In the interest of promoting clear community communications, the use of group email addresses such as gtseveryone@gts.edu is reserved for imperative, urgent, or sensitive messages. As such, the use of gtseveryone is available to a small number of GTS departments and is administered through the Dean’s Office. If you have a message that you feel is of importance to the community, but not appropriate for Up Close, please contact the Dean’s Office who will send the message on your behalf. Read more...
Author Archives: Dean's Office
The Newness of New
The Very Rev. Kurt H. Dunkle
Dean and President
There is an odd feeling in schools every fall. Autumn brings a climate which speaks of slowness and preparation for winter. But, schools around the world begin anew, awash with freshness and hope for the coming year. How Anglican—how both/and!
General Seminary is experiencing that sense of both/and right now. Emerging from a turbulent year, we, too, are experiencing that freshness and hope for the new year. Read more...
One Vision, One Mission
Dear Friends:
Last month, General Seminary did what it has done well for 198 years: we graduated a class of degree and certificate recipients. Our 27 graduates have been well educated and formed to continue their ministry in the world. These brothers and sisters in Christ are now prepared for a world that is hungry for the Good News they bring.
The celebration of Commencement brought to a close an academic year that was acutely painful for everyone affiliated with The General Theological Seminary. Read more...
About New Faculty Member Discernment
Dear fellow members of the General Seminary community,
Before graduation I promised an update on the way our three new faculty members came to us. Now that the press of year-end is behind us, let me take a few minutes, beginning with a word about process.
I am a fan of process. I am also a fan of good results. When they move together, it is all the better. Read more...
A Message to the GTS Community Regarding the ATS
Dear fellow members of the General community:
Thank you to those of you who participated last Friday in the Mennonite Problem Solving process and for your participation all along. It is making a positive impact.
One of the issues which seems to keep re-surfacing is the relationship with our accrediting body, the Association of Theological Schools (ATS). Let me see if a little explanation can remove any residual anxiety. Read more...
Updating Our Portrait
Dear Friends,
Let me open with a transparent recognition: the past six months at General have been challenging for everyone. Our recent upheaval has been painful and revealing. General faces many challenges–financial, missional and cultural–and all of them have been highlighted over this past year.
Many of you have responded so fervently, and for that I want to say “thank you.” Whether through comments on social media, or added financial gifts to get us through this tough time, or attendance at our many meetings and gatherings, you have cared for General with gusto. Read more...
Volunteers needed for first 2 weeks of class
Three or more students are needed from 9 AM – 10 AM and 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, Monday through Wednesday, to set up and clean up coffee hour in the Chapel. In addition to set-up and clean-up, duties will include making coffee, shopping for snacks and paper products, and scheduling maintenance requests when table set-up/take-down is needed.
Ideally, a different person would take each day of the week so someone could do 2 Mondays, or Tuesdays, or Wednesdays. Read more...
The Center for Christian Spirituality invites the GTS Community to register for a Franciscan Retreat at Little Portion Friary
When: Sept 19-21; 5 PM Friday – 12:30 PM Sunday (monastery closes at 2 PM). Field Education students who need to be at their sites on Sunday morning are welcome to leave Saturday evening.
Where: Little Portion Friary (http://littleportionfriary.net/)
We will be staying in Wayside Cottage
The Friary is in Mount Sinai, NY on the north shore of Long Island.
Who: The CCS has set aside fifteen rooms (a few can sleep a couple), which will be offered to the first fifteen people to reserve and pay for the weekend retreat. Read more...
Theological Education – It’s for Everyone
This article first appeared in The Episcopal New Yorker, Summer 2014
By the Very Rev. Kurt H. Dunkle
Dean and President
The General Theological Seminary
On Ascension Day in Inverness, Scotland, while on a recent family trip, I heard the Episcopal bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness preach at a young lady’s confirmation. He recounted his own confirmation preparation as a youth, remembering his parish priest’s instructions on the purpose of altar candles.
The Wisdom of Both and And
The Very Rev. Kurt H. Dunkle
Dean and President
The first time I ever considered that very Anglican phrase, “both/and,” I was seated in Sherred 1A, right here at General. It was how a now-retired GTS professor spoke about that seemingly simple concept to unravel decades-old quandaries. At first, it seemed so foreign, until I remembered we were being taught to think theologically, not as the world had formed us. Read more...
The Way of Wisdom – Diving into the Deep End
Diving into the Deep End
The Very Rev. Kurt H. Dunkle
Dean and President
The General Theological Seminary
For over a year now, I have done a lot of listening. Of all the constituencies, the one I have paid closest attention to is our customers. Yes, we have customers.
I hear from our customers – bishops, dioceses, our students, and significantly, our students’ future employers – that the greatest need they have in the 21st century Church is to have men and women graduate from seminary ready to “hit the ground running.” Frankly, I heard it so often that it’s almost like there is a conspiracy! Read more...
General Seminary Faculty Publish Declaration about “The Way of Wisdom”
The faculty of The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church met on retreat in January, 2014, for prayer, reflection and discussion. The consensus of the faculty was that the most serious problems in theological education, congregations, the structural organization of the church, and the relationship of Christianity to the society at large emerge from a common root. This is the separation of theological reflection from the life of prayer and spiritual transformation, from Christian action and outreach. Read more...
Robert C. Dentan Memorial Award in Old Testament Studies
Junior-year Master of Divinity students are invited to apply for this award, which carries an annual tuition grant of $2500 for 2014-15, automatically renewable for the Senior year. The award honors the memory of a former distinguished GTS professor of Old Testament, and it is granted on the basis of the quality of the student’s overall academic work and especially his or her performance in Hebrew and Old Testament classes. Read more...
Off the Close: Film “Miss Representation”
On March 27th, Grace Church in NYC showing of the Documentary Film, Miss Representation. The screening will take place on March 27th at 6:15 pm in the church’s Tuttle Hall (Broadway between 10th and 11th Streets). The screening will be followed by a discussion time and light refreshments.
Miss Representation is written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom and exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. Read more...
Community Time – March 25 at 1:30pm – Evangelism for the 21st Century Grants
How has your seminary experience inspired you to proclaim the Gospel in a new and different way. What is your vision for where the church need to be? Did you know that funding is available to help you implement your vision? Evangelism for the 21st Century grants are available to Episcopal seminarians, faculty, staff and their spouses/partners to develop and support the innovative evangelism required today. Read more...
Churches in Chelsea: Walking in the Path of Jesus
Join members of the General Theological Seminary, the German Lutheran St Paul’s Church, and St Peter’s Episcopal Church as we walk in the path of Jesus. We invite you to be with us in a contemporary Stations of the Cross that visits three sacred and historic spaces in Chelsea.
We begin at the German Lutheran St Paul’s Church (built in 1897), proceed to the General Theological Seminary’s Chapel of the good Shepherd (1888), and then to St Peter’s Episcopal Church (1838). Read more...
Beyond the Close: Leymah Gbowee speaks at 815 during Spring break
2011 Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist and women’s rights activist. She is the subject of the documentary Women, War and Peace, a film produced by Abigail Disney about the peace movement that ended the war in Liberia. This is an unique opportunity to hear a powerful speaker at the Episcopal Church Center.
Tuesday, March 11, 10am – 11:30am in the 815 Chapel
Reservations are required so call 212-716-6262 to reserve a seat. Read more...