare) and a new Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program in “Church Renewal with a Global Charismatic Emphasis.” As Aldersgate Renewal Ministries notes, “You won’t find” this sort of thing at any other official U.S. United Methodist seminary!
United also includes plenty of faculty and students who are not personally Pentecostal or charismatic, but who also reject the modernist anti-supernaturalist biases that are at the heart of theological liberalism.
According to the Association of Theological Schools, under the last five years of Dr. Deichmann’s leadership, United has more than tripled its total enrollment, from a full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment of 116 in the 2008-2009 academic year to 358 in the recently-concluded 2013-2014 academic year, while more than doubling its MDiv program (the “standard” ministerial education degree) from 79 to 188 FTE’s. For comparison’s sake, in that same period the UMC’s notoriously liberal Claremont School of Theology saw its MDiv FTE enrollment drop to 50, a loss of nearly one-fifth of previous enrollment, while its total FTE enrollment dropped to 223, a loss of nearly a quarter. (Given the reality of many part-time students, using FTE statistics allows for fairer, more apples-to-apples comparisons.)
Videos from United’s 2013 Light the Fire! can be viewed here.
Comment by krehlaw7204 on August 20, 2014 at 7:25 pm
One fundamental reaction; “Encouraging!”
Comment by Robert Reeves on August 23, 2014 at 1:47 pm
While it is absolutely wonderful and very encouraging what is happening at Union in Dayton, Ohio I trust that their momentum will not be deliberately deterred by anyone in any fashion that somehow actually believes that the direction of Union is genuinely incompatible with the doctrines and discipline of the United Methodist Church. My prayer is for this focus and energy from GOD’s Spirit to spread to the other official seminaries.
Comment by CDGingrich on August 24, 2014 at 9:38 am
God bless this school and these students and teachers.
Comment by Timothy J. Lomperis on August 25, 2014 at 2:21 pm
Very interesting piece, John! What is meant by the term, “supernatural ministry?”
Dad