The Worldviews of Southern Seminaries: Images, Mission Statements, and Curricula

Seminaries and divinity schools are significant components of a region's religious heritage and cultural landscape. While training ministerial professionals, they often proselytize among local residents and take moral positions on regional and global issues that are consistent with their theological stances. These "inside" and "outside" missions are integral elements of a seminary's worldview. In order to analyze the worldviews of 46 accredited theological seminaries and divinity schools in the American South, we examine their promotional materials in three ways: we study their use of visual images, their mission statements, and the global/intercultural content of their curricula. While evangelical seminaries share much in terms of mission statements and types of courses offered, this research shows that a number of schools, especially those serving Catholic, Hispanic, African American, and "mainline" groups, hold a diverse collection of worldviews. Christian theological schools in the contemporary South reflect strong elements of both an evangelical tradition and postmodern perspectives.