This article offers a cross-section of assessments of how well their theological schools are preparing graduates for life in congregations and suggestions of what needs to change. Although the vantage points vary and those interviewed have different roles, they frequently agree. Where does your school fit here, and what would you say if you were interviewed? Are there comments you would like to amplify? Any that give you ideas for your school?

James L. Waits, former dean of Candler School of Theology at Emory University and executive director of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada since 1991, is one of North America’s closest observers of the theological education scene. As he concludes his service with ATS and returns to Atlanta to revive the Fund for Theological Education, he lays out in this article what he sees as the five greatest challenges theological educators face today. Readers will wish to ask themselves how the challenges are taking form at the schools they serve and what strategies they are developing to respond.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church was down to under fifty members when it voted in 1982 not to close. Now it has 450 baptized members. How did that happen?