Wabash Center grant to WFU will support summer conferences on Baptist theological education

The Wabash Center is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and is based at Wabash College in Indiana. It supports educational programs for religious scholars across the country.

The Wake Forest Divinity School will host two five-day conferences for Baptist scholars through the Wabash Center grant. The conferences will be titled, “Consultation on Baptist Vocations and Identity in Theological Education.” Fifteen scholars will be invited to attend the first session in summer 2002, and return for the second session in summer 2003.

The conferences will provide an opportunity for scholars from several different Baptist traditions to meet to discuss Baptist identity and heritage in the theological education setting, said Divinity School Dean Bill Leonard.

“We are honored that the Wabash Center would aid us in responding to the challenges facing Baptist theological education in the new century,” Leonard said.

“Through this grant, the scholars will explore ways to teach Baptist heritage and identity to theological students who may not know or fully appreciate that heritage,” Leonard said.

Leonard and grant co-director Dianne L. Oliver hope that materials developed during the conferences will lead to a book that would benefit churches and educational institutions. Oliver is an assistant professor of religion at the University of Evansville.

The Wake Forest Divinity School opened in 1999 and will graduate its first class in the spring of 2002. The school has 47 full-time students, and 25 more students are expected to enroll this fall.