Johnson C. Smith

Theological Seminary

Annual Report 2013-14

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President’s Letter Dear Graduate, Supporter, Friend of Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary;

It is my great pleasure to share with you the Annual Report of Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary for 2013-2014—perhaps one of the most dramatic years  in  the  institution’s  147 year history.

For the past five years, I have had the honor and privilege of serving as the chief executive officer of the seminary. During that time, I’ve watched five classes of students march across the commencement stage. I’ve  experienced the Church in places as far away as Cairo, Egypt, and as near as the Vine City neighborhood  of  Atlanta.    I’ve  heard the testimonies and struggles of many of our graduates, and am informed by their aspirations.

As  I  grow  in  the  role  of  chief  executive,  I’m  reminded  weekly  that  nothing  stays  the  same.    Change  is  ever-present. Consequently, JCSTS like other seminaries faces major decisions about its future. In the words of author, LeAnn Snow Fletcher, Ph.D., “it’s  time  to  think  of  seminary  in  new  ways.”

This report describes changes taking place at JCSTS—changes aimed at ensuring the viability of the seminary well into the future. The most striking of these changes took place on June 30, 2014, when JCSTS disaffiliated from the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) after 45 years. This decision inspired some of you, captured the fancy of others, and aroused the ire of still others. No matter where you stand, I am grateful for the benefit of your care and concern for the institution.

There is great promise ahead for JCSTS. As the seminary moves forward, it does so aspiring to:

x Become a leading seminary x Optimize the use of web-based and mobile technology in delivering customizable and

affordable theological education x Build a dynamic web presence integral to institutional advancement and recruitment x Be responsible stewards of the heritage of the Black Church rendering it relevant and

actionable for new generations of African-Americans and other racial-ethnic groups x Recruit a diverse student body, giving particular attention to underserved communities x Be a voice for justice in the PCUSA and the world x Prepare and equip students for the economic realities of today's Church x Be institutionally nimble and financially strong x Collaborate innovatively with seminaries, undergraduate schools, and other partner

organizations.

I invite you to engage with JCSTS in this exciting journey.

Yours in Christ,

Paul T. Roberts, Sr. 1

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The Context of the Past Year INTRODUCTION

Some five years ago, the JCSTS board and staff began serious discussions about what God might be calling the Seminary to do in response to a rapidly changing Church and global society.

As little as  seven  years  ago,  the  iPhone  didn’t  exist,  the  use  of  the  internet  as  an  educational  tool  was  much   less   certain,   and   today’s   $10   million   “app”   economy was little more than a technological glimmer. For the college graduate of 2017,

x Having a chat has seldom involved talking x A tablet is no longer something you take in the morning x It is possible to study together as a group without being physically in the same room x A USB port is as common as an electrical outlet.

Today, for many prospective graduate students, it no longer makes sense, either financially or technologically, to quit jobs, relocate to another city or state, and commit to multi-year, residential, educational program. Many perspective students are aware that mainline denominational and congregational memberships are declining and, consequently, that churches have fewer pastoral openings.

Like most Protestant seminaries in the United States, JCSTS also was experiencing drops in enrollment and discovering that significant numbers of seminary students are no longer interested in following the path to conventional ordination. Today’s  students  are  aware  that  denominations are in flux, denominational loyalties are declining, and the explosion of Christianity in the global south and east is influencing Western thought in significant ways. Yet, we could also sense a growing desire by many   people   for   greater   spirituality   in   their   lives   and   a   younger   generation’s   sense of call to do something meaningful, but not necessarily as ordained clergy.

Christian   blogger   John   Keener   writes,   “Gone   are   the   days   when   the  heyday of the Church was focused on programs within the church building to attract people to their saving grace, when the majority of the concern and focus was within the walls of the Church for those who were  ‘members.’    The  fact  is  that  the  Church  that  I  was  trained  to  serve,  the Church of my parents and grandparents, is no longer working for the world in which I  live.”

