Because the World Never Stops
Meadville Lombard changed everything five years ago. We had to. We saw that the world of religion, congregational life and spirituality was shifting rapidly in the 21st century. We knew that ministers needed to be prepared to lead innovatively through the changing times. So we took action to adapt, improve and point the way for theological education and ministerial formation.
Pointing the Way
What did we change? − We completely fused the practical and academic elements of ministerial preparation. Students are acting their way into new ways of thinking. − We placed more learning into the hands of congregations and community agencies. Students are acting their way into new ways of serving. − We blended remote and on-site educational requirements to fortify the bonds of a supportive learning community. Students are acting their way into new ways of learning. − We built cross-cultural and multiracial leadership practices into the fabric of our curriculum. Students are acting their way into new ways of being. We even moved Meadville Lombard to a new location in downtown Chicago − a contemporary facility perfectly suited for education in the 21st century. The changes worked! Enrollment is on the rise. Our entering class grew from 13 in 2012 to 36 in 2014. These new students tell us that the ‘Meadville Lombard way’ is the way of the future. Our colleagues from other seminaries agree. A peer-based evaluation team praised our “imaginative curriculum” and “new sense of nimbleness.” Now we are ready to build on that success. That is why we are launching Pointing the Way – a campaign to raise $12 million over the next two-and-a-half years. These new funds will help Meadville Lombard remain at the forefront of theological education...because the world never stops changing! Campaign dollars will be used to enhance our capability and extend our effectiveness across the six strategic initiatives described below. Within each area we have prioritized projects that will help us stay ahead of changing conditions and position us for even greater growth. Most of all, the work we have planned will allow Meadville Lombard to continue to point the way for theological education, ministerial leadership and the future of Unitarian Universalism. With your help, here is what we can accomplish…
17% > 25% > 33%
Pointing the Way for Unitarian Universalist Religious Leadership
Meadville Lombard’s work has a direct impact on the future of Unitarian Universalism. Ministers who are inspiring and skilled are a key to growing congregations and deepening congregational life. The percentage of all new UU ministers graduated by Meadville Lombard has increased in recent years − from 17 to 25 percent. That’s the largest percentage of any theological school, but it means that 55 percent of all ministerial students still choose to attend non-UU seminaries. Most attend those seminaries because they are close to home and offer attractive financial aid packages that alleviate potentially crushing student debt. But these students miss out on ministerial formation that is attuned to the UU culture and aimed at meeting the demands of a changing religious landscape. They also miss out on our school’s unique approach to multicultural and multiracial leadership that affirms every person and is anchored to each individual’s quest for wholeness and sense of spirit. This year, 17 percent of our incoming students identify as persons of color. It is essential for us to increase that percentage across the school. After all, if we are preparing leaders to engage with a diverse population, then our student body must reflect that same diversity. Meadville Lombard has the potential to graduate at least 33 percent of all new Unitarian Universalist ministers. With our commitment to bring in more students of color, we will continue to enhance the racial and cultural diversity of the Unitarian Universalist leadership. To do that, we need introduce ourselves to a greater number of prospective students − by launching an integrated recruitment plan, expanding our e-communications and developing new digital interaction capabilities. With your help, we will create a 21st century recruitment program! We also need to provide scholarship assistance to those best able to lead Unitarian Universalism into the future. We operate in a highly competitive environment. If we are going to attract the best and the brightest among a diverse pool of candidates, we need to offer them the same protection against future financial pressures that our non-UU competitors do.
Pointing the Way
Since 2012, 18 religious leaders from 8 countries and 5 different faith traditions have participated in Meadville Lombard’s global classroom. Through leadership training as well as a multifaith and multicultural immersion, they strengthen their skills to lead their communities to collaborate with those who think differently.
Technology is shrinking our world − we are reminded of that every day as we connect students from across geographies. It is also creating new ways to build understanding and harmony. With our appreciation for diversity and difference, Unitarian Universalism is uniquely positioned to help promote cooperation in a world that is religiously fragmented…IF we are intentional about training people to lead across religious and national boundaries. And IF we are deliberate about extending UU values beyond congregational walls. Meadville Lombard’s global classrooms provide in-person learning for students from a variety of faith traditions from around the world. They are laboratories where students learn to lead across the spectrum of culture and tradition. With your help, we will be able to expand these classrooms; adding more students from more places, so we can build more bridges. Pointing the way in global interreligious engagement also involves acquainting our students with everything that defines our world, its beauty and its brokenness. With your help, we will be able to offer a greater number and variety of service immersion trips − to places like India, the Philippines, Haiti and Ghana − where students may fully participate in the world they are called to serve. Our innovative contextual learning model allows Unitarian Universalists from around the world to obtain a degree from Meadville Lombard. We must say “yes” as they found new churches worldwide and seek to become grounded in our theology and tradition. To include these entrepreneurial individuals in our student body is to offer the hope of our liberal religion to people on every continent.
