Graduate Theological Foundation

The Graduate Theological Foundation (GTF) is an American nonprofit interreligious institution of higher learning, originally founded in Indiana but now centered in Sarasota, Florida. The foundation focuses on providing educational opportunities for practicing ministry professionals, administrators, and academics who want to pursue advanced degrees while retaining their current position. Students and faculty reside around the world, and scholarly work takes place through onsite, and distance learning engagement. Students are eligible to earn bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in a variety of theological disciplines. Faculty members come from a broad spectrum of faith backgrounds, and many also serve on the faculty of established colleges and universities, including the University of Oxford, with which the foundation has an affiliation through the Oxford Theology Summer School at Christ Church College.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}

The Graduate Theological Foundation was founded in 1962. The Conference on Religious Development was originally commissioned to foster growing ecumenical relationships between Catholic and Protestant communions. The foundation emerged from a variety of residential programs held by the conference in Madison, Connecticut.

At first the foundation was formed as a traditional continuing education center for clergy, with a retreat model incorporating individuals or small groups working with creative curriculum, full on-site student residency and a dedicated faculty. At the urging of students and faculty for more flexible educational opportunities, the foundation created a new program requiring only part-time residency.

Over the years the foundation has evolved into a self-directed education model designed to be responsive to the 21st-century needs of ministry professionals across the globe. Students and faculty engage through online, distance and onsite learning methods. The foundation has scholarly partnerships with academic institutions around the world where graduate degree students may complete their course work.^[8]

The foundation is incorporated in the state of Indiana and is authorized to award advanced degrees in various fields of Theological study.^[2] The foundation is an independent non-profit body with tax-exempt status on both the state (Indiana) and federal levels.^[9]

The Graduate Theological Foundation's education model is designed for working ministry professionals, academics and administrators to earn advanced degrees while retaining their current position. Faculty and students engage through online, on-site and distance learning engagements. The foundation also enters in partnerships with traditional universities both in the U.S. and internationally where students may complete academic requirements toward their degree. Students have a large degree of flexibility in helping to design their curriculum in conjunction with faculty, and in determining their own time frame for earning degrees.

Graduate degrees are divided into professional and academic degrees. Professional degrees are practice-oriented in the relevant field of study with an emphasis on topical issues and solutions to identifiable challenges. Final projects are evaluated by faculty before a degree is awarded, with no oral defense required. Academic degrees are geared toward research and require a master's or doctoral thesis before a degree is awarded. An oral defense of the thesis is required for doctoral degrees.

Bachelor's degrees can also be earned through a degree completion program for students in pastoral positions and are available in three areas; theological studies, religious education and sacred music.^[5]

Faculty members number approximately 80 and come from a wide array of faith backgrounds and areas of specialization. A majority of faculty also hold positions at other universities or institutions.

Foundation professorships fall into two categories: visiting faculty, which indicates temporary association through special arrangement, and named professorships, reflecting permanent members of the faculty who make up the bulk of the teaching staff.

Since most faculty members reside offsite, professors and students engage through a variety of distance, online and onsite learning. Faculty are required to evaluate the written coursework of students, evaluate their degree projects and research theses, act as doctoral thesis supervisors and offer tutorials.^[4]

Notable faculty members include:

