2004 State of the School

September 28, 2004

A strong sense of excitement, hope and renewal pervades Duke Divinity School as we begin the academic year 2004-05. In this, our 78 th year, the school continues to move powerfully in numerous positive directions. As in previous years, we are working diligently to maintain our momentum, build on opportunities and address challenges, both for the current year and for the future. In the following report I will outline some of the most significant recent developments regarding Duke Divinity’s students, faculty, staff, programs, finances and building addition as well as other topics.

Students

We welcomed an excellent class of new students this fall. Thanks especially to the work of Donna Claycomb, director of admissions, and her staff, we again had a record number of inquiries and applications. In our strategic planning process we set goals of 2,000 inquiries and 400 completed applications by the end of 2004-05. That seemed to be an ambitious but realistic set of goals. Last year we had 3,750 inquiries (up from 1,766 in 2000-01) and 613 completed applications (up from 388 in 2000-01).

We have significantly increased our selectivity in offering students admission, and our yield of students accepted also increased. In addition, these students arrived with a median G.P.A. of 3.59, and the median age of the entering Master of Divinity class continues to be between 22 and 23. This year’s overall entering class has an ethnic minority enrollment of 22.6 percent.

We celebrate growing strength in both our Baptist House of Studies, under the direction of Curtis Freeman, and our Office of Black Church Studies, under the direction of Tiffney Marley. Rev. Marley traveled this summer to Uganda and South Africa to enhance our ties with Africa.

Our Field Education program has continued to grow in breadth and depth. Bruce Stanley, who – much to our sorrow – has left us as of September 2004 to become senior pastor of Millbrook United Methodist Church in Raleigh, did an extraordinary job in his four years as director of field education. He leaves us with a legacy of greater numbers of students in both summer and academic year field education, and he increased the quality of supervision as well as formation of ministerial identity. He also helped build increasingly important ties with international contexts for field education. This increased size and scope of the program create budget pressures for the school, but they also reflect significant formation and financial support for students.

Even as we give thanks for Bruce’s leadership and celebrate his move into a significant new area of ministry, we are delighted that the Reverends Joey and Connie Shelton will become our new co-directors of field education and church relations in January 2005. Joey and Connie are Duke Divinity School graduates who bring a wealth of experience and vision to their new positions. Most recently, Joey has served as the pastor of Court Street United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, Miss. (one of our teaching congregations), and Connie has served as executive director of the United Methodist Hour of Mississippi, a weekly television show. We are grateful that retired Bishop C.P. Minnick has agreed to serve as the interim director of field education until Joey and Connie arrive.

Our spiritual formation program, under the leadership of Chaplain Sally Bates, is flourishing. Our focus on retreats as well as spiritual formation groups is bearing significant fruit. We continue to work to deepen the ties among spiritual formation, field education and the academic curriculum.

Faculty

We had an excellent year in recruiting new faculty, primarily focused on senior faculty. We recruited Dr. Richard Payne, a leading neurologist and specialist in end-of-life care, to serve as the Colliflower director of the Institute on Care at the End of Life. Dr. Payne comes to Duke from Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital and Cornell Medical School and brings remarkable vision and expertise to his new position of leadership. He has appointments in both the divinity school and the medical school. Dr. Payne is a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

We are delighted that Allen Verhey joins our faculty as professor of Christian ethics. Dr. Verhey previously taught at Hope College in Michigan. He is a leading scholar in both Christian medical ethics and in the relationship of Scripture and Christian ethics, and he has particular passion for relating his work to congregations and the practice of Christian ministry. Dr. Verhey is ordained in the Reformed Church of America.

Finally, we are pleased that Bishop Kenneth Carder joins the divinity faculty as professor of the practice of pastoral formation and director of the Center for Excellence in Ministry. Most recently, Bishop Carder served as the resident United Methodist Bishop of Mississippi, and he delivered the Episcopal Address at the 2004 General Conference of the United Methodist Church. Bishop Carder is widely recognized for his leadership and wisdom.

