Beyond Profession

OPTalksTEBTBookspodcast
Written By Open Plaza

Theologians Dr. Justo L. González and Rev. Dr. Daniel O. Aleshire discuss his book on the next future of theological education

 
 

Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI) former director Dr. Justo L. González and Rev. Dr. Daniel O. Aleshire, longtime Association of Theological Schools (ATS) executive director, discuss what theological education should become. Dr. Aleshire’s book Beyond Profession: The Next Future of Theological Education (Eerdmans, 2021) offers a brief account of how theological education has changed in the past, and how it might change going forward. In this episode of OP Talks, Dr. Aleshire notes that, although the first response of theological schools to communities of color was inclusion, this has changed over the last few decades. "Schools are beginning to realize that these students are not just incorporated in an ongoing enterprise,” he says, “they are contributing to the change of that enterprise.”

Along with the book, this conversation is part of the Theological Education between the Times (TEBT) series, an initiative out of HTI member school Emory University Candler School of Theology that "gathers diverse groups of people for critical, theological conversations about the meanings and purposes of theological education. The project begins with a recognition that theological education is between the times, on the way. And it works in the confidence that we do not walk this road alone."

The Justo and Catherine González Resource Center and Lecture Series

In 2011, the Asociación para la Educación Teológica Hispana [Association for Hispanic Theological Education] (AETH) inaugurated the Justo and Catherine González Resource Center in honor of Dr. Justo L. González and Dr. Catherine Gunsalus González, in recognition of their multiple contributions to AETH, to the theological formation of Hispanic/Latino(a) leaders, to Hispanic/Latino theology, and to contemporary theology in general. The Lectures were launched as a living extension of the work of the Resource Center. The Justo and Catherine González Lecture Series gathers denominational leaders, seminary professors, directors of Bible institutes, and pastors for reflection on topics relevant to the Hispanic church and community. Since its creation, the González Center has sponsored five lecture series: In 2021, the series celebrated “Latinx Contributions to Theological Education” [Spanish] and the opportunities to deepen and expand those contributions as we look to the future.

 
 

“From his unique position, Daniel Aleshire knows the fascinating history, the changeable present, and the hopeful future of American theological education like few others. In this rich and arresting volume he addresses the enduring evolution of ministerial training with insightful analyses of what lies ahead. A masterful study.”


Bill J. Leonard
Founding Dean and Professor of Divinity Emeritus
Wake Forest University School of Divinity

Featured
Daniel Aleshire

Rev. Dr. Daniel O. Aleshire has served the Association of Theological Schools since 1990 and was its executive director from 1998 to 2017. Rev. Dr. Aleshire holds a BS from Belmont University, an MDiv from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and an MA and a PhD in psychology from George Peabody College for Teachers (now the Peabody College of Vanderbilt University) in Nashville, Tennessee. An ordained minister, he has written extensively on issues of ministry and theological education. His books include Being There: Culture and Formation in Two Theological Schools (Oxford University Press, 1997), co-authored with Jackson W. Carroll, Barbara G. Wheeler, and Penny Long Marler; Earthen Vessels: Hopeful Reflections on the Work and Future of Theological Schools (Eerdmans, 2008); and Beyond Profession: The Next Future of Theological Education (Eerdmans, 2021).

Featured
Justo González

Dr. Justo Luis González, retired professor of historical theology and leading voice in the field of Hispanic theology, grew up in Havana as a Methodist. He attended United Seminary in Cuba, where he earned a a Bachelor of Sacred Theology, and was the youngest person to be awarded a PhD in historical theology at Yale University. He went on to join the faculty at the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico and later at the Candler School of Theology at Emory, where he was virtually the only Latino scholar in a U.S. Protestant seminary at the time. Over a span of 50 years as a church historian, Dr. González has focused on developing programs for the theological education of Hispanics and has received four honorary doctorates. He helped found three pivotal organizations—the Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI), the Hispanic Summer Program, and Asociación para la Educación Teológica Hispana (AETH). In 2011, the AETH inaugurated the Justo and Catherine González Resource Center, along with a lecture series of the same name, in honor of the contributions he and his wife Catherine Gunsalus González have made to the AETH and to the field of theology. He is also the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal from the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and the Ecumenism Award from Washington Theological Consortium. Dr. González is the main narrator for the video lessons of the Christian Believer study course from Cokesbury publishing. He is the author of numerous books, some of which are commonly used as college and seminary textbooks, including A History of Christian Thought (three volumes), The Story of Christianity (two volumes), Santa Biblia: The Bible Through Hispanic Eyes, The Story Luke Tells, Essential Theological Terms, and Mañana: Christian Theology from a Hispanic Perspective.

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