What about a combination of the two? I could see that working quite well.

Although seminary is a wonderful experience, it bears little relationship to the environment or experiences that seminarians are preparing for. They live an almost monastic life together and are sent out to work (usually alone) in parishes. They are educated as if they were getting an MBA when they often neglect serious pastoral experience as well as the question of learning WISDOM from someone. Finally, some of the seminaries form folks in a certain mindset that reflects a bit of an agenda in terms of enlightening the dull masses as to what REAL Episcopalians should do. That last one is quite irksome.

Wouldn't it be better to find good priests to mentor seminarians in a parish setting while still allowing them to go off to class for a few days a week? They could live and work side by side in the environment that they are going to work in and still get a good education rather than heading off to focus almost exclusively on academics. Has anyone seriously tried this approach?

In this season I think it's probably a mistake to try to settle for or against any particular model. Through the 20th century especially the three-year residential seminaries flowered in parallel with post-graduate institutions in law, medicine, business, etc., with some strengths but also some weaknesses--of which rising costs are not the least. The future may look more like the past, with more mentoring, local preparation, "reading for orders," etc.--while at the same time there will certainly continue to be an important role for the seminaries to play. A purely "online" formation and education process would I think be counterintuitive as a preparation for ministry that takes place pretty much entirely "IRL." At the same time, some use of online resources can be very effective. I think folks might look at the partnership that the Diocese of the Rio Grande has developed with TSM as one interesting model--a mix of online and real-life resources, but one where the seminary faculty travel to where the students are, rather than the other way around. In any event, I suspect we'll need to be in a "let a thousand flowers bloom" mode for a generation, anyway, recognizing that none of the "solutions" to our problems will arrive without bringing new problems of their own . . . .

Bruce Robison

I would agree with Bruce that we can't one the one hand fix on one scheme for training and formation, nor can we automatically eliminate one or more. Instead, I think we need to recognize what we need that education to include, and determine parameters within which those needs are met. So, we need academics, certainly, and especially about our own Anglican/Episcopal tradition. We also need acculturation into, and so formation in, a community within the bounds of the Episcopal Church, and some exposure to the varieties of worship and theological styles beyond those of the candidate's home congregation. I think those things need some group experience, and mentoring as well. I also think we need to be more intentional about mentoring beyond the "seminary" years (whether experienced in a seminary or not). We require continuing education of all clergy; but we need to be more intentional about expectations.

Marshall Scott