100%
OF ML FIRST YEAR STUDENTS VOLUNTEER FOR A MULTICULTURAL LOCAL NONPROFIT Catherine Romano Griffin, above center, through the Coalition for a Drug Free Southwest Florida, co-hosted the TV show Street Chicks, with girls aged 7-11 from the foster program.
Pointing the Way
We have shown that Meadville Lombard has the unique ability to educate ministers who are able to lead spiritually grounded social change. There is also a role for congregations, practicing ministers and lay persons in this work. We will make sure they have the theological depth and leadership skills they need to take the values of Unitarian Universalism beyond our traditional borders. With your help, we will develop Master of Arts programs in the areas of Social Entrepreneurship, Digital Leadership, Religious Education, and Community and Interreligious Leadership. These programs will be delivered in our contextual learning format and be based on our distinctive service/learning model that emphasizes multicultural and multiracial leadership. And they will be tailored to the needs of lay persons who are eager change the world through our UU values. The school’s annual January Learning Convocation will expand to become a premiere Unitarian Universalist educational opportunity for all people. We will begin to livestream its rich programming around the world, making its instruction on issues of justice and its relationship to religion and congregational practices more widely available. We will also boost the January Learning Convocation’s in-person learning community by providing scholarships to ministers for their continuing education. There is nothing like being on-site in Chicago to take full advantage of our transformational education!
Pointing the Way
As we extend our liberal religious values beyond traditional borders, we must also strengthen our connection to the Unitarian Universalist tradition. Meadville Lombard’s archive is a UU treasure − the only collection of its kind in the world.
These artifacts tell the story of how we came to be and help us formulate the dream of who we shall become. Here are just a few of the items in our care: − The Sankofa Collection, which preserves the story of UU people of color from 1870 to the present; − 171 of William Ellery Channing’s unpublished, handwritten sermons; and − Jenkin Lloyd Jones’ papers, recording the growth of Unitarianism in the Midwest in the late 19th century. We have the ability to share these materials with the world by digitizing them and placing them online, granting access for UUs across the globe, and catalyzing new and exciting understandings of our shared past. With your help, everyone with internet access will be able to draw inspiration from the piece of paper on which William Ellery Channing wrote, “May your life preach more loudly than your lips.”
THE STORY OF HOW WE CAME TO BE THE DREAM OF WHO WE SHALL BECOME
Pointing the Way
Unitarian Universalists will successfully navigate the changing religious landscape only if we continue to point the way for innovative religious education and faith formation. We need to fill the pressing need for creative new approaches to lifespan religious education − education that links justice to spirituality, helps people understand who they are religiously in this new age, reaches new and diverse communities of learners and takes into account the realities of 21st century family life. Meadville Lombard, a long and proven leader in liberal faith formation, is ready to do just that. Under the direction of the Angus MacLean Professor of Religious Education, Dr. Mark Hicks, our innovative Fahs Collaborative is already infusing new energy into Unitarian Universalist religious education. But so much more is possible... The Collaborative is a thriving think tank. Currently, three Fahs Fellows are appointed annually by the school to research and test new ideas in areas like multicultural worship, social media and religious leadership, and faith formation for families unable to attend Sunday services. The most promising concepts are shared with a wider community of religious education leaders through conferences and other means. This campaign will allow us to dramatically increase the impact of the Fahs Collaborative by supporting the work of 15 Fahs Fellows each year; four of whom will be located on our campus. Through its curriculum, Beloved Conversations, our Collaborative serves as the chief educational resource for congregations engaged in spiritually-based formation with regard to race and ethnicity. With your help, the Collaborative can expand this crucial role. We will take Beloved Conversations to 30 new congregations each year. We will develop a Beloved Conversations 2 curriculum for those who are ready to advance beyond the work they have already begun. And we will incubate a faith formation curriculum for UUs of color, based on their unique needs and experiences. The Collaborative is also called upon to incubate new curricula for partner organizations. This campaign will allow the Collaborative to accept the many invitations it receives –from synagogues, interfaith organizations and other seminaries − to lend its educational expertise to the work they are doing. Talk about taking UU values to the world!
TRANSFORMING OURSELVES
ADAPTING OUR APPROACH
ENHANCING OUR FOCUS
ADOPTING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY
Pointing the Way
Meadville Lombard has distinguished itself by creating a business model for seminary education that is the envy of small schools everywhere. To remain successful, we must sustain the progress we have made. That means making sure we have an institutional infrastructure that is scaled to match our growth. Meadville Lombard has distinguished itself by creating a business model for seminary education that is the envy of small schools everywhere. To remain successful, we must sustain the progress we have made. That means making sure we have an institutional infrastructure that is scaled to match our growth. We have developed a sophisticated strategic plan to guide us. We know exactly how and when to expand our faculty and staff, increase our classroom and office space, enhance our technological capability and make our archives more accessible. Among other needs, our plan calls for the following: − A full-time professorship in Ministry, Media and Aesthetics; − Additional staff in student services, the business office and development; − Seven new affiliated faculty members; and − The build out and leasing of additional space on our 6th floor Meadville Lombard is transforming itself for success in the 21st century. We are adapting our approach to ministerial education. We are enhancing the focus on cross-cultural and multiracial practices in our academic programming. And we are adopting the latest technological tools to better connect with students and stakeholders. These changes are making a difference. Enrollment numbers are climbing steadily. And we are graduating a higher percentage of all Unitarian Universalist ministers than ever before − ministers who inspire others to service, who carry the truth that cultural, religious and racial differences are enhancements to human liberation, who provide a vision for innovative congregational life and who have the ability to lead congregations in justice movements.
