NTS President Ron Benefiel and NBC President Harold B. Graves Jr.
Nazarene Theological Seminary and Nazarene Bible College enter dialogue
Kansas City, Missouri
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Considering the similar missions of Nazarene Theological Seminary (NTS) and Nazarene Bible College (NBC) to prepare ministers for service to the Church, Ron Benefiel, president of NTS, contacted Harold B. Graves Jr., president of NBC, in January of 2009 to propose discussions of "ways the two entities can collaborate to provide education to ministry students and to be better stewards of our resources."
Both recognized the wisdom of such a meeting and agreed that the chief administrators of each school would meet in Kansas City, April 2-3, 2009. To the knowledge of both presidents, this is the first time in the 65 year history of NTS and the 45 year history of NBC that such a dialogue had been proposed.
Regarding the discussions, President Benefiel commented, "All items were placed on the table for discussion. We talked about everything from collaborating on purchases of supplies to the 'what if's' of possibly sharing a campus sometime in the future. Both schools have a great interest in providing quality education while maintaining economic viability. Yet, we acknowledge that each of us has its unique purpose and unique culture, and we want to be sensitive to those matters."
President Graves shared, "Nazarene Bible College has great interest in continuing to provide education primarily for those called to ministry later in life and to those currently in ministry who seek ordination requirements and a religion degree. We see these talks with NTS to be a positive step forward in positioning our students for graduate theological education. In the current economic environment, we welcome any suggestions that would allow us to be fiscally viable for many decades to come."
The NTS/NBC dialogues centered on such things as the potential for sharing software; partnering in offering services to students (such as financial aid, registration, etc); sharing advertising, publicity, and fundraising expenses; and sharing faculty and administrators; as well as a host of other matters. The schools believe that there are many ways they can partner together. Additional meetings are planned for the future.
--NTS
Both recognized the wisdom of such a meeting and agreed that the chief administrators of each school would meet in Kansas City, April 2-3, 2009. To the knowledge of both presidents, this is the first time in the 65 year history of NTS and the 45 year history of NBC that such a dialogue had been proposed.
Regarding the discussions, President Benefiel commented, "All items were placed on the table for discussion. We talked about everything from collaborating on purchases of supplies to the 'what if's' of possibly sharing a campus sometime in the future. Both schools have a great interest in providing quality education while maintaining economic viability. Yet, we acknowledge that each of us has its unique purpose and unique culture, and we want to be sensitive to those matters."
President Graves shared, "Nazarene Bible College has great interest in continuing to provide education primarily for those called to ministry later in life and to those currently in ministry who seek ordination requirements and a religion degree. We see these talks with NTS to be a positive step forward in positioning our students for graduate theological education. In the current economic environment, we welcome any suggestions that would allow us to be fiscally viable for many decades to come."
The NTS/NBC dialogues centered on such things as the potential for sharing software; partnering in offering services to students (such as financial aid, registration, etc); sharing advertising, publicity, and fundraising expenses; and sharing faculty and administrators; as well as a host of other matters. The schools believe that there are many ways they can partner together. Additional meetings are planned for the future.
--NTS