Introduction
The Boston
Theological Institute (BTI), an association of nine theological
schools in the Greater Boston area, is one of the oldest and
largest theological consortia in the United States. It is the
only one to include as constitutive members schools representing
the full range of Christian churches and confessions. Additionally,
persons representing other religious traditions are present
in many of our schools, particularly through member university
departments of religion.
Through
its history, the BTI has grown to meet the demands of a changing
theological climate. The member schools’ students, faculty,
alumni and friends have been proud participants in a collaborative
effort that has enhanced what each school is able to accomplish
individually. This collaboration is recognized through three
certificates of study, in International Mission and Ecumenism,
in Science and Religion (through four tracks), and in Youth
and Young Adult Ministry Studies.
The
BTI is known for its faculty and resources. The association
of the nine schools’ theological libraries together contains
a total of over one and one-half million volumes. Cross-registration
widens the opportunity for more than 3,000 students to enjoy
an unparalleled number of possibilities in academic courses
and programming. The BTI supports ecumenical events in areas
of concern to ministers, academics, and theologians through
its programs and special events.
Activities
BTI
activity takes place under three headings: administrative operations,
program facilitation, and academic development. The purpose
of this collaboration varies with the participants involved.
However, the general mission of the BTI is to pursue the truth
in love, advance the unity of the Church, and bring closer the
healing of broken humanity. (See the BTI Mission Statement.)
Such activity includes the following:
1) Administrative Operations: cross-registration,
faculty ecumenical exchange, library development, cooperation
in field education, BTI Newsletter, Bulletin of the Boston Theological
Institute, administrative working groups, consortium-wide calendar
and web services, and other purblications;
2) Program Facilitation: faculty and/or
student programs in International Mission and Ecumenism, Inter-Religious
Dialogue, Science and Religion, Religion and Ecology, Liturgy,
Worship and the Arts, Restorative Justice, Spiritual Formation,
and Youth and Young Adult Ministry Studies; and
3)
Academic Development: program in Comparative Christianity,
facilitation in module and course development in Religion and
Science, faculty colloquia in numerous theological disciplines,
Certificates in International Mission and Ecumenism, in Science
and Religion, and in Youth and Young Adult Ministry Studies.
BTI
Faculty Committees provide special programming that often offers
opportunities for special student involvement. This is particularly
true in the following three areas.
International
Mission and Ecumenism
The
Trustees of the BTI have promoted a program in Focused Ecumenical
Theological Education (FETE) for the past several years. This
program, operated through the International Mission and Ecumenism
faculty committee and out of the Central Office of the BTI,
has developed a four-year cycle of courses entitled “Comparative
Christianity.” This rota includes a course offered in the spring
term at a BTI school that focuses upon a given Christian tradition,
its development and pattern of ecumenical relations. The course
is followed by a workshop-seminar (late May-early June) in an
area of the world that is central to the consciousness of the
tradition under study. Students are invited to participate in
this program by contacting the Central Office. To date, courses
have been organized around the following themes:
1991-92
Protestantism and the Ecumenical Movement (Switzerland)
1992-93 Roman Catholicism and Ecumenism (Vatican, Italy and
Switzerland)
1993-94 Orthodoxy and the Ecumenical Movement (Greece and Turkey)
1994-95 Ecclesiology from a Non-Western Perspective (India)
1995-96 The Struggle for Protestant Identity (Switzerland, Germany,
and Czech Republic)
1996-97 Reconciliation: Catholic and Ecumenical Witness (Northern
Ireland)
1997-98 Reconciliation: Orthodox and Ecumenical Witness (Fr.
Yugoslavia and Greece)
1998-99 Immigration, Refugees and the Church (South Africa and
Ghana)
1999-2000 Identity, Instrumentality, and Inter-Faith Relations
(Israel, Jerusalem, the West Bank and Ghaza)
2000-2001 Culture, Identity and Religion in the Caribbean (Jamaica
and Cuba)
2001-2002 Issues of History, Religion and Identity in Russian
Orthodoxy (Russia)
2002-2003 Restorative Justice for Community (U.S.A.)
2003-2004 Building Cultures of Reconciliation (Egypt, Israel
and Palestine)
Science and Religion
In addition to FETE, the Science and Religion program of the
BTI, currently known as Interfase, promotes the interdisciplinary
dialogue among the scientific disciplines, including that of
theology, within the seminaries, schools of theology, universities,
and local congregations of faith. Interfase includes a special
relationship with the BTI Program in Religion and Ecology. Several
courses offered in the schools in the fields of ethics, theology,
and environmental science are related to this program.
Interfase and the BTI together sponsor yearly colloquia and
other events, have published a periodic journal and other material.
The Director of Interfase is currently the administrator of
the BTI certificate in Science and Religion.
Youth
and Young Adult Ministry Studies
The
Trustees of the BTI have also approved the creation of a program
with certificate in Youth and Young Adult Ministry Studies.
This program is based on the idea that recent research has suggested
that many younger Christians are identifying their call to ministry
with youth and young adults in varied settings: in college chaplaincies;
in restorative justice programs working with juvenile offenders,
youth-at-risk, or homeless youth; in schools; in the international
mission field; and in church-based religious education, camping,
and outdoor ministries. Through colloquia and other events the
BTI schools are becoming, collectively, more conscious of this
vital area of service in the church.
Whether one takes advantage of the program in Comparative Christianity,
participates in the conferences and workshops of Interfase/Program
in Science and Religion or avails oneself of the many opportunities
in the member schools, such as the Program in Youth and Young
Adult Ministry Studies, the existence of the BTI makes it possible
for a student enrolled in any one school to acquire an association
with all. Each school offers its own distinctive perspectives
and, through interaction with others, strengthens its own vitality
and contributes to the ecumenical breadth of all. Through the
BTI an atmosphere for dialogue, envisioning and experimentation
in theological inquiry and the preparation for ministry is created
which preserves the diversity present in our schools, yet assists
each in the common quest for the “good” seminary education appropriate
to the challenges that confront us in the twenty-first century.