With your help, we can continue to transform our school so that our students can transform the world. TOGETHER, WE WILL KEEP POINTING THE WAY…
Giving Opportunities
RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP With your generosity, Meadville Lombard can attract the next generation of religious leaders by implementing our 21st century recruitment plan for $175,000 per year. Or you can help support scholarships for students of color, first generation graduate students, children of immigrants and other underserved populations. Scholarships can also celebrate achievement in areas of excellence, like leadership in faith formation, social change or congregational ministry. Provide an Endowed Scholarship with $400,000, or give one- to three-year scholarships for $20,000 - $60,000.
SPIRITUALLY GROUNDED SOCIAL CHANGE
GLOBALINTERRELIGIOUS ENGAGEMENT
You can help extend Meadville Lombard’s reach to congregations, practicing ministers and lay persons. Together, we will enhance our January Learning Convocation and develop Master of Arts programs in the areas of Social Entrepreneurship, Digital Leadership, Religious Education, and Community and Interreligious Leadership. With a gift of $25,000, we can livestream our January Learning Convocation for the next five years. We can bring 40 additional teaching pastors to Chicago for the Convocation for $40,000 and provide five years of scholarships for postConvocation continuing education classes with $50,000. And we can develop an innovative Masters of Arts for Lay Leadership program with $400,000.
Your support builds bridges for students from a variety of faith traditions around the world. Meadville Lombard’s global classrooms are inperson laboratories where students learn to lead across the spectrum of culture and tradition. You can provide a Director of International Formation, a half-time position, for $30,000 per year. And we can expand the global impact of our school with scholarships for international programs: a $400,000 endowment will fully fund a matriculated international student, and an annual gift of $10,000 will support an international multifaith summer student. With your help, we can also offer a greater number and variety of service immersion trips for ML students – to places like India, the Philippines, Haiti and Ghana – where students may fully participate in the world they are called to serve. A gift of $50,000 provides a year of international learning rotations and service opportunities for our current students.
PRESERVING AND PROMOTING UU HISTORY AND HERITAGE
INNOVATIVE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND FAITH FORMATION
Create searchable, digital access to high-definition images of Meadville Lombard’s archive – a UU treasure and the only collection of its kind in the world – with project support for digitizing our collections. Your generosity will grant access to UUs across the globe and catalyze deeper understandings of our shared past. We can digitize Jenkin Lloyd Jones’ personal papers from the late 19th century with a donation of $985,000 and A. Powell Davies’ personal papers with a one-time gift of $440,000. We can digitally capture our collection of over 150 unpublished, handwritten sermons from William Ellery Channing, as well as the manuscript of his unfinished book for $145,000. Donations of $50,000 will help the continual process of digitizing our singular UU Sankofa Collection.
Your support of our innovative Fahs Collaborative infuses new energy into Unitarian Universalist religious education. We can augment our Fahs Fellows, Beloved Conversations and Educators-in-Residence, and incubate new creative approaches to lifespan religious education. Your gift of $50,000 will provide an Assistant Director for Transformative Religious Education for one year. Donations of $10,000 support the one-year appointment of a Beloved Conversations Educator-in-Residence. Your gift of $10,000 will sustain four Fahs Educators-in-Residence, and $6,500 provides a year of support for one Fahs Fellow. With your generosity we can create more opportunities for innovative religious education: a Fahs Fellows Innovation Conference for $30,000; a faith formation curriculum for persons of color for $15,000; a curriculum to follow-up Beloved Conversations for $15,000; or digitizing the RE Collection for $150,000. We can endow the ongoing work of the Fahs Collaborative for approximately $4,000,000.
SUSTAINING THE CHANGE Meadville Lombard created a business model for seminary education that is the envy of small schools everywhere – and you can help sustain the progress we’ve made. Your gifts toward our strategic infrastructural growth help enroll more students and graduate more UU ministers than ever before. An endowed fund of $2,000,000 provides a professorship in ministry, media and aesthetics. $250,000 will establish a fund to attract new faculty; $100,000 will reward current faculty for their creative contributions to theological educations; $250,000 will fund our technological growth; $350,000 will create a new staff fund, and $345,000 will provide for archive renovation and expansion. An unrestricted endowment of $4,000,000 would ensure the health and longevity of Meadville Lombard. Together we can continue to transform our school so that our students can transform the world.
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