Trinity School for Ministry (TSM), also known as Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry (TESM), is an evangelical seminary in the Anglican tradition located in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. It is generally associated with the Low Church (evangelical) wing of Anglicanism.
History
In the mid 1970s, several prominent evangelical-leaning Episcopal clergy and lay leaders became disillusioned with what they considered the liberal theology and "theological relativism" of the existing Episcopal seminaries. Some members of this group had been involved with the charismatic movement that began in the mid-1960s in some parishes, while others, many associated with the Fellowship of Witness, held to a more traditional Anglican Evangelicalism. These advocates for conservatism in the Episcopal Church of the United States began to meet and plan a new seminary with a curriculum based on orthodox Protestant theology and evangelical principles.
In 1976, Alfred Stanway, a retired Australian missionary bishop to Tanganyika (present-day Tanzania), accepted the call to become the first dean of TSM. Beginning with 17 students and meeting in rented space, Trinity held its first classes in September 1976. Stanway served for two years before retiring. His successor, John Rodgers, oversaw major growth during his 12-year tenure. In 1989, William C. Frey resigned as Bishop of Colorado to become the third dean and president. In 1996, Peter C. Moore, a founding board member and noted evangelical leader, became the fourth dean and president.[1] Paul F. M. Zahl was elected Trinity's fifth dean in 2004. He stepped down in May 2007, and Rodgers came out of retirement to serve as Interim Dean and President for one year. Trinity's Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, the Rev. Justyn Terry, was named the school's new dean, effective August 2008.
In 2007, Trinity dropped the word "Episcopal" from its name on some of its publications and printed materials. The school's official name, however, remains unchanged. The modification was made in acknowledgement of the growing number of realigning Anglican bodies sending students to the seminary, including the Anglican Church in North America, the Anglican Mission in the Americas, the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, the latter two of which are sub-provinces of the ACNA (see Anglican realignment).
Trinity has "board members, faculty, staff, students and alumni on both sides" of movements to realign. Trinity remains, however, an independent institution, neither owned nor controlled by any diocese, parish or province. It remains a member of the Episcopal seminaries.
Trinity now serves 150 full-time and part-time students on its campus in Ambridge and 75 more in online degree programs. Many former professors have become bishops in the Episcopal Church or other Anglican bodies around the world.
Evangelical leadership
Founded by leaders of the evangelical wing of the Episcopal Church, TESM has become a central player in the renewal movement in the ECUSA. Although the seminary professes not to discriminate based on theological perspective, the over 1000 graduates who currently serve as clergy and lay leaders are overwhelmingly evangelical. Some of the alumni, faculty, and trustees of the school have been among those who support conservative theology within the ECUSA, advocating historic views on matters such as the virgin birth, deity of Jesus, and the literal resurrection of Jesus, as well as moral stances such as opposition to abortion and homosexuality. Some of the graduates of this institution have assumed leadership positions within the Anglican realignment movement and are currently members of the Anglican Church in North America, founded in 2009, like the Dean, Justyn Terry.
Although unquestionably evangelical, the seminary includes students, faculty, and staff from among evangelical, charismatic, and Anglo-Catholic wings of Anglicanism, as well as members of other Christian denominations.
Academic information
TESM is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada and is a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
Degree programs
- Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.)
- Master of Divinity (M.Div.)
- Master of Arts in Religion (M.A.R.)
- Master of Arts in Mission (M.A.M.)
- Master of Sacred Theology (S.T.M.)
Diploma and certificate programs
- Diploma in Anglican Studies - available on campus or online
- Diploma in Christian Ministry - available on campus or online
- Certificate in Christian Ministry
Notable alumni
- Mark J. Lawrence, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina
- John Miller, Bishop in Anglican Mission in America
- Charles Gaikia Gaita, Retired Bishop of Diocese of Nyahururu, Anglican Church of Kenya
- Wilson Turumanya, Bishop of Bunyaro-Kitara, Anglican Church of Uganda
- John Rucyahana, Bishop of Shyria, Anglican Church of Rwanda
- Hector "Tito" Zavala, Bishop of Chile, Iglesia Anglicana de Chile (Anglican Church of Chile), Primate- Iglesia Anglicana del Cono Sur de América (Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America)
- Enrique Lago, Pastor of Iglesia Providencia, Iglesia Anglicana de Chile (Anglican Diocese of Chile)
- Sadock Makaya, Bishop of Diocese of Western Tanganyika, Tanzania
- Elias Chakupewa, Bishop of Tabora, Anglican Church of Tanzania
- Ben Kwashi, Archbishop of Jos, Anglican Church of Nigeria
- Alpha Mohamed, Bishop of Rift Valley, Tanzania
- Abraham Nhial, Bishop of Aweil, The Episcopal Church of Sudan
- Ann B. Davis, former actress
- Shirley Rollinson, retired Chair of the Department of Religion, and Professor of Greek at Eastern New Mexico University.
Notable current and former faculty
- John Rodgers was one of the first bishops in the Anglican Mission in the Americas.
- Paul Zahl is the recently retired Rector of All Saints Church, Chevy Chase, Maryland, and former dean of the Cathedral Church of the Advent (Birmingham, Alabama).
- Greg Brewer is Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida.
- Paul House is Associate Dean and Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School of Samford University.
- Terence Kelshaw served as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande from 1989 until his retirement in 2005.
- Bishop William C. Frey, Dean and President, Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, 1989â€"1996
- Mary Hays is Canon to the Ordinary of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh
- Grant LeMarquand is Area Bishop of the Horn of Africa
- David Mills is executive editor of the journal First Things.
- Stephen Noll is Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University.
- Patrick Henry Reardon is Pastor of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago and Senior Editor of Touchstone Magazine.
- Marcus Robertson is the Rector of Christ Church, Savannah, Georgia.
- Allen P. Ross is Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School of Samford University.
References
External links
- Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry
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