Notable books by our faculty include the following:

1. Reading the Gospel in the Strange World of Medicine, by Allen Verhey
2. Performing the Faith, by Stanley Hauerwas
3. The Art of Reading Scripture, edited by Ellen Davis and Richard Hays (and including essays by myself and divinity professor David Steinmetz)
4. Blessed are the Peacemakers by Michael Battle
5. Bound to be Free, by Reinhard Hütter
6. Passion and Paradise, by Warren Smith

Our faculty received several major fellowships this year. Amy Laura Hall received a Luce Fellowship; Jay Carter received fellowships from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Louisville Institute, and the Association of Theological Schools; and Joel Marcus was awarded a fellowship by the National Humanities Center.

In addition, Stephen Chapman taught for two weeks at John Wesley College in South Africa. Richard Heitzenrater began a Summer Wesley Institute, in which a dozen scholars from around the world gathered for a month of intensive study and discussion about the significance of the Wesleys. David Steinmetz published more than 20 opinion pieces in various newspapers over the course of the past year.

Divinity School faculty regularly preach and lecture at colleges, conferences and in local churches around the country, displaying extraordinary commitment to the church, the academy and the community. Last year we held two Forums on Faith and three Sustained Learning Seminars, all led by divinity school faculty. All of the programs were filled to capacity by interested laity and clergy. We have another slate of three Sustained Learning Seminars this year (led by Fred Edie on Youth Ministry, Grant Wacker on Religion in American Life since World War II, and myself [in Nashville] on Lives Worth Living). Divinity school faculty also frequently lecture and preach at Teaching Congregation churches, in other congregations, and for programs in continuing education in addition to their other commitments.

This fall we have begun offering a non-credit course, “Introduction to Spanish Language and Culture for Pastors.” We hope this serves as a positive response to the influx of Spanish-speaking people in North Carolina and throughout the United States; much more, of course, needs to be done.

Staff

We were sorry that new appointments to significant churches in United Methodist Annual Conferences meant the departure of Kevin Armstrong from our Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Coordination Program (in July) and Bruce Stanley from his position in Field Education in September. We have restructured the Coordination Team with divinity school staff to replace Kevin.

We are pleased that the Rev. Pam Hawkins, a graduate of Duke (B.A.) and Vanderbilt Divinity School, will join us in October as associate director of the Center for Excellence in Ministry. Pam brings a remarkable background of leadership in higher education and ministry, most recently in the area of spiritual formation in the Upper Room and as Associate Editor of Weavings. She is a United Methodist minister and a member of the Tennessee Conference.

We also welcome Ms. Holly Durham as director of general administration and finance, replacing Renee Valade, who resigned to pursue other opportunities. Holly is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill (B.A.) and East Carolina University (M.B.A.) and most recently worked as higher education specialist in the Provost’s Office at Duke.

We are pleased to recognize several other people who have joined us in the past year: Chip Edmonds in development to work on support for the Youth Academy; Terry Hall as building coordinator; Elizabeth Ingram as assistant director of the Youth Academy; and staff assistants Rose Hodge (Theology and Medicine), Deanna Johnson (Continuing Education), Laura Ling (External Relations), Megan McMurtry (Baptist House/Black Church/Chaplain), and Carol Rush (Dean’s Office/Teaching Congregations). In addition, Erin Edmonds was promoted to a position as program coordinator in the Office of Continuing Education.

Programs

The divinity school continues to build strength through innovative programmatic initiatives. Particularly significant are the following: the Teaching Congregations program, led by Susan Pendleton Jones and Nancy Rich, which is developing important relationships as well as terrific settings for students to experience summer field education; the Reynolds Program in Church Leadership, led by Janice Virtue; our Theology and Medicine initiatives, including the Caring Communities project, led by Dr. Keith Meador; the Duke Youth Academy for Christian Formation, led by Fred Edie; (which recently was featured on the national PBS show, “Religion & Ethics Newsweekly”); the Institute on Care at the End of Life, led now by Dr. Richard Payne; the Pulpit & Pew Program on Church Leadership, led by Jack Carroll; and our newly developing Center for Excellence in Ministry, now led by Ken Carder. Those are enough to keep any school busy, and the developing synergies are exciting to see and experience.

