c. 2000 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Religious educational institutions across the United States are nearly invisible in their communities, a new study by the Auburn Center for the Study of Theological Education has concluded.

“Many of the seminaries we studied are known only to a fairly small circle of insiders of their own religious tradition _ denominational executives, clergy and the members of some congregations that are either large or located close to the seminary’s campus,” said the report “Missing Connections: Public Perceptions of Theological Education.” “… Whatever the reason, seminaries are not viewed as civic assets in their communities or beyond. Nor are seminaries widely viewed as educational assets.”

In its survey of six seminaries in four cities _ Indianapolis, Atlanta, Portland, Ore., and Shreveport, La. _ the Auburn Center found that seminaries often fail to reach out to their surrounding communities, leaving the public with little or no knowledge of their existence.

That could be because religious institutions are often reluctant to enter the public sphere, said Barbara G. Wheeler, president of Auburn Seminary and head of the Auburn Center for the Study of Theological Education. She co-authored the report with Elizabeth Lynn, director of the Project on Civic Reflection at Valparaiso University. For privacy reasons, Wheeler and Lynn did not release the names of the seminaries.

“Religious institutions don’t necessarily volunteer to put themselves in those public settings. There’s a feeling that the role of religion is to take care of people in the private sphere,” Wheeler said. “A lot of people would say the appropriate place for a religious institution is to be quiet and not attract a lot of attention to itself. There’s the saying `Better to be faithful than famous.”’

Moreoever, like their secular counterparts, religious seminaries are reluctant at times to ally themselves with a particular cause or issue.

“Very few, if any, institutions would discourage public involvement,” Wheeler said, “but I think they would say that they don’t encourage it more because there would be some sensitivity about identifying the institution with particular stances; that’s always a difficulty in higher education.”

Theological seminaries often fall victim to a self-imposed isolation from civic life, the report noted, quoting the dean of one public university as saying “Clergy are not public leaders.”

The report did find exceptions, most notably among the two African-American seminary presidents surveyed, who, Wheeler said, often consider it part of their job descriptions to be active and visible in the public arena.

“A tradition of public leadership has already been established for African-American religious leaders,” Wheeler said. “There is the general expectation in the African-American community that the leaders of religious institutions will be active in the community, and so other community leaders tend to turn to them; they know these persons have great influence in their communities. I think many other clergy discover that if they get active in the public arena, then people in their congregations worry whether they are doing a good job at home.”

Expectations of civic involvement could sometimes be found among other religious communities, Wheeler added.

“We found that in a couple of cities, even though the Jewish community was very small, Reformed rabbis spoke out so regularly that people expected it and social leaders noted that,” she said. “And sometimes a Catholic bishop would be identified that way, too. This happened less often among Protestants, interestingly, unless they were African-Americans.”

The study’s findings should motivate religious educators and leaders to extend themselves to the community, noted Wheeler, adding that there are powerful arguments for them to do so.

“There’s wisdom and new ideas in theological institutions that the whole society could benefit from,” she said. “And there’s wisdom in the community that could enrich what seminaries do. When that exchange is made, we can have greater insight into how we all ought to be living together as a society.”

KRE END DANCY