CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) report 1,211 students seeking a master of divinity (M.Div.) degree during the 2001-2002 academic year. After several years of declining enrollment, the number of students preparing to become ELCA pastors has leveled off in the past three years, according to a report to the ELCA Division for Ministry board.
The M.Div. is the minimum degree normally required of ELCA clergy. The M.Div. program usually requires a bachelor's degree and four years of seminary education, with a parish internship typically during the third year.
In 1994-1995, ELCA seminaries reported 1,465 students in their M.Div. programs. That number declined through the remainder of the decade -- 1,405 in 1995-1996, 1,357 in 1996-1997, 1,323 in 1997-1998, and 1,284 in 1998-1999, said the report. Enrollment began leveling off at 1,209 in 1999-2000 and 1,214 in 2000-2001.
"This leveling-off is similar to the experience of most theological schools in North America in the 1990s," according to the report.
ELCA seminaries plan to give 266 M.Div. degrees to this year's graduating class. Another 361 students are in their first year of study to receive M.Div. degrees, 305 are in their second year of study, and 279 are on internship.
Those "class" numbers don't tell as much as they once did, said the Rev. Mark N. Wilhelm, associate director for theological education, ELCA Division for Ministry. "We now have so many students who do not go through seminary as a class," he said.
While 1,211 students are enrolled in M.Div. programs of ELCA seminaries, they account for 1,031 full-time equivalent students. "Part-time students now make up a significant minority of our M.Div. population," said Wilhelm.
Women account for 615 -- more than half -- of the 1,211 students in M.Div. programs at ELCA seminaries. Last year, there were 608 women among the 1,214 seminarians.
Churches that merged to form the ELCA in 1988 began ordaining women in 1970. At the end of 2001, the church's 17,686 pastors included 2,631 women.
The current 1,211 students in M.Div. programs at ELCA seminaries include 26 African-Americans, 14 Latinos, 13 Asian/Pacific Islanders and one American Indian. Those numbers are similar to the previous year, except that only two Asian/Pacific Islanders were enrolled last year.
About 2.5 percent of the ELCA's 5.13 million members are people of color or whose primary language is not English. At the end of 2001, about 2.7 percent of the church's pastors were people of color.
Those seeking M.Div. degrees account for about 58 percent of all those attending ELCA seminaries, said Wilhelm. ELCA seminaries offer various other graduate degrees, such as the master of arts, master of sacred theology, doctor of ministry and doctor of philosophy degrees.
In the total enrollment at ELCA seminaries, there has been a "sharp" increase in the number of students under the age of 35, said Wilhelm. There was about a 30 percent increase -- from 504 in 2000-2001 to 655 in 2001-2002. Specific numbers for those seeking M.Div. degrees were not available this year, he said.
ELCA seminaries enroll about 89 percent of the M.Div. students who are in candidacy programs, which prepare seminarians for leadership positions in ELCA ministries, said Wilhelm. Between 100 and 130 M.Div. students at non-ELCA seminaries are participating in ELCA candidacy programs. There are 158 M.Div. students at ELCA seminaries who are not members of the ELCA.
ELCA seminaries are:
+ Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.
+ Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
+ Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa.
+ Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
+ Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C.
+ Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, Calif.
+ Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio
+ Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa
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Links to and other information about ELCA seminaries and related institutions are available at http://www.elca.org/dm/seminary.html on the ELCA Web site.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
