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| Message from the Dean |
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" These are exciting times for Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School... "
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...as we move into the future with renewed energy to fulfill the school's ongoing mission "to prepare women and men for lay and ordained ministry that is pastoral, prophetic, and learned."
Dedication to this mission has called together a richly diverse community of students, faculty members, administrators, and staff. Sometimes we speak with one heart and mind. Sometimes we articulate varied visions and voices. Working together is creative, for we embrace a common commitment to intellectual rigor, spiritual formation, and social justice as we seek to embody an "ecumenical and multiracial community of faith and theological inquiry."
Rooted in Baptist traditions, theological education on "the hill" is characterized by the interaction of distinct ecclesial identities in an ecumenical ethos. Women and men representing more than 20 of these denominations – predominantly United Methodist, Presbyterian, American Baptist, United Church of Christ, National Baptist, Progressive National Baptist, Unitarian Universalist – study side by side in classrooms, gather for all-school worship in the chapel, and carry on conversations around tables in the refectory. These interactions are integral to the educational experience offered here. We believe they enrich our curriculum as well as community life.
The divinity school also has a unique commitment to preparation for ministry in the traditions of the "social gospel" and the African American churches, together with a commitment to preparing women for ministry in the church. The Black Church Studies Program, founded in response to the assassination of alumnus the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is the oldest program of its kind in the United States. The Program for the Study of Women and Gender in Church and Society, established in 1992, is faithful to the legacy of the Baptist Missionary Training School, which merged with Colgate Rochester Divinity School in 1961. The Stuber lectureships explore the significance of the "social gospel" for the churches' ministry and mission in today's world.
Amid all this, the divinity school honors its heritage as we seek to realize its transforming power in the present and for the future. We move into the future bearing witness to our faithfulness to those who have come before us and to those who will follow us.
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| I hope you will join us in our journey. Welcome! |
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| Melanie A. May |
| Dean of Faculty and John Price Crozer Professor of Theology |
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