As I describe in my update on the school’s strategic plan, I believe we need to undertake a number of initiatives in the next several years to strengthen and consolidate key areas of leadership.

Initiative 1: Major Growth in Divinity and Health Care
We now have two major programs, the Institute on Care at the End of Life, led by Richard Payne, and our Program in Theology and Medicine, led by Keith Meador. Both of these initiatives are generating great interest in research, curriculum and outreach in communities – especially in areas with underserved communities, and particularly on critically important issues. We see potential to develop both of these areas, and the vast areas of overlapping interests between them, as we move forward. I believe the need is there and the possibilities are significant. With the strong faculty and program staff we have developed and are developing, we need to think and act boldly.

Initiative 2: Strengthen Our Leadership in Pastoral Excellence
In part, this comes through the establishment of our Center for Excellence in Ministry, which will be led by Bishop Ken Carder. This Center will build on the work Jack Carroll initiated with the first phase of “Pulpit & Pew,” as well as with our coordination work with the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence project for which Associate Dean Janice Virtue has been providing strong leadership. Both of these have been supported by Lilly Endowment Inc., and I anticipate they will receive significant new strength later this year through funding for the Center’s work and our efforts in Pastoral Leadership. In addition, our work in this area also will build on our Reynolds Program in Church Leadership, as well as “Courage to Serve,” a new program focused on rural pastors

Initiative 3: Strengthen Our Leadership in Wesleyan Studies
This is particularly important as the United Methodist Church searches for the most faithful ways forward. Through the Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition and the leadership of Dick Heitzenrater, we have the potential – by utilizing our faculty’s wisdom, our library resources, and the strength of our ties to the United Methodist Church – to provide significant guidance to scholars as well as help to annual conferences interested in claiming a vibrant vision of the Wesleyan tradition. In addition to our longstanding leadership with the Wesley Works project and other programs, this past summer we began a successful Summer Wesley Institute for scholars. It has significant potential for the future. We also will build on Bishop Carder’s role as liaison between the United Methodist seminaries and the Council of Bishops. We have an opportunity to continue to strengthen this work as a service to the church.

Initiative 4: Build On Our Emphases in Sustained Learning
This is perhaps the most tentative in our planning. This initiative would build on what we have learned in recent years and target new audiences for that learning. It would build on our lay academy and laity weekends, as well as our seminars and other programs. But it also could target specific groups of people for non-degree education that would enhance their vision and commitment to Christian life in their own vocations. Two areas of potential interest would be to develop a focus on “the art of reading Scripture” for laity and clergy, as well as seminars for people in health professions or (related to the work in reconciliation below) for people in law. This is perhaps the least well-formed initiative at this point, largely because we would need to secure new funding to make it financially viable.

Initiative 5: Draw Together Ideas and Emphases into a New Focus on Christian Reconciliation
In one sense, this builds on our work in racial reconciliation – an area that will continue to be important as we look to the future. It also builds on our sense of occupying a dynamic center, offering ways in which we can draw people together. And it draws out strengths from throughout our faculty. Further, this could develop more relationships in international contexts, both through field education and with other partnerships. This can build on the work that Chris Rice has been doing over the past year, culminating in the Lausanne Conference in Thailand, focused on reconciliation. It also can build on our strong and developing relationships in South Africa, as well as the interests of people like Emmanuel Katongole in Uganda and the Velloso-Ewells in Brazil. There is also interest in working with Duke Law School on issues of alternative dispute resolution and issues within families and other interpersonal contexts. Such an initiative presses issues of peace as well as justice, dealing with violence as well as economic matters, psychological as well as social health, and even issues of reconciliation with the land and the environment more generally. This initiative also would provide a way to draw together themes that are important in each of the other initiatives – to give just one example, a sense of reconciliation is of great importance to people at the end of life. Providentially, this initiative would tie in nicely with a beautiful sculpture we are commissioning from artist Peggy Parker for the new building, a sculpture focused on issues of reconciliation in relation to the biblical story of the two ungrateful sons (more commonly referred to as the prodigal son).

