• "We have a seminarian in our parish that is in theological school. He leads our bible class on Wednesdays."
• "My sister is registered in the Education for Ministry Program and loves it."
• "Theological education? Boring!"
• "I don't know, doesn't that have something to do with seminaries?"
• "As a professor of Old Testament, theological education is my life's vocation."
• "Do you know that my parish has an institute for religious exploration that offers 100 courses every year!"
• "I remember Mrs. T., my Christian education teacher when I was five. She was a friendly lady. One year, we made Mount Sinai out of paper, paste and wire."

In today's Episcopal Church, theological education is related to baptism. To be baptized is to be in Christ and to share a common life of faith with other Christians, a Christ-like life intended to be radically different from that of the world. It is a life of service and servant-hood. It is a life of action for justice, peace and reconciliation. Baptism is more than a momentary experience; it is the beginning of an ever-onward process of growth in Christ. The main mission of theological education is to better equip laity (including those in the laity who are called to be ordained) for faithful and effective servant leadership. Theological education and reflection takes place throughout the church, and outside the institutional church in homes, hospitals, and even in corporate board rooms. "Episcopalians are people who seek to know and do the truth by means of the creative interplay of Scripture, tradition, reason and experience." 1

The thrill and privilege, the challenge and hope of opening to a deeper knowledge of the Creator of the Universe and a clearer sense of the meaning of human life are available to all persons. A key aspect of the church's mission is to provide opportunities for spiritual growth to maturity in Christ. Thousands now seek and find educational venues for theological education. However, we need to insure that more persons of all ages, cultures, races, no matter their schooling or income, have access to resources for learning about God and the Way of Christ. For thousands of others unaware of their call to be theologically competent, the church has the responsibility to raise awareness and encourage exploration.

The freedom to explore theology and wonder intentionally about the nature of God and human existence was long fought for and hard won. William Tyndale, educated at Oxford and a chaplain and tutor to rich and powerful households in 16th century England, vowed to translate the Bible from Latin into English so that even a "boy that driveth the plough" might come to know more scripture than the most exalted churchmen. For pursing this passion, Tyndale was hunted down and executed. The great humanist Reformer, Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam working about the same time as Tyndale to produce his own translation of the New Testament, declared to his readers, "All can be Christian, all can be devout, and I shall boldly add — all can be theologians!" For years after his death, the Roman Church censured Erasmus' writings.

For the sake of a healthy, broadly informed church it is important that members share in the responsibility for learning more about the Bible.2

In Europe 500 years ago the idea that "ordinary" Christians might read scripture directly and thereby come to a greater understanding of God in Jesus Christ was radical and dangerous indeed. It was however an irresistible idea and one whose time had come — or at least, had come again. Jesus in the Gospel of Luke said, just after the seventy disciples he sent out to proclaim the kingdom returned rejoicing, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants." Jesus revealed all that he had from his Father to his disciples, the majority of whom were ordinary people — fisher-folk, householders, parents, children, the sick, the wounded, the poor. Ordinary people of faith living daily life have questions. They include: what is good and what is evil; how can I use of my abilities and money in God's service; do I want Christian formation for my child; is my company's sales policy moral; does this government policy assist my neighbors to live with dignity, etc. Anglican theologian John Macquarrie said:

Christian action itself will become aimless and sporadic unless it is illuminated by clear theological understanding…Theology is indispensable to the Church, and where theology fails, we must take this as a demand for better theology and certainly not as an excuse for turning away from it or for imagining that the Church can get along without it.3

In 1988, a special task force on Christian education reported to General Convention of the Episcopal Church:

One of the greatest challenges to the leadership of the Church is the empowerment of all Christians through both formal and informal learning opportunities. It is the responsibility of the leadership in each congregation to establish and to develop an environment that enables people to discover themselves as God's people and to carry out the ministries to which they are called. It is through this vision and leadership that the whole congregation comes to feel its responsibility for community and total ministry within the life of the Church. (Quoted in Called to Teach and Learn). 4

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1. What Makes Us Episcopalians? John E. Booty, Morehouse-Barlow Co., Inc., 1982.
2. Frederica Harris Thompsett, professor of Church History at the Episcopal Divinity School, in her 1989 book We are Theologians.
3. Anglican theological John Macquarrie, in his Principles of Christian Theology, published by Charles Scribner's Sons, N.Y., 1977.
4. Called to Teach and Learn: A Catechetical Guide to the Episcopal Church, Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (The Episcopal Church Center), 1994.