• The Revd Paul J. Kirbas, the Paul Tillich Professor of Theology and Culture. President and CEO of the Graduate Theological Foundation.^[10]
• El reverendo Andrew Linzey , catedrático Bergh de Ética Animal; director del Centro de Ética Animal de Oxford. Ha sido miembro de la Facultad de Teología de la Universidad de Oxford durante 28 años. ^{[ 11 ] [ 12 ] [ 13 ]}
• El reverendo canónigo Robin Gibbons, miembro y profesor Alexander Schemann de Cristianismo Oriental; también miembro de la Facultad de Teología de la Universidad de Oxford y director de estudios de Teología y Religión del Departamento de Educación Continua de la Universidad de Oxford. ^{[ 14 ]}
• La reverenda Jane Shaw , miembro y profesora Evelyn Underhill de Teología Histórica ; ex decana de la Catedral Episcopal Grace en San Francisco; directora del Harris Manchester College , Universidad de Oxford. ^{[ 15 ]}
• El rabino Norman Solomon , profesor de judaica; también miembro del cuerpo docente del Wolfson College de la Universidad de Oxford y antiguo director del Centro para el Estudio del Judaísmo y las Relaciones Judeocristianas en el Selly Oak College. ^{[ 16 ]}
• El reverendo Hugh R. Page , profesor Benjamin E. Mays de Escrituras y Ministerios Aplicados; también profesor asociado de Teología y decano del primer año de estudios en la Universidad de Notre Dame . ^{[ 17 ]}
• El reverendo James F. Puglisi, SA, miembro y profesor Francis Joseph Cardinal Spellman de Teología Católica; también director de investigación ecuménica y ministro general de los Frailes Franciscanos de la Expiación en el Centro Pro Unione . ^{[ 18 ]}
• El reverendo padre Jorge R. Colón León, miembro y François-Xavier Durrwell, C.Ss.R., profesor de estudios religiosos. ^{[ 19 ]}
• Ann V Graber, miembro y profesora de Logoterapia Pastoral y diplomada del Instituto Viktor Frankl de Logoterapia. ^{[ 20 ]}
• Maria (Ómoroviczai Ungár) Marshall, PhD ( Universidad de Alberta , Canadá), Profesora Mignon G. Eisenberg de Logoterapia, Clínica Diplomada, Miembro Vitalicia y Docente del Instituto Viktor Frankl de Logoterapia. ^{[ 21 ] [ 22 ]}
• Edward (Méndez Asín) Marshall, MD, PhD, Dipl. Psych. ( Universidad de Leeds , Reino Unido). Profesor Viktor E. Frankl de Psicoterapia y Espiritualidad. Clínico certificado, miembro vitalicio y docente del Instituto Viktor Frankl de Logoterapia. Miembro de las Cátedras Scholas, Universidad del Significado , Ciudad del Vaticano. ^{[ 23 ] [ 24 ] [ 25 ]}
• The Revd Msgr Charles Chaffman, Professor of Theological and Tribunal Studies; also serves as a judicial vicar and Director of the International Institute of Theological and Tribunal Studies in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.^[26]
• Omar Ahmed Shahin, Professor of Islamic Law and Director Islamic Studies.^[27]
• The Revd Canon Vincent Strudwick, Fellow and Bishop John Tinsley Professor of Anglican Theology; recipient of the Lambeth degree of Doctor of Divinity conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury.^[28]

Notable emeriti faulty members:

• The Very Revd John MosesKCVO, John Macquarrie Professor of Anglican Theology and former Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, London.^[29]
• John Henry Morgan, Karl Mannheim Professor of the History and Philosophy of Social Sciences and former president of the Graduate Theological Foundation^[29][30]
• The Revd Robley Edward Whitson, Fellow and Distinguished Professor of Theological Anthropology. First President of the Graduate Thological Foundation.^[29]

Graduate Theological Foundation students come from a large geographical spectrum, including all 50 U.S. states and 64 countries. Students also come from a wide range of faith backgrounds.^[6]

Direct publications of the Graduate Theological Foundation reflect its student body of working ministry professionals engaged in pastoral, educational, health-related or counseling vocation.

The Oxford Theology Monograph is a gathering of essays written by faculty members related to course work at the University of Oxford Theology Summer School, a partnership between the Foundation and the University Oxford that has existed since 1994.

Foundation Theology is an annual collection of essays written by students and faculty of the Foundation deemed worthy of special consideration and publication.^[31][32]

La Biblioteca Macquarrie alberga varias colecciones notables de libros, documentos personales y otros materiales de interés para los investigadores teológicos. Entre ellas se encuentra el Proyecto Macquarrie, una colección multimedia relacionada con el teólogo cristiano Canon John Macquarrie , que incluye su biblioteca personal de investigación, grabaciones de audio de sus conferencias, anotaciones bibliográficas y un tomo de sermones. ^{[ 33 ] [ 34 ]}

La Graduate Theological Foundation no cuenta con acreditación ni del Departamento de Educación de los Estados Unidos (USDE) ni del Consejo para la Acreditación de la Educación Superior (CHEA). Como fundación educativa, GTF está constituida por el estado de Indiana y autorizada por este para otorgar títulos avanzados en diversos campos de estudio teológico. ^{[ 2 ] [ 8 ] [ 35 ] [ 36 ]}

La fundación también mantiene vínculos con miembros de PRIME (Partnering Resources in Ministry Education), una red de 16 instituciones de enseñanza superior donde los estudiantes que toman cursos en instituciones afiliadas a PRIME pueden obtener créditos para su título de GTF. ^{[ 3 ]}

La Graduate Theological Foundation mantiene una afiliación con la Universidad de Oxford . Esta colaboración, establecida en 1994, permite a los estudiantes de la fundación obtener créditos para su titulación en la Escuela de Verano de Teología de Oxford, que se celebra anualmente en el Christ Church College . ^{[ 1 ] [ 7 ]}

La fundación tiene una afiliación similar con el Centro Pro Unione en Roma, Italia, lo que permite a los estudiantes estudiar en la Escuela de Verano que se ofrece en el Centro Pro Unione en el ala oeste del Palazzo Pamphilj (antiguo Collegio Innocenziano) en Piazza Navona , Roma. ^{[ 7 ] [ 37 ] [ 38 ]}

• Official website
• Dr. Angel Luis Velez Oyola receives honorary doctorate
• Professor Christo Lombaard awarded Krister Stendahl Medal