Curriculum Revision and Self-Study

In the spring of 2004, after an excellent report from the curriculum review committee (chaired by Richard Hays), the faculty debated and then unanimously adopted a revised curriculum for the divinity school. Many features of the curriculum were deemed to still be effective. Major features of the revised curriculum are a shift to make “Introduction to Old Testament” a year-long course and the creation of a new required third-year course called “Practicing Theology in Ministry.” The revised curriculum will become effective in the fall of 2005.

Academic year 2003-04 also brought significant committee work for our Self-Study, in preparation for an accreditation visit by the Association of Theological Schools in the spring of 2005. Senior Associate Dean Willie Jennings has done an outstanding job in leading the school’s work on our Self-Study.

Building

We are delighted with the progress on construction of the divinity addition. The exterior of the building is stunningly beautiful, and the interior is beginning to take wonderful shape as well. We are on target for occupancy of the building in March 2005, and we look forward to using the new space with great anticipation.

We still have about $2.1 million to raise for the building, and an added $800,000 for the organ. We did not include the organ in the budget for the addition because building the organ will take longer than the time frame for the construction of the building. So there is work to be done, but we have maintained our momentum.

Some of our most exciting current work is focused on enhancing the beauty of the interior of the addition. An Arts Advisory Committee, chaired by Susan Pendleton Jones, is hard at work in these areas. We are planning some wonderful pieces of art for the new building, drawing on diverse media, diverse Christian traditions, and diverse areas of the world. In addition, we are working on some wonderful ideas to enhance the interior of Goodson Chapel.

Finance and Development

I am pleased to report that the divinity school finished the last fiscal year in the black, as it has every year. We ended in a particularly strong position thanks to careful spending and higher-than-anticipated tuition revenues.

We concluded The Campaign for Duke with remarkable success, with gifts and pledges exceeding $102 million. It is believed to be the first time a theological school’s fund-raising campaign has surpassed the $100 million mark. Notably, our total gifts and pledges exceeded those of the Fuqua School of Business and the law school. More important than the total gifts and pledges, however, is what these gifts and pledges will mean for the school’s programs and initiatives.

I speak with some regularity about my concerns regarding student financial aid. I am pleased to report that we have succeeded during the course of this campaign in markedly reducing average student indebtedness, and we also have succeeded in significantly increasing the number of academic scholarships we can offer to our top students.

Last year we began a new initiative, “Divinity Breakfasts,” which are focused on raising expendable money for student financial aid. We had breakfasts in Raleigh and Charlotte, and they have helped us raise additional money for financial aid. We plan to expand these breakfasts to several more cities around the country during 2004-05.

Volunteer Leadership

The Divinity School is blessed to have faithful networks of people who are generous donors of time, energy, resources and ideas. They include such important groups as the Board of Visitors, the National Alumni Council, the Baptist House Board of Directors, the Class Agents for the Annual Fund, the Alumni Network for Student Recruitment (ANSR), the Convocation Board of Managers, the Parish Ministry Fund Board, and many others. We also owe thanks to the churches and pastors participating in our field education program. Their contributions are vital to the success of our mission.

I trust after reading this report you share my sense of excitement about the divinity school. We face crucial challenges and questions, including notably how we stay focused and coherent and avoid the indigestion that comes from trying to do too much that is not immediately related to the school’s core mission. But disciplined planning and careful evaluation should enable us to make strategic advances and enhance both our faithfulness and our success in providing intellectual and programmatic leadership in service to the God of Jesus Christ. I hope we will be bold and creative, maintain outrageous ambition and extravagant faithfulness, and experience great joy in doing so.