All of this change is set against a backdrop of rapidly rising costs in theological education for students already burdened with debt from their undergraduate years.

After an intentional process with a team of communications experts, JCSTS adopted a tagline that captures our commitment to become a new kind of resource within the universe of theological education. We affirmed a God-given  belief  that  we  are  “CALLED TO CREATE WHAT’S  NEXT.”

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Without yet knowing precisely what that might mean, we did have in mind a new kind of affordable curriculum for clergy, laity, and M.Div. students—a curriculum that might be available on line and that would include training in entrepreneurial skills like fund raising, budgeting, community development, and tent-making ministry.

LEAVING THE ITC

An explanation is in order to explain why the trustees, president, and staff felt it necessary to disaffiliate from the Interdenominational Theological Center, effective June 30, 2014.

The   seminary’s   initial intent was to explore the establishment of a new curriculum as a kind of alternative track within the framework of the ITC. However, even as we were excitedly envisioning a new day, the consortium had been falling on difficult times. Put briefly, a combination of serious financial challenges and failures to meet key accreditation standards led to reductions in faculty and staff, furloughs for those remaining, and reductions in services to constituent seminaries. It seemed highly likely that the ITC would either lose its accreditation or be required to spend an inordinate amount   of   attention   and   years’   worth   of   time   removing itself from probationary status. As word filtered  out  about  ITC’s  precarious  circumstances,  the impact on JCSTS’  ability  to  recruit  students and raise the monies to support them—two cornerstones of the  seminary’s  mission—became increasingly impossible to achieve. Campus morale deteriorated and anxieties heightened; and Johnson  C.  Smith’s  participation within the consortium met with increasing indifference and resistance. Circumstances warranted  that  JCSTS  trustees  ask  themselves  two  vital  questions.    “Is  the  ITC  of  today the one of our historic ideals?”  And,  “what  will  JCSTS  be  permitted  to  do to help promote ITC’s  health  and  vitality while still pursuing its own unique mission?”  

Following months of discussion and prayer, the trustees made the painful decision to seek a different setting and climate in which to pursue the  seminary’s future.

A Timeline of the Seminary’s History The history of Johnson C. Smith Seminary is marked by bold moves. The fact that the institution was founded on the heels of the devastating Civil War represented courageous imagination. Against many odds, it became The Freedmen’s  College of North Carolina in a simple wooden building in Charlotte, North Carolina. Established first to teach reading, writing, and other basic skills to freed slaves, in short order it was training teachers and preachers. The theological department of the college graduated its first ministers in 1872.

1867-Leaders   of   Catawba   Presbytery   establish   The   Freedmen’s College of North Carolina. Soon thereafter, fund raising by Mary Biddle of Philadelphia generates $1,400 and college is renamed Biddle Memorial Institute to honor her late husband, Major Henry Biddle.

1872-Seminary division graduates first three students.

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1876-Col. W. R. Myers of Charlotte donates first eight acres to school, which soon becomes Biddle University.

1919-Biddle becomes first historically black school in South to offer degrees in education.

1923-Jane Berry Smith of Pittsburgh gives an endowment for new buildings to honor her late husband. This leads to the re-naming of the institution as Johnson C. Smith University.

1938-JCSU is an independent college, affiliated with the United Presbyterian Church.

1941-JCSU admits its first women students to the freshman class.

1944-JCSU is founding member of the United Negro College Fund.

1969-Facing loss of accreditation, the seminary leaves JCSU to become affiliated with the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. James H. Costen becomes Administrative Dean of JCSTS which reopens with four students. Costen eventually becomes President of the ITC.

2014-JCSTS disaffiliates itself from the ITC, relocates to the offices of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta at 1024 Ponce de Leon Avenue in the heart of Atlanta, and re-establishes itself as independent seminary still affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The Costen Legacy In the 1950s, the university continued to grow, but the seminary fell on hard times. Two years after JCSU celebrated its centennial, the seminary faced closure because of declining enrollment, financial difficulties, and the prospect of losing accreditation. Aware of the need for bold action during a time of crisis, alumnus James H. Costen (the pastor of a new church in Atlanta) and other key JCSTS graduates launched the campaign that led to the   seminary’s   affiliation   with   the   11-year old Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, approved by the 182nd General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.

