To view video of this report visit NGUMC.org
Presentation to the North Georgia Annual Conference of the UMC
June 18, 2009
Jan Love
Dean, Candler School of Theology
Sisters and brothers in Christ, I greet you on behalf of the faculty, staff, and students of Candler School of Theology at Emory University. We’ve been exceptionally busy this year, working purposefully to fulfill our mission of educating creative and faithful leaders for the church’s ministries in the world.
This has been a year of new beginnings for Candler. Last September, we dedicated our new building, a 65,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art teaching facility that provides a stunning, environmentally sensitive space to support our mission of educating faithful and creative leaders for the church’s ministries in the world. At last, our physical surroundings match our top-notch faculty and programs! The “CST” building is located just off the Quad, at the heart of Emory’s campus, signifying the university’s continuing recognition of faith as an integral part of an informed life of inquiry and service.
The building is one of the newest “green” buildings on Emory’s campus, on track to receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver-level certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Emory now has more square feet of LEED-certified building space than any other campus in America. Students, faculty, and staff alike enjoy the new building’s communal gathering space, inspiring art, natural light, and classrooms equipped with the very latest “smart” technology.
Candler is dedicated to serving The United Methodist Church. Currently, 42% of Candler’s faculty and senior staff are United Methodist. On any given Sunday, Candler faculty and senior staff are deployed across the city of Atlanta in local parishes as leaders in their congregations, Sunday School teachers, part-time pastors, or simply as members immersed in Christian community. Or, they may be leading Bible study in parishes across the region, serving on Boards of Ordained Ministry, mentoring candidates inquiring about ministry, advising boards and agencies, publishing books on various dimensions of ministry, preaching at camp meetings and other large gatherings, or any number of other activities vital to making disciples of Jesus Christ.
In any given year, 70% of Candler graduates are serving as pastors in Christian churches throughout the United States. In addition to educating about 500 regular students on campus at Candler, we also oversee the educational process of about 900 participants in the United Methodist Course of Study regional school at Candler and our five extension schools in the Southeast. Twenty of our 2008-2009 graduates and 14 of our fall 2009 incoming students are from the North Georgia Conference.
This October, we welcome Bishop Robert Schnase to Candler to present a conference based on his book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. We hope you’ll join us for this great learning opportunity.
Candler also has a noteworthy number of faculty from the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, and other historic black churches. Candler has more black tenure-track faculty than most seminaries in the country and a vibrant Black Church Studies program. About 25% of our faculty and our student body are African American, a critical mass that builds into the very fabric of our community crucial, transformative conversations about reaching across racial differences that sometimes still divide us deeply. Not only did Candler provide pioneers in civil rights and racial justice in the mid-twentieth century, we continue to strive every day in the twenty-first century to be the whole body of Christ, as Jesus would have us be.
Internationally renowned artist John August Swanson visited us in March for a series of public lectures and the opening of the Swanson Art Collection at Candler. Swanson’s finely detailed, brilliantly colored paintings and original prints explore narratives that embrace life and spiritual transformation. His work is displayed in the Smithsonian Institution, the Art Institute of Chicago, London’s Tate Gallery, the Vatican Museums, and other prestigious venues. With 46 pieces, Candler now holds the largest collection of Swanson’s art.
In fall 2008, Candler announced a capital fundraising campaign as part of Campaign Emory, with the goal of raising $60 million to support Phase II of the building project, increase student financial assistance, enhance the lifelong learning program, strengthen international initiatives, and create endowed professorships. The campaign is gathering momentum each day, and we have reached 45% of our goal. We invite you to visit our website to find out more about our funding priorities and how you can join us as we raise the remaining 55%.
In response to the current economic climate, Candler faculty, staff, and students are identifying ways to reduce operating expenses in light of an approximate 30% decline in our endowment. In your homes and churches you are doing the same. Though never easy, these exercises focus our attention anew on the discipline of stewardship and wise use of the precious resources God has entrusted to us.
At Candler, we are offering students new programs in financial planning and debt management as well as increasing our commitment to student financial aid. Although our operating budget will decrease by 2% next year, we will increase student financial aid by $133,000. We launched two new programs this year—Leadership Candler and Candler Advantage—to further assist our students in responding to their calls to ministry by removing much of the financial burden that can hamper their vocational development.
Candler is deeply committed to preparing exceptional leaders for Christian ministry, especially in The United Methodist Church. Thank you for your support through the Ministerial Education Fund, visits, prayers, nurture of our students, and direct donor support. Come visit us to share our excitement as we look forward to growing in faith, wisdom, and grace each day.