Episcopal Press and News
Kentucky Seminary Adopts New Focus
Episcopal News Service. July 10, 1986 [86150]
LEXINGTON, Ky. (DPS, July 10) -- Responding to a failure to win accreditation and to declining endowment, sweeping changes in the format of the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Kentucky were instituted when the Board of Trustees met here, on May 15 and 16.
The Rt. Rev. Don A. Wimberly, Bishop of Lexington, was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees and agreed to assume the role of dean and rector of the institution. Wimberly announced his intention to honor the commitments previously made by the Seminary but provided a comprehensive plan for total restructuring which would call for diocesan commitment to a program emphasizing the vocational diaconate, continuing education events for laity and clergy and innovative programs of training and outreach. The Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Religion degrees would be relegated to a tertiary position.
Wimberly, in a meeting with the executive council of the Diocese, gained their unanimous approval for plans of renovation and redirection of the seminary. Wimberly announced that a full-time director of studies would be hired to develop curriculum and programs that would better serve the needs of the Church and would allow the seminary to assume a viable and vital role in professional training of candidates for the diaconate, Christian Education personnel and program development, and provide a regional center for quality continuing education for the Episcopal Church.
The Episcopal Theological Seminary in Kentucky was founded by the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Bosworth Smith, the first Bishop of Kentucky. The Commonwealth of Kentucky chartered the Seminary in 1834. The school operated for a time but intervening circumstances resulted in the closing of the institution. The charter under which the Episcopal Seminary in Kentucky operated was still extant in 1951 when the institution was reopened.
During the past 35 years of operation, the seminary has trained several hundred persons for both ordained and lay ministries. Nevertheless, due to declining enrollment and failure to attain accreditation, the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Kentucky realized that new directions and emphases were imperative.