Costen  became  the  Seminary’s  first  Administrative  Dean  with  four  students. His leadership led to an expanded enrollment and an endowment. His wife, Melva W. Costen, Ph.D., a nationally recognized musician and choir director, was a powerful partner throughout this portion of his ministry. She held the Helmar Nielsen Chair in Worship on the faculty of ITC until her retirement.

During the succeeding decades, Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary was the premier source of ministers and other leaders of the United Presbyterian Church. Its alumni/ae included Moderators, Vice Moderators, presbytery executives, dynamic preachers, pioneering pastors, missionaries, church musicians, educators, and chaplains.

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During 1982, his last year at JCSTS, Costen was elected Moderator of the United Presbyterian Church, a platform from which he played a powerful role in promoting the reunion of the Northern and Southern Presbyterian denominations. As UPCUSA General Assembly Moderator, Costen and PCUS General Assembly Moderator John F. Anderson, jointly presented the Declaration of Reunion at a communion service held on Friday, June 10, 1983, formally constituting the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Melva Costen chaired the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) committee that developed the reunited   denomination’s   first   hymnal.     Following   his   service   as   moderator,   Costen was elected President of the ITC, a position he held until his retirement in 1998.

Subsequent leaders of Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary include Dr. Lonnie L. Oliver, Dr. Clinton Marsh, Dr. Joseph A. Gaston, Dr. David L. Wallace, Dr. Mark Lomax, and current President Rev. Paul Roberts.

JCSTS Today STUDENTS

During the 2013-2014 academic year, JCSTS had 24 students. Among that number, three were enrolled in the ITC distance learning program, and three others were Lutheran students. Of these 24 students, nine of them graduated in May 2014. Three of these graduates are now enrolled in doctoral programs at other institutions. One is enrolled in a Clinical Pastoral Education program in preparation for a hospital chaplaincy career. Two are serving pastoral internships, and three are still seeking calls to pastoral ministry.

Of our remaining students, one has withdrawn for health reasons, but the rest continue at advanced stages of their academic careers. JCSTS has encouraged these students to continue their matriculation at ITC so as to minimize any interruption of their studies. All of them remain eligible for scholarship support from JCSTS, and they receive guidance from JCSTS staff as they progress through Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) examination and ordination process.

During the next five months, the board and staff is engaging in a period of professionally facilitated planning and discernment. The primary goals of the process are to design a preliminary new curriculum and lay the groundwork for an academic affairs administration as well as to outline a plan to secure appropriate academic accreditation.

Although independent, the seminary will be actively exploring partnerships with other theological and academic institutions to make theological education affordable and accessible to clergy, lay people, and ministerial candidates.

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A strong endorsement of JCSTS's new direction has come from its nine sister seminaries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Each of these institutions has pledged 10 per cent of its 2014-2015 allotment from the denomination to JCSTS.

FINANCIALS INCOME Denominational Support $74,425 Endowment Income $276,319 Gift Income $146,549 Total Income $497,293 EXPENSES Salaries & Benefits $190,134 Scholarships $57,865 Instruction $157,677 Administration $53,044 Development $34,313 Total Expenses $493,033

NOTES Income Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary (JCSTS) was a member of the consortium of seminaries known as Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in the fiscal year ending 6/30/2014. As such, JCSTS did not own any physical assets. The only permanent asset as of 6/30/2014 was an endowment in the amount of $4,676,789. Expense As a member of the ITC consortium of seminaries, faculty and facilities were the responsibility of the ITC.  Instruction  expenses  were  fees  paid  to  the  ITC  for  JCSTS’  share  in  the consortium.

