Illustrations by Lou beach

The Rev. Dr. David McAllister-Wilson, president of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., is one of the longest-serving leaders among ATS-accredited schools. He has been president since 2002 and has served at the school for more than 40 years. In this interview for the Good Governance podcast, McAllister-Wilson considers his tenure and what he sees as ways forward in the field. Here are six takeaways (the full interview, Episode 60, click here).

The Future of Seminaries

When I came to seminary, there was this unstated assumption that eventually every church in America would be pastored by a Master of Divinity graduate. And that was what these schools had to offer as graduate theological schools. I thought that sounded so wonderfully academic that we were going to have a “learned” clergy.

I think the greatest hope right now for our schools is if we expand beyond what we think of as theological education – which is graduate theological education – and think more broadly than that to what the Church, country, and world want from schools like ours. I still believe in a learned clergy, but it turns out that model for preparation of leadership, while maybe necessary, has not been sufficient for the vitality of the Church. I have a long-term hope, or at least a persistence, that our schools can continue if we have a chance to rethink who we are and what we’re doing.

A Call to the World

Almost everywhere else in the world I experience church leaders who are looking for deepening the knowledge of their clergy and clergy candidates, and I hear them talk about what they need from the seminaries in ways similar to what was said 40 years ago when I went to seminary. Outside of the United States, there’s a great need for clergy who are well-educated. We have students in other parts of the world, and bishops are saying, “These folks are really benefiting from the kind of education you have to offer.” That’s what I’m finding around the world. Of course, the challenge is the cost of that, not the need for it.

I have a long-term hope, or at least a persistence, that our schools can continue if we have a chance to rethink who we are and what we’re doing.”

Economic Realities

Every seminary president I know is trying to figure out how can we adjust the economics of our seminaries. For Wesley, through the Pathways for Tomorrow program funded by the Lilly Endowment, we’re looking at developing a robust new business model for theological education that includes degree and non-degree and certificates – all sorts of possibilities. At the same time, I can’t think of an issue facing churches and people of faith in America that calls for less education.

The Leadership Crisis

It isn’t just seminaries; searches for college and university presidents are going longer and longer, and that’s because not everybody’s clamoring to be in those roles. The role of president is not always fun. I once heard somebody describe what it is to be a fireman. He said you think what it is to be a fireman is you go drive around in the truck really fast and go save people and put out fires. But if you know what it is to be a fireman, you have to be able to endure long hours of doing nothing or not feeling like you’re accomplishing anything, punctuated by these moments of great danger and rescue. Similarly, the presidency is not exciting every day. Instead, you have to have a sense of what the institution is, what it’s for, the people who are serving with you – in the faculty, the staff, and on the board of trustees – and have the longer vision in mind and be the kind of person who can be satisfied with that longer vision.

Who the President Serves

There are many, but one is to be aware of your multiple constituencies. There are the people who work for you: faculty and staff. There’s the students, there’s the board of trustees. But another is the Church as it is meant to be. And maybe the most important constituency is the future, that the future is one of my constituents. And no one of those is primary. A lot of people go into leadership studies thinking there’s the one thing. The thing is never just one thing.

And let’s consider the Church in America for a minute. I’m a United Methodist pastor. The United Methodists are in decline, and I’ll ask: When do you think Methodist as a percentage of the total American population began to decline as a percentage of the total? 1865 is the answer. And when did the Christian Church see the biggest increase in membership? When Constantine’s mother became a Christian. You’ve got to take the long view and realize that the Christian Church has thrived in many ways and in many places for a very long time. And no 25-year period is the measure of what the future of the church is.

I find when I meet with my board or anyone else, I’m trying to find that place between ‘Chicken Little’ and the bluebird of happiness.”

The Right Balance

My job, in some ways, is to manage anxiety, other people’s and my own, throughout all of these times. But running through it is a sense of our own calling as individuals and as institutions. I often say persistence rather than hope, because if it’s always about hope, you’re always looking for ways to give yourself a shot of hope rather than say, no, here’s the long vision, here’s what we’re going to do. And so, I find when I meet with my board or anyone else, I’m trying to find that place between “Chicken Little” and the bluebird of happiness. It’s to be clear about what the challenges are and also about what our shared understanding of our strategy and our mission is.

I want to position the seminary to be preparing the people who are prepared to lead in the latter half of the 21st century – with all that that means: the varieties of leadership, the issues they have to face, the character, the faith, and to not let the anxiety of the moment get in the way of what it takes to prepare those men and women.