Transforming Ministry
"Transforming Ministry" was adopted by Duke Divinity School during the 75th anniversary in 2001-02 and continues to serve as a major theme.
Here is what Dean L. Gregory Jones had to say about "Transforming Ministry:"
“We are convinced that the vocation of ministry is about transforming people’s lives--transforming the people who are in ministry, the people with whom they work, and our own practices as we seek to be faithful to the Gospel.
Transformation includes an appreciation of the past as well as a focus on the future. We seek to embody a vital sense of tradition without lapsing into traditionalism. Church historian Jaroslav Pelikan summarizes the distinction succinctly:
‘Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.’
Transformation also describes what we need as a school: being open to the transformation of our curriculum, our programs, our efforts to learn from the best practices of ministry, and to deepen our understanding so that we may be of more faithful service to the church, to the academy, and to the world.”