Income

DenominationalSupport (15%)

EndowmentIncome (56%)

Gift Income (29%)

Expenses

Salaries & Benefits(39%)Scholarships (12%)

Instruction (32%)

Administration(11%)

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Creating What’s Next Just as in 1867 and 1969, Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary once again believes it is responding to the call of Him who makes all things new. Ultimately, what the seminary has chosen to do is not driven by concerns about budget, educational theory, or the avoidance of difficulty. Rather, the seminary seeks to position itself to be of the greatest possible service to our Lord, his Church, the world, and its people.

As JCSTS moves forward, it does so aspiring to:

x Become a leading seminary x Optimize the use of web-based and mobile technology in delivering customizable and

affordable theological education x Build a dynamic web presence--one that becomes integral to JCSTS' institutional

advancement, recruitment, and communications efforts x Be responsible stewards of the heritage of the Black Church, and interpret that heritage for

today's culture rendering it understandable, relevant, and actionable for new generations of African-Americans and for members of other racial-ethnic groups, alike

x Enroll and serve a diverse student body, giving particular attention to prospective students from underserved communities

x Be a voice for justice in the PCUSA and in the world x Advocate for additional and accelerated paths to ordination in the PCUSA x Prepare students for the economic realities of today's Church and equip them with tools to be

bi-vocational or tent-makers x Be institutionally nimble and financially strong x Collaborate innovatively with seminaries, undergraduate schools, and other partner

organizations.

The initial phases of strategic thinking, planning, and retooling will be guided by Dr. Itihari Y. Toure, a visionary leader with more than 30 years of experience in educational leadership, curriculum development, and organizational change. Dr. Toure has worked in both academic and community settings. Currently, she is the CEO of the Sankofa Center for Strategic Planning and Evaluation, LLC.

Among various responsibilities, Dr. Toure will implement a process by which JCSTS engages its stakeholders   in  visioning   the   seminary’s   future.    As this process gets underway, JCSTS actively will seek the input of stakeholders and others from its wider community. JCSTS is committed to communicating broadly across its constituency using all means at its disposal to share news and announce opportunities for community engagement, vision-casting, and idea sharing.

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Trustees Martin Lehfeldt, Chair of the Board Author and Consultant. Retired President, Southeastern Council of Foundations Atlanta, GA Laura Crandon, Vice Chair Vice President, United Health Clarksville, MD Charles Morris, Ph.D., Secretary Retired University Administrator Normal, IL Ivan Allen IV Director of Business Development, Staples Atlanta, GA Marilyn Borst Associate Director for Partnership Development The Outreach Foundation Atlanta, GA Kathy Bremer Managing Director, Boardwalk Consulting Atlanta, GA Sue Colussy Attorney. Retired Director of Catholic Charities Immigration Service Atlanta, GA Carolyn Crowder, Ph.D. Author and Psychologist Montreat, NC Paul Grier Vice President, Institutional Services Presbyterian Foundation Greenville, SC

Henrietta Harris, Ed.D. Retired University Administrator River Ridge, LA George Hauptfuhrer III Principal, Prime Buchholz Atlanta, GA Johnny Hill, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Claflin University Orangeburg, SC Billy Honor, Jr. Pastor, New Life Presbyterian Church College Park, GA Kenneth Kovacs, Ph.D. Pastor, Catonsville Presbyterian Church Catonsville, MD Henry Quillian, III Attorney, Taylor English Duma LLP Atlanta, GA Jesse Swanigan Retired corporate auditor University City, MO Bret Williams U.S. Assistant Attorney General Atlanta, GA Roberto Young Business Development, NCR-Entertainment Atlanta, GA

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Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary is the only historically African-American theological institution among the 10 seminaries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Nearly 148 years old, it continues  to  be  one  of  the  most  dramatic  manifestations  of  the  denomination’s  commitment  to  diversity and equity. Its guiding values include the celebration of the black Presbyterian heritage and a championing of justice and the Reformed theological tradition.

1024 Ponce de Leon Avenue, NE Atlanta, Georgia 30306

404-998-8373-T

404-898-0679 –F

jcsts@smithseminary.org

www.smithseminary.org