(RNS) — Graduate Theological Union, a 60-year-old consortium of California seminaries and biblical studies facilities, needs to suppose past the ivory tower.
Recognized for its interfaith focus, the interfaith establishment isn’t focused on changing non secular diploma applications, however it does need to make its scholarship accessible to new audiences.
“What if we designed a web-based platform that capabilities as a conduit to ship the knowledge and information we’ve got in our system already and provides it to the general public?” requested Uriah Kim, GTU’s president.
That’s the purpose of GTUx, Graduate Theological Union’s new on-line studying hub for interfaith activism. Launched March 1, the web site gives pre-recorded lectures and studying modules on matters equivalent to faith on the Jan. 6 rebel, rituals for mitigating eco-anxiety and the connection between psychedelics and spirituality.
Thus far, the platform has gained greater than 2,200 customers who entry choices and pay what they need or look in without cost. A trial run final 12 months introduced in additional than 1,000 customers in two months, and GTUx is at present including about 200 new members per week, in line with its builders.
The GTUx brand. Picture courtesy of GTU
Graduate Theological Union shaped in 1962 as a approach for a number of theology colleges in California’s Bay Space to mix their sources and provide stronger applications. Kim stated their newest venture has been no less than 5 years within the making.
“Millennials and Era Z have actually no want for church to create a social community, however they nonetheless want spirituality and fascinating with others on a metaphysical stage and with the divine spiritually,” stated Kim, who pointed to the well-documented rise of the non secular “nones.”
“That’s the place GTUx is available in. We need to attain out to those people who don’t must go to church, however want spirituality.”
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Uriah Kim. Photograph courtesy of GTU
Kim additionally envisions GTUx as a solution to share information instantly, as an alternative of counting on a “trickle-down” schooling mannequin during which their graduates carry information to laypeople.
“What we do must have direct influence on people who’re coping with injustice and inequity on the floor stage,” stated Kim. “We realized, if we imply what we are saying, that we need to make a distinction on this world, then we’ve got to design a solution to ship our information and knowledge to the bottom stage, the place persons are struggling to create a beloved neighborhood of their neighborhoods.”
Kim insists that GTUx is not any substitute for an in-person, in-depth diploma program. As an alternative, he stated, the net platform is a complement to the standard mannequin and ultimately will help GTU’s current applications by including a brand new income supply.
Colleges of faith throughout the U.S. have been pressured to adapt to the nation’s shifting non secular panorama as curiosity in institutional faith wanes. In spring 2021, Pacific College of Faith, a GTU member, launched a six-week on-line cohort program for leaders focused on spirituality and justice. Final fall, Hartford Worldwide College in Connecticut added non secular range trainings for professionals and executives. For Kim, these sorts of improvements should not simply mandatory — they’re additionally encouraging.
“This isn’t a adverse factor,” stated Kim. “I believe it’s actually a chance to reimagine and recreate theological schooling for the 21st century.”
College students in a conventional classroom setting at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. Photograph courtesy of GTU
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