The Very Rev. Douglas B. Travis, D.Min.

Report to the ETSS Board of Trustees on November 7, 2007

Because this is my first address to you as your Dean and President, I want to be very clear about my theological commitments as I ponder and pray about how best to do this job. A variety of factors gathered to convince me that I might actually be called to this job, but in our leading documents two things in particular stood out for me.

The first was the Academic Freedom Statement in the Faculty Handbook. It references the fact that, as an institution devoted to forming priests, our faculty is called upon to “recognize the enduring authority of the historic creeds” – namely, the Apostles’ and the Nicene. This held my attention because in my experience as a parish priest I’ve discovered that the people I serve want to know what I actually believe. If my beliefs are consistent with the Great Tradition of Christianity they are comforted and encouraged in their own formation as disciples of Christ.

The second thing that absolutely riveted me was the Conversation Covenant. It is a magnificent document. I am deeply disturbed by the lack of civility and humility which today mark much discourse in the Church. It seems to me that the Conversation Covenant is in fact a useful antidote to these temptations. As I began to envision a seminary devoted to teaching Christians to listen kindly and humbly to each other I saw Southwest’s potential for leavening the Church with priests formed in the very habits we so desperately need clergy to invariably display. That said, I asked that two clauses be added to the Covenant. In the Covenant we read that “We strive...

to consider the possibility that we might be mistaken , secure in the knowledge of the love and forgiveness we have all received in Christ

• to consider challenges from others while striving not to take offense too readily . . .

I asked that these two clauses be added simply because, in my experience, Christian conversation is marked by the willingness to acknowledge the possibility that one might be wrong coupled with a reluctance to take offense too easily. I frankly think that Christian dialog ceases when somebody says, “I cannot conceive that I might be wrong and I’m offended that you disagree with me.”

For these reasons the two Creeds and the Conversation Covenant are framed outside my office.

With these pillars supporting our foundation I think we are well positioned to raise over the next ten years the $50 million we need to guarantee this seminary’s future.

Let me draw your attention to several matters. It’s well known that the Episcopal Church is currently shrinking, not growing. Similarly the number of Episcopal postulants in accredited Episcopal Seminaries is very flat. Of itself were we building a future for ETSS premised only upon training people for the ordained ministry in the M.Div. program, these factors might be cause for discouragement. But notice what our Mission Statement declares:

Mission : The Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest forms men and women for the service of Christ in lay or ordained ministry within the church and the larger society.

Everybody who is baptized has a vocation. The Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest is increasingly devoted to enabling laypeople to discern and fulfil their calls in a variety of ways. ELLEN JOCKUSCH, our Director of the Master’s Program in Pastoral Ministry and Counseling, will share with you some of our developing plans.

As you all know, there are 11 accredited Episcopal seminaries in the United States . When I went on line to see what degrees each seminary offers I was stunned to discover that only one seminary offers no degree for clergy beyond the Master of Divinity. That seminary is our seminary. Our Academic Dean, ALAN GREGORY, will share with you about some of our initial conversations regarding the possibility of our offering a Doctor of Ministry degree. I’m especially excited about this possibility because it involves our working with our sister school, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in some new and creative ways.

Of themselves none of these programs will radically increase our financial receipts. However, they could well increase considerably the number of students matriculating here, the number of students whom we’re helping discern and fulfil their Christian vocations. This will make us much more obvious and present in the Church and the larger world. And that will, I am convinced, give us a much stronger foundation for raising funds.

Simply put, if there’s more reason to give to the seminary I think more people will give, and I think they will give more.

In addition to offering more degree programs however, we’ve drawn the conclusion that we need to make a better organized and more consistent presentation of who we are and what we offer to the larger Church and world. To that end, earlier this Fall NANCY SPRINGER-BALDWIN, our Vice President for Development, gathered information on a number of “branding firms”. In consultation with the Executive Committee of the Board, as a staff we eventually landed upon the Cartis Group. They have done some wonderful work for us and will enable us to communicate better to just about everybody the wonderful offerings we have for any Christian seeking to discern his or her call and how best to fulfil it. In a few minutes JOHN BENNET WATERS, our Vice President of Finance and Administration, will introduce to you Shannon Carter from Cartis who will present to you our new “brand.”

