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Thursday October 25, 2007

Ecumenical schools promote theological education

Ecumenical schools promote theological education

ALC/CLAI, SAO LEOPOLDO, Brasil, August 30, 2007

The real development of theological education takes place within the ecumenical associations and schools of Taxi Heathrow Airport theology, markedly characterized as spaces of freedom and creativity, deeply committed to God’s purpose.

That is what was found by the Forum of Theological Education Associations of Latin America, which took place from August 17 to 19, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the invitation of the Ecumenical Program of Education of the World Council of Churches. The gathering brought together representatives from different theological associations of the continent.

During the different work sessions of the forum which sought to carry out an updated diagnosis of theological education in Latin America, the “Manifesto for a Quality Theological Education” document was drafted and which will be publisher within two months.

In an interview with ALC, the Executive Secretary of the Latin American Theological Community (CETELA in Spanish), Pastor and Professor Roberto Zwetsch, who took part in the gathering in Buenos Aires, said that this manifesto hopes to place those who are involved with theological education in Latin America within an ecumenical perspective.

According to Zwetsch, a purely doctrinal theological education will be unable to take into account the Latin American social, historical and cultural context. Because of that, theological education needs to characterize itself as being “interdisciplinary, intercultural, critical and facing the problems of the social and religious reality,” he emphasized.

A professor at the Higher Level School of Theology (EST in Spanish), in San Leopoldo, Brazil, Zwetsch understands that theological education needs to be directly associated with the quality of life and the practicing of a transforming faith. “It is also necessary to accept the challenges of an education that creatively works on the relationship between theory and practice,” he pointed out.

Participants at the gathering included the World Council of Churches’ consultant for Latin America and the Caribbean, Professor José Duque, the Executive Secretary and the President of the Association of Theological Seminaries (ASIT in Spanish), Guillermo Steinfeld and Welvi Enríquez, along with the Coordinator of the Theological Pedagogy Services (SPT in Spanish) and consultant to the gathering, Matthías Preiswerk. Alsp present were the President and Executive Director of the Association of Evangelical Theological Seminaries (ASTE in Spanish), Manuel Bernardino and Fernando Bortoletto Filho.

Zwetsch pointed out that the “Manifesto for a Quality Theological Education” is not a document about institutions, but rather about educators.