BY PENFENTENYOU
BERRIEN SPRINGS—Graduates from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary are exceptionally well-qualified to serve the one million Adventists in North America, according to a comprehensive competency analysis conducted by the Andrews University School of Business and Administration.
The competency analysis, which covered all 402 students at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, found outstanding skill among graduates in terms of communicating with, empathizing with, and dedicating time to an Adventist demographic.
“We discovered that our Seminarians are very good at talking to Adventists. They demonstrate complete mastery of Adventist cultural norms and the Adventist Meta-language,” said Dr. Sonia Newmer, the leader of the analytical study. “In addition, they are able to understand and care for Adventists very well. In fact, most of them are so comfortable talking to other Adventists that they do it all the time—our Seminarians can function indefinitely in situations where everyone who they come in contact with is an Adventist.”
Analysts cite large cultural, demographic, and educational trends as reasons why Seminarians demonstrate such exclusive competence in serving one particular group.
“Being born in an Adventist hospital, and having been educated in the Adventist system, and having worked in the Adventist organization is an exceedingly effective combination which naturally boosts someone’s skills at talking and working exclusively with Adventists,” Dr. Newmer said. “The buildup of Adventist communities around our institutions—which are located far away from outside influences—also plays a positive factor in ensuring that our Seminarians get the maximum amount of exposure to like-minded people.”
The programs in the Seminary itself also naturally assist a Seminarian’s desire to become a better minister of Adventists. Analysts note that the Seminary offers only an extremely limited selection of coursework that might take away from a student’s ability to relate to exclusively Adventists.
“There’s a couple of requisite evangelism and church growth classes, and that whole Field School thing, and that’s about it,” said Dr. Newmer, who added that she was not worried about such classes negatively impacting the students. “Most students can just sort of grin and bear through, and forget about ever talking to a non-Adventist afterwards. We found that most of them retain their ability to serve and shepherd Adventists just fine, even after going through Field School.”
Analysts also noted the Seminary’s complete lack of a chaplaincy tract.
“The creation of such a tract would be a direct threat to the positive results of this competency analysis,” said Dr. Lukin In, an assistant professor to Dr. Newmer. “Chaplains must relate to and share with the world at large, which would detract from their ability to shepherd only Adventists. Thankfully, all proposals to create a tract for chaplains have so far failed.”
While Seminarians demonstrated uniform excellence in ministering to Adventists, there were minor variances within the student body. Analysts noted an advantage among Track 1 students in terms of relating to Adventists, a factor in which Track 2 students lagged behind. However, both Dr. Newmer and Dr. In see no difference of significance.
“The gap is a lot bigger in the beginning of one’s seminary career,” said Dr. In, “mainly because Track 2 students come with certain characteristics that naturally enable them to talk to and share with non-Adventists and other professionals. But three years in Berrien Springs usually cures them of that.”
