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Strategic Planning
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Strategic Planning
NBTS Identity, Calling, Mission Statement (6th draft)
Called in Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, New Brunswick Theological Seminary participates in God’s own laboring to establish God’s reign on earth.
The Seminary, centered in the Reformed tradition, is an inter-cultural, ecumenical school of Christian faith, learning, and scholarship committed to its metro-urban and global contexts.
Our mission is to educate persons and strengthen communities for transformational, public ministries in church and society. We fulfill this mission through creative, contextual, and critical engagement with Judeo-Christian texts, traditions, and practices
Proposed Strategic Directions
Grounded in the hope that is ours because God’s reign has already begun on earth, the Seminary Community humbly commits itself to these strategic directions:
1. Our commitment to forming new generations of healthy, spirit-filled, biblically grounded, theologically wise leaders will continually help to invigorate congregations, ministries, and communities toward greater faithfulness.
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a) We will cultivate relationships with revitalizing congregations and new church starts to serve as Supervised Ministry sites;
b) We will make explicit across the curriculum that processes of parish revitalization and change require deep biblical, theological, and practical wisdom, personal passion, and a commitment to life-long, integrated learning;
c) In our desire to form pastors who are emotionally, psychologically and spiritually healthy we will provide more opportunities for students to learn and practice self-care, to find their voice and passion, and to discover and participate in varied disciplines of spiritual nurture. Possible developments may include more opportunities for worship and the cultivation of the spiritual life, participation in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), psychological testing, and the inclusion of therapists/counselors/spiritual directors on Seminary staff;
d) We will offer programs for congregational leadership development in partnership with congregations.
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2. Our commitment to the metro-urban context will permeate our existing degree programs and institutional life, and lead to the creation of non-degree programs and educational offerings that will strengthen urban ministries and communities.
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a) We will provide opportunities for the entire faculty to become conversant in the basic realities of and schools of thought related to metro-urban ministry in terms of both content and method;
b) We will offer a Certificate Program that focuses on urban ministry in partnership with urban congregations and/or existing initiatives;
c) We will foster a network of metro-urban pastors to be a community of teaching and learning. In developing this network we will draw on the expertise and experience of our D. Min. graduates and NY/NJ urban pastors.
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3. Our commitment to practice faithful stewardship of all of our resources will enable the seminary further to grow and flourish within the mission of God.
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a) A Board Task Force will explore and finally propose ways to leverage our property in service of our mission.
b) The Board’s Investment Advisory Committee will explore and propose a policy that enhances our commitment to socially responsible investments.
c) For the present, we will audit and alter our practices to reflect our care for the earth and its people, and, should the Seminary engage in new construction, we will build “green.”
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4. Our commitment to be responsive to our context will result in strategic relationships with for-profit and not-for-profit institutions within our region for the sake of understanding and prophetic engagement.
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a) The President, with the Board of Trustees and Faculty Council, will further develop our relationships with a limited number of institutions in the metropolitan area, especially Rutgers and St. Johns Universities, learning about the work of our neighbors, partnering with them when possible, and encouraging corporate missions which will include a commitment to justice and the marginalized.
b) The President and Dean, in cooperation with the Board, will create a team to include both internal and external constituents, for the purpose of engaging in environmental scanning that will annually be brought to bear on the Board’s development of the Seminary’s Strategic Plan.
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5. Our commitment to support the faculty in its shared vocation of teaching, research, writing and publication will strengthen policies and practices.
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a) The Dean, with the Faculty Policy and Planning Committee, will review the Faculty Handbook and make recommendations for changes to ensure that policies related to faculty teaching and scholarship are consistent with the Seminary’s values and commitments;
b) A Faculty team will explore the feasibility of creating a Seminary journal that will provide our faculty and students with a vehicle through which to share their research and writing.
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6. Our commitment to provide greater access to theological education calls us to explore and implement greater use of technology.
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a) The Dean of the Seminary, with the Faculty Council, will explore and begin to implement broader use of technology in our present classes so that we might integrate teaching and learning across our two campuses, and reach new constituencies through our degree and non-degree programs..
b) The Dean of Students, with the Faculty and Administrative Councils, will develop policies and implement training so technology can be used to strengthen communication and community within the Seminary.
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7. Our commitment to relate to and learn from, the global church will create a seminary eager for the gifts of many nations and cultures; and our graduates’ sense of self and call, and their understanding of God’s world will be enlarged.
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a) We will further develop formal partnerships and programs with churches/seminaries in Korea, Southern and Central Africa, the Netherlands, regions of the Middle East, either directly or by forming partnerships with U.S. institutions which are already engaged in programs of global education. A key goal of these international partnerships is to cooperate with the global church in addressing issues such as poverty, the plight of women and children, AIDS, genocide, the emergence of post-colonial societies—issues of justice and shalom;
b) We will ensure that global biblical/theological/ministry perspectives are included across our curriculum;
c) We will create a faculty position in global Christianity with responsibility to teach in the areas of missiology (both domestic and global), mission history, the reality of world-wide Christianity, as well as the gift and prospect of immigrant churches in the U.S.
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8. Our commitment to interfaith and interreligious dialogue will equip our graduates to foster cooperative relationships and engage in shared public action with our neighbors in synagogues, mosques, temples, and other religious communities.
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a) We will provide opportunities for the entire faculty to understand and grow in their experience of interfaith and interreligious dialogue.
b) We will find ways for students and faculty to participate in existing interfaith and/or interreligious groups within our region;
c) We will reflect this commitment across the curriculum and encourage students to develop relationships with persons of different faiths or religions. This may happen, for example, through participation in CPE, having faculty persons from other religious traditions teaching with us, or offering Supervised Ministry placements in synagogues, mosques and/or temples.
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9. Our commitment to confront sexism in the Seminary, church, and society will equip our graduates for ministries that foster gender justice, and equality, address the concerns and welcome the gifts of women.
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a) We will provide opportunities for the entire faculty to understand the complexities of gender construction (masculine and feminine) and to discern the presence of and harm caused by sexism in the Seminary, church, and society.
b) We will develop mentoring programs for women students, and cultivate Supervised Ministry sites with female supervisors for both men and women;
c) We will include across the curriculum attention to the gifts, perspectives, and concerns of women so that both male and female graduates are equipped to engage in ministry with and for women;
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10. Our commitment to confront racism in the Seminary, church, and society will equip our graduates for ministries that foster racial justice, equality, and reconciliation.
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