All of this is in service of fulfilling our Mission and our Lord’s call to meet the needs of people. Indeed, my experience as the Rector of two parishes has taught me that if we seek to meet the needs of people rather than those of the institution, what happens is that both the needs of people and the needs of the Institution are met.

That said I take one of my primary responsibilities to be to seek ways to meet precisely the needs of this Institution. To this end when I was hired you asked that I devote a full 40% of my time to Development. With the kind support and not always gentle prodding of my Administrative Assistant, JANIE MCMAHAN, I am seeking to do just that. Janie and I meet with Nancy Springer-Baldwin and Susan Alexander an hour each week for the purposes of budgeting my time to meet the Development needs of the seminary. And Nancy and Susan are currently vetting professional firms to lead us in a major Capital Campaign beginning in the Fall of 2008. To this end I am asking the DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE to recommend to the Board at its February meeting the firm of the committee’s choosing to lead us in a major Capital Campaign beginning next September.

Now I want to draw your attention to a good news/better news scenario. I’ve given you a handout listing the endowments of the accredited Episcopal seminaries. If we exclude from our list those seminaries identified with a larger university (namely Sewanee and Berkeley at Yale) of the freestanding seminaries only one has an endowment larger than ours, and that’s Virginia . This is good news. Now, let’s go to the better news. Please go to the next page.

In the southern United States there are four accredited Presbyterian seminaries between Austin and the East Coast. In 1952 (the year ETSS was founded) these four seminaries had combined endowments of not more than $8 million. Today they have combined endowments of $551 million. The smallest endowment of the four is $104 million. Virginia Theological Seminary’s endowment is $144 million. Now one could look at these figures and ask, Why hasn’t Southwest kept pace? But recall that if Virginia were not part of the calculation, by comparison Southwest would look very good side by side with the other Episcopal seminaries.

So I choose to look at these figures in another way. If these other seminaries can do this, why can’t we? I THINK WE CAN, but there is a set of preconditions which must be met.

If the board, administration, faculty, and students of Southwest are consistent in their devotion to the Creeds and to the Christian behaviour prescribed in the Conversation Covenant, then I think the “peaceable” community we need to serve the needs of the Church and appeal to donors will be evident. Frankly, if things are working well at home I have license to spend 40% of my time on the road, something I’m more than willing to do.

Secondly, the reorganization we will be discussing at this meeting is crucial. We need a Board devoted to and capable of raising the monies we need. Development is not a board’s only function, but it is a key function.

Earlier this Fall BOB SCHORR chaired a wonderful meeting in Dallas . Because the number attending the meeting was smaller, we were able to sit facing each other across the table. Conversation was frank, creative, and friendly. It was also very on task. If we reorganize as recommended I think the entire seminary community will benefit in ways we cannot yet imagine. And I think we will be much better positioned to raise the money we need.

Finally, we must relate well to the Church where we in fact find ourselves. In academic and theological circles these days there is much talk of “context”. Our context is Texas and the Southwest. While as the Dean of this School I’m more than willing to accept contributions from any region of this country, I think it’s only realistic to anticipate that our support will come from Texas and from the Southwest. Recall that three of the ten largest cities in the United States are in Texas (including Houston , the fourth largest city) and that DFW is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the United States . We’re doing a good job of relating to these constituencies. For example four of our incoming Juniors this year are from the Diocese of Dallas. Even so, I think there may be ways of doing an even better job of ministering to and relating to our home state and region.

A seminary does not exist to have a large endowment. However, a large endowment is crucial to the health and future of a seminary. Notice the last paragraph of the page devoted to Mission and Vision (the last page in your handout):

We are committed to maintaining and developing an infrastructure capable of sustaining a program of this nature. This infrastructure requires sufficient and reliable financing, a strategically designed program, supportive plant, and dedicated staff. These structural elements are essential to a successful educational program and a harmonious and formative community life.

