Institutional Change in Theological Education: A History of Brite Divinity School - Tapa dura

This book contains the story of faculties, deans, presidents, and chancellors, and the struggle among them to define either the goals of theological education or the quality of a university and the role of religion within it. The struggle takes place in the midst of the changing nature of both theological education and higher education in general, whether private or public. It involves the evolution of a school's identity through both the halcyon days (the 1950s) and the cultural disestablishment and, as some would define it, the downright demise (from the 1960s) of mainstream Protestantism in the United States. Ultimately, the book analyzes the transformation of the school itself: from one located in a rural outpost just outside of Waco, Texas, to one found in the heart of a major city; from educating mostly white Disciples of Christ men for ministry to educating quite a diverse crop of women and men, representing a variety of ethnic and international identifications, both gay and straight, for the ministry of at least thirty different denominations, and educating still others, including Christians, Jews, and other non-Christians, for vocations in social service agencies, academic contexts, and a variety of jobs involving public leadership.

MARK G. TOULOUSE is principal and professor of the History of Christianity at Emmanuel College of Victoria University in the University of Toronto. His two most recent books are God in Public: Four Ways American Christianity and Public Life Relate, named one of the top ten books published in 2006 by the Academy of Parish Clergy, and Renewing Christian Unity: A Concise History of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). JEFFREY WILLIAMS is associate dean for Academic Affairs and assistant professor of American Religious History at Brite Divinity School. He is the author of Religion and Violence in Early American Methodism: Taking the Kingdom by Force. DYAN M. DIETZ is a PhD student in Biblical Interpretation at Brite Divinity School. She received a masters in divinity at Brite and is a pastor in the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. She is currently serving an appointment as associate pastor at Lake Cities United Methodist Church in Lake Dallas, Texas.