Theological Universities Face Existential Crisis… 7 Schools Coping Jointly

Theological universities are facing a crisis. Due to sagging public trust in the Korean churches, fewer new students are entering theological colleges, which will lead to reduced numbers of top-notch professors, and that in turn will raise barriers to the turning out of fine pastors, further eroding the churches’ credibility--a “vicious circle” prospect that is the focus of growing concern. Now, the presidents and professors of theological universities belonging to the Presbyterian Church in Korea (PCK Tonghap) have begun a process of joint discussion and planning to overcome the crisis.

Presidents and professors of PCK-Tonghap theological universities?Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary, Seoul Jangshin University and Theological Seminary, Youngnam Theological College and Seminary, Honam Theological University and Seminary, Pusan Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Hanil University and Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and Daejeon Theological Seminary?recently met at The K Hotel in Gyeongju, Gyeongsang-bukdo for their “35th Nationwide Seminar of Theological College Professors,” and shared wisdom towards a breakthrough for solution of the crisis.

Honam Theological University and Seminary President Noh Yeong-sang said, “In a situation of church stagnation, decreasing membership and other problems, none of our seven theological colleges will be able to avoid a reduction in its supporters.” In fact, even the Graduate School of Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary, which held the top competitive spot with its more than 1,000 applicants, has seen its applicants dwindle to 829 in 2014. For this reason, there is a surging sense of crisis in these seven theological institutions, as they may be hit with financial shortage or be targeted for structural adjustment.

Moreover, as the number of supporters shrinks, opportunities to select top students will decrease also, making it difficult to train high-quality pastors; so the Korean churches may fall into a situation of general crisis.

In their planning to overcome the crisis, the seminar participants placed an emphasis on unity. Accordingly, one alternative plan they proposed was that a student who has been accepted by any one of the seven theological schools may be permitted to attend classes at a different PCK-Tonghap theological college of her/his choice. Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary President Kim Myeong-yong proposed, “If this is hard to carry out in reality, let’s allow students to attend lectures for a minimum of one semester at the school of their choice, and later give them an honorary diploma from that school, to instill a sense of community.” There was also a suggestion to eliminate alma mater splits by creating a common alumni association.

Another plan that was presented was to use common theological textbooks to help establish unity and denominational identity. “Professors choose textbooks according to their individual preference, but at times this could become an obstacle to the development of denominational identity,” said Honam President Noh. He explained, “If the professors of the seven theological colleges get together to create and teach from common textbooks, the theology of our denomination can be solidly maintained.”

Reporter Lee Saya (Isaiah@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)


Click here for the original article in Korean

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