Everything I’ve described is in devotion to these ends. I am blessed to be working with a superlative team. Now I’m going to let them describe to you some of their various projects.

ENDOWMENTS AT EPISCOPAL SEMINARIES

Berkeley at Yale .......................................................................................................... Unavailable

Bexley Hall .................................................................................................................. Unavailable

Sewanee ...................................................................................................................... Unavailable

Free Standing Seminaries

CDSP ..................................................................................................................... $21 M (2007)

EDS ....................................................................................................................... $8.5 M (2007)

ETSS ...................................................................................................................... $25 M (2007)

GTS ..................................................................................................................... $23.5 M (2006)

Nashotah ..................................................................................................................... Unavailable

Seabury ................................................................................................................ $10.5 M (2006)

Trinity .......................................................................................................................... Unavailable

Virginia Theological Seminary ................................................................................ $144 M (2007)

1952 2007

Austin Presbyterian ........................ $1,003,404 ..................................................... $139 million

(founded 1902)

Louisville Seminary ........................ $5 million in 1960 ............................................ $104 million

(founded 1853)

Union , Richmond VA .................... Not much if anything ........................................ $128 million

(founded 1812) They were supported by synods.

Columbia , Decatur ......................... Less than $1 million ......................................... $180 million

(founded 1828) They were tuition-dependent then.

VTS, Alexandria ............................ 1.5 million in 1957 ........................................... $144 million

Vision : Be a community for formation and leadership within the church supported by a strength of program, endowment, and environment that assures excellence in theological and pastoral education

Educational Principles

The primary commitment of the Seminary of the Southwest is to our students’ growth in the knowledge and love of God as witnessed to in Holy Scripture, the Creeds, and in the universal and ecumenical traditions of the Church through the ages. Our purpose is to foster Christian ministers who are faithful, imaginative, and skilled. Four educational principles underlie our curriculum, involving worship and prayer, knowledge of Scripture and the Christian tradition, reconciliation, and leadership.

The most fundamental of these educational principles is the requirement for a discipline of heart, mind, and body that enables students to live more fully into the Christian life as their ministry develops over the years. The faculty and staff believe that the basis of such a discipline lies in a life of regular worship and prayer; consequently, worship and prayer and spiritual practice are at the center of our common life.

As a second educational principle, the faculty of ETSS recognizes that students need immersion in Scripture and in the Creedal and Theological traditions of the Church. The knowledge gained must be critically examined and effectively related to the social and cultural environment in which Christian faith is to be lived and proclaimed.

Our third educational principle is that ministerial formation must include an awareness that growth in the knowledge and love of God is grounded in Christ’s ministry of reconciliation. Christ’s reconciling work always leads faithful disciples to cross the boundaries that separate the people of the earth one from another. The education we offer, therefore, is one that seeks to reach across the ethnic, racial, sexual, economic, and political boundaries that stand in the way of reconciliation. Our students engage in the service of reconciliation through practice as well as study.

A fourth educational principle is that students should be equipped to provide leadership and to exercise authority in the church in support of its order and health. Homiletical, liturgical, pedagogical, pastoral, and managerial skills are all necessary aspects of the leadership required by a healthy and vibrant church in a changing social and ecclesial environment. All are part of the program of formation for ministry provided at ETSS.

We are committed to maintaining and developing an infrastructure capable of sustaining a program of this nature. This infrastructure requires sufficient and reliable financing, a strategically designed program, supportive plant, and dedicated staff. These structural elements are essential to a successful educational program and a harmonious and formative community life.

footnotes

For example, The Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches , 2007 (p. 11) reports that in 2006 the Episcopal Church reported having 2,247,819 members The membership of our Church the year before was 2,284,233. In one year ECUSA lost 36,414 members or 1.59%.

$55 million of Columbia’s endowment came in one gift in 1995 from a trust of a woman who died. The trust was in Coca Cola stock. Their endowment on one day was $55 million, and the next day it had doubled to $110 million because of that bequest.