Vision for Claremont School of Theology:

  

1. Claremont School of Theology is a school of choice preparing highly effective leaders for service to God in the church, the academy and the world.  Our students come from across the nation and world to prepare for service in a diversely populated and rapidly changing world. We will prepare pastors, teachers and research scholars, counselors, chaplains, leaders in community and social ministries, religious professionals desiring specialized or continuing education, and lay persons seeking greater theological resources and competencies.

 

2. Claremont School of Theology students are formed and equipped through a curriculum that features our hallmark triad of academic excellence, vocational formation and responsible social engagement. This curriculum assumes the historic Methodist/ecumenical commitments to the pursuit of knowledge and vital piety.   Our graduates serve as:

A.      Pastors who are self-reflective, literate, spiritually grounded, prophetic and passionate preachers.  They will be sensitive to racial, cultural and class differences and will practice pastoral and administrative skills with a commitment to life-long learning.

B.     Scholars who are well versed in major academic fields bearing on theological education and are known for their excellence in the classroom, their creativity and their superior research abilities.

C.     Counselors who demonstrate integrity and effectiveness in their practice and an ability to work in multiple cultural, religious and class settings, where they bring well being to individuals, communities and institutions.

D.     Chaplains, Other Religious Professionals and Lay Leaders who provide exceptional ethical leadership for a variety of religious, secular, community service and justice programs that seek well being and the betterment of the human condition. 

 

3. Diversity is a cornerstone of Claremont School of Theology manifest in the student body composition as the number of our full time students increases by 50% in the coming decade.  The school will have a “global reach” with special attention to the Pacific Rim.  The core living and learning community will pursue degree work and special studies on the Claremont campus using Los Angeles as a primary “educational laboratory.”  We will also provide affordable, high-quality and substantive educational programming through extension sites, distance learning and other options for students facing economic, disability, distance and ethnic barriers.

 

4. The Faculty of Claremont School of Theology is comprised of persons who continue the legacy of great teaching and scholarship, are widely respected in the academy and church, and are theologically and ethnically diverse,.  An adaptive and measurably effective curriculum marks the faculty’s commitment to assist students in developing abilities to think, write and converse in ways appropriate to the changing contexts in which they will serve.  Our longtime collaboration with the Claremont Graduate University School of Religion will be strengthened and enhanced with new cooperative initiatives and programming.  Faculty skills and reputations will command important linkages with other major universities in Southern California and Arizona.  Openness to these partner institutions will enhance the reputation of the faculty and school, result in the sharing of scholarly and applied research and will also provide for cross-granting degree programs and significant student/faculty collaborative projects and research.

 

5. The Board of Trustees of Claremont School of Theology is composed of diverse persons united in support of the mission and vision of the School, who express this support through a generous sharing of their time, expertise and resources.  The board will thoughtfully set policy, establish strategic goals, study critical issues and actively share the significance of the School with a large circle of religious, academic, corporate and community leaders.

 

6. The Development Program of Claremont School of Theology will be robust, routinely attracting benevolent gifts that exceed those received by comparable and more established peer institutions in support for our annual fund, student scholarships, endowed chairs and specialized projects.  Working with the newly formed Foundation, our endowment will reach $80 million by 2020.  The School’s development program will be seen as a national leader in Planned Giving, Annual Giving, Alumni/ae and Church Relations efforts.

 

7. The Administration and Staff of the Claremont School of Theology will be recognized for a productive, focused and imaginative ability to provide top-level strategic planning, academic integration, prudent financial oversight and facility management practices.  Drawing on institutional commitments to equal opportunity and social justice we will be known for an ethnically diverse staff, open and interactive management styles producing top-quality work, as well as hands-on, direct facilitation of the students’ educational experience.  This emphasis will attract and retain top quality leaders, staff and faculty, who are widely sought out to share their counsel, their “best practices” and their expertise by their peers and for which the School’s staff will be compensated by salaries and benefits that are highly competitive among peer institutions.

 

Addendum:

1. Our Mission: “Claremont School of Theology is an ecumenical graduate theological school of The United Methodist Church.  With a global purview and a catholic spirit, we passionately pursue intellectual rigor, vocational discernment and responsible social engagement.  Nurtured by the Christian tradition, we prepare effective leaders for service to God, the church, the academy and the world.”  [Adopted 9/11/03 by Executive Committee of the Board]

 

2. The Central Work of Our Faculty: Our commitment to this mission was elaborated by a faculty initiative called the Revisioning Process.  This work focused on what we do well and resulted in a new curriculum at Claremont commencing in the fall of 2005.

 

3. Our History of and Commitment to Diversity:  From our founding, Claremont School of Theology has been conceived as having an ecumenical, multifaceted identity.  This we consider to be one of our core strengths. 

 

a.      Incorporated as a Seminary of the United Methodist Church, under the California Pacific and Desert Southwest Annual Conferences, we have from our beginnings been ecumenical in our self-understanding.  Therefore, we educate United Methodists and persons from many other denominational backgrounds as they prepare for ordination, as deacon, elder or other denominationally defined ministerial designations.

b.      As a Protestant School of Theology, we teach the scriptures, Christian traditions, and modern and contemporary Christian theology, offering this instruction against the backdrop of various historical, cultural and religious perspectives with which the Christian tradition has been in dialogue.

c.      As an Institution for Graduate Education, we offer training at the Masters and Doctoral levels in the major academic fields bearing on theological education, representing and imparting the standards of excellence in each of the disciplines represented.

d.      As a Multicultural and Intercultural Community, we are a microcosm of the worlds in which our graduates will live and minister. Central to our identity is the goal of identifying and helping solve the real difficulties raised by this diversity, and doing so in a spirit of respect, deep listening, and open dialogue across cultural communities.

 

4. The Call for a New Strategic Plan:  In the spring of 2004 we ended the coverage of our previous Strategic Plan.  At the same time we were completing the accreditation reviews by the Association of Theological Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the United Methodist University Senate.  Each body urged a renewed strategic planning process.  Officers of the Board, mindful of this need, identified this as the top priority for the school’s administration in November 2004.  We have established a Strategic Planning Group led by the President.  Working in consultation with this group, the President has written the attached Vision Statement for the School to be considered by the Board of Trustees at their June 2005 meeting.  A comprehensive strategic plan then will be developed in the summer and fall of 2005 and be presented to the Board for consideration early in 2006.

The above Vision Statement was adopted at the June 17, 2005 meeting of the Board of Trustees of Claremont School of Theology.