When the new vision statement was adopted at Bethel Seminary, the St. Paul faculty engaged this question: “How can we best accomplish this vision?” Issues of greatest concern clustered around three emphases. Bethel must offer those preparing for ministry: 1) a strong grounding in Bible, history, and theology; 2) time within the curriculum for credit devoted to character formation; and 3) more effective ways to learn the skills and wisdom of doing transformational ­leadership.

After an extensive evaluation and analysis, the faculty voted ­unanimously to restructure Bethel’s educational resources around three ­centers of emphasis. Each center is charged with implementing part of the vision statement (included in parenthesis) for each student:

• Center for Biblical and Theological Foundations (a Spirit-empowered, biblically grounded community of learning)
• Center for Spiritual and Personal Formation (develop and equip whole and holy persons)
• Center for Transformational Leadership (to serve and lead so that churches and ministry agencies may become all they are called to be and do all they are called to do in the world for the glory of God)

The problem of disjointed learning experiences plagues theological education generally. The traditional division of labor among the academic disciplines fragments students’ theological education. The failure to achieve genuine integration of theoretical learning with leadership skills exacerbates this problem; the centers concept addresses precisely this fragmentation. Bethel’s leaders are focused on ensuring the integration of learning expected in each center into a holistic educational experience for each student. The activities in the three centers fundamentally interpenetrate and reinforce each other.

The three centers mean that Bethel’s educational resources are organized into three teams. Each team engages one facet of a student’s life. The goal is that student interaction with all three centers is a congruous experience leading to significant and appropriate growth in each area. Deans of the centers seek to ensure that each student grows significantly by interacting with each of the three centers.

Each center will pursue appropriate outcomes related to being, thinking, and doing. For instance, the Center for Biblical and Theological Foundations has as a being outcome a love for the Scriptures. The Center for Spiritual and Personal Formation has as a thinking outcome the ability to express a theology of the spiritual disciplines. Academic institutions sometimes assign the conceptual and theoretical aspects of education—thinking—greater weight and prestige than the personal formation and skill-oriented dimensions. But in terms of ministry, all three are absolutely essential. Thus, we will ensure that each graduate has the opportunity to pursue the goals of all three centers.

The core integrative philosophy and the key visionary values embodied in the three centers concept will apply to all the delivery formats that Bethel offers. The philosophy and values are relevant as well to the San Diego and Seminary of the East campuses. Bethel Seminary San Diego will respond uniquely to the opportunities and challenges indigenous to the diverse cultures of Southern California and the Pacific Rim, as will Bethel Seminary of the East to the many people groups populating the Northeast Corridor.

To the degree that the outcomes of each of the centers are realized in the lives of students, Bethel Seminary graduates will be equipped to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ among all people in culturally sensitive ways. The passion that both pulls and drives us to design and then offer this distinctive kind of seminary education at Bethel flows from God’s love for the world and the supreme model of contextualized ministry personified in the life and teachings of Jesus. Cultural sensitivity means leaving comfort zones—for Jesus it meant leaving the glory of heaven. It also means entering into someone else’s comfort zones—for Jesus it meant being born of Jewish heritage, yet He refused to become isolated and insulated within the walls that separated Jews from Samaritans. Cultural sensitivity therefore means that one is aware of, and critically evaluative of, the strengths and limits of one’s own cultures of origin and then wise and vigilant in overcoming the multiple barriers that hinder the clear expression of the gospel in one’s own and other cultures.

The challenges of preparing oneself to serve in the 21st century include those of being an adult learner and a lifelong learner. Our goal is to help establish disciplines and habits of being, thinking, and doing that will serve our graduates well for a lifetime.