by Ray Blunt

Years ago, General Motors ran a new commercial that attempted to brand the Oldsmobile as no longer a stodgy car for oldsters.  They showed the new Olds in various racing poses and included the caption, "Not Your Father's Oldsmobile."  Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary came to Washington, DC, last month in what can only be described as a new way of doing seminary.  In truth, this has been going on for six years now as a pioneering effort conceived by Haddon Robinson, former President of Gordon-Conwell Seminary, now the Harold John Ockenga Distinguished Professor of Preaching there.  He is also the former President of Denver Seminary for ten years and a long-time homiletics professor at Dallas Theological Seminary.  Haddon has been a mentor to hundreds if not thousands of pastors over many years.  In this role, he began to see that the way pastors were being prepared tilted too heavily toward theological teaching from the German research university model, and not enough toward the rough and tumble world that Christians in other vocations experience in the marketplace.  Hence, the Doctor of Ministry program in Leadership and Business Ethics whose purpose is to, as he says, "bring the Gospel from the pulpit to the pavement."  It's a philosophy shared by The Washington Institute as our basic focus and, for the last four years, I have had the great opportunity to be an Adjunct Professor in Leadership and to work with and learn from Haddon and from two cohorts of great men and women participants.   Together, we grapple with the issues of faith, vocation, and culture as embodied in being a servant leader--at any level. 

What's so unique about this program among seminaries in this country is that it consists half of pastors and ordained ministry leaders who want to learn leadership and understand the workplace and half of people drawn from the workplace who seek a deeper impact of their faith on their vocations.  The mutual benefit of walking together and sharing both the pulpit and the pavement perspective is a unique learning dimension.  The other unique dimension is that for a week (there are six weeks all told when the group gathers during its two years) the participants explore the challenges of leadership and ethical choices from a variety of angles: in this case the "classroom" of Washington-contemporary and historical.  

For example, we considered the implications for leadership that arose during World War II while visiting the Holocaust Museum, as we began to understand more clearly the spread of a monstrous evil in a modern society and the leaders who stood against it at the cost of life, especially Dietrich Bonhoeffer whose ethical choices and understanding resound still.    At Mt. Vernon, we also considered how George Washington's character was formed and how his undaunted persistence in the face of all odds kept a fractious coalition together and set the stage for an America grounded in freedom and religious openness.  

During the week we were also blessed by several leaders, older and younger, whose stories of their challenges, successes and failures were lessons for everyone, drawn from their own learning.  David Glade and David Hanke helped us understand how a church planting vision is a big-time leadership job akin to any company startup, and Bethany Hoang gave us insights into running a global anti-trafficking organization (International Justice Mission) whose work is often as surreptitious and dangerous as any CIA operation and whose core support is at the local church level.  Terry Mattingly, renowned journalist and teacher of communications, helped us see the difficulty of speaking into a post-Christian culture with a language that communicates the Gospel on the ground level.  Politics was not ignored either as the group spent an afternoon a half block from the White House, talking with three young men who head up the Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships program for the President as we learned how their quiet efforts are making headway to make abortion less prevalent and fathers more responsible for their roles.  It was encouraging to see Godly leaders engaging sensitive and contentious political and moral issues and helping others to have eyes to see. 

Each week always includes some teaching sessions which are highly participative, including a final case study on the last day.  The learning model is primarily to take from the life leadership experiences of many different vocations in which people are seeking to or have sought to live out their faith in many places, then add to that mix the life experiences of the participants, all of whom are well along in their vocations.  It was a rich, exhausting, and energizing week and, quite possibly, a good model for other seminaries to consider as they seek to prepare those called to ministry to answer the call to engage their culture at ground level.  Along that line, Steve Garber is helping Covenant Seminary in St. Louis to launch a similar program this fall, based on the TWI vision that vocation is essential to God's mission on earth, in part drawing from the new model "Oldsmobile" that Gordon-Conwell has introduced.  Stay tuned for the latest model.   

Sound like something you might want to do:  a degree in Leadership and Business Ethics?  Whether you're a pastor, a ministry leader or in the marketplace check it out at the Gordon-Conwell website for the DMin or for the Master of Arts in Religion program.   This might be your calling now.