Shirley A. Mullen
The cumulative impact of this rich collection of essays succeeds in inspiring hope for the future of theological education in a world of declining seminary enrollments, changing demographic patterns of the global church, and an increasingly pluralistic cultural context. It also invites reflection on the treasury of resources we have in the various strands of the Christian tradition for constructively meeting tumultuous change within individual congregations and in our personal lives. Barbara Wheeler has not only offered a gift to Daniel O. Aleshire but to everyone who has the good fortune to encounter Disruption and Hope.
Barbara E. Reid
Looking back and envisioning the future, long-time leaders of each ecclesial family reflect on the changes and challenges in theological education from their distinctive lenses. For almost three decades, Daniel Aleshire’s vision and direction guided the Association of Theological Schools as he attended carefully to the distinctiveness of each tradition while forging lasting bonds of respect and friendship among them. This volume is a most fitting tribute to him.
Craig Dykstra
Disruption and Hope opens the door to a rich and longstanding conversation among seven of theological education’s most thoughtful and influential leaders. It is about the wisdom carried by and the uses to which theological traditions can be put in shaping and reshaping contemporary theological schools in all their diversity. Any theological school that wants to think freshly and deeply about its identity, vocation, mission, and practices should use this book as a guide.