Globalization for global community: A challenge to ministerial formation.

The end of the Second World War (1939-1945) witnessed the ending of the subjugation of a large section of humanity of the world, as people under colonial bondage began to assert independence and claim autonomy. Such a trend around the globe gave the impression that humans were moving to a new era of self-managed interdependent communities. That dream was soon shattered with a new polarization between Communist and non-Communist blocks of countries and led to the Cold War phenomenon. However, five centuries of exploration, migration, settlement, international trade, commerce, and travel around the globe has created an environment of intense interaction between people in different parts of the world, leading them to an awareness of being a global family of communities. In Christian terms, the changes escalated a sense of ecumene (from the Greek word oikos, home)--Earth as a place of common dwelling.

The major religions of the world in various ways have taken advantage of such global mobility and interaction to spread their faith beyond their original location and in the process have emerged as world religions and global faith communities. The ironic outcome is that some world religions have more followers in countries or regions outside of the place where they emerged and the people from whom they originated. Buddhism and Islam are good examples of this phenomenon. There is no likely possibility of reversing such trends. Within another four to five decades the majority of Christians will be found in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, countries of the South, overtaking the present European and Euro-American majority. (1) While Christianity is spreading in the countries of the South and Islam is making headway in Africa, Eastern religions, especially Buddhism, are finding greater acceptance in the North.

The predominantly nonaggressive ways that these religions are spreading is an indication that people are more open to sharing and receiving values from one another than ever before. This sense of openness indicates anew consciousness of being a global community. Such a silent revolution cannot be ignored, in spite of frequent and highly publicized conflicts between communities around the globe, including the role of religions in these conflicts.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, the bipolar existence of a substantial number of human communities came to an end. People who lived in intense fear and hatred of each other are now living in the new sense of being a part of one global community and increasingly enjoying their local autonomy. For the majority, such local autonomy is possible within the facilities and constraints of a nation state; but local autonomy is also resented in certain circumstances, which results in the formation of new nation states or constant violent protests. Nonetheless, cherishing being a part of the global community with local autonomy is the trend of the time. Roland Robertson uses the term "glocal" (trying to integrate local and global identities) to describe this existential reality. (2) More than at anytime in history, the ideal of "think globally and act locally" has become a much more challenging proposal.

A new sense of emerging oneness of humanity is largely due to a significant and concentrated effort to overcome racial, ethnic, class, caste, gender, and generational prejudices and their stereotypes. Today, the betterment of all people through equal participation and access to just opportunities, and the assurance of a fair share in global wealth, are key ideals that guide the international projects for human development around the world.

Caring for the well-being of the earth is crucial for the survival of humanity. This planet is operating within a certain delicate principle in order to maintain an environment inhabitable for all species. Humans have to be cognizant of this reality and order their lives responsibly. It must be a shared task, because the planet does not operate in the same compartmental ways as human communities do.

In recent years the multicultural/ethnic challenges, economic justice/development issues, and environmental concerns have contributed to a greater global consciousness. Faith perspectives have contributed less. A number of schools and institutions of higher learning are either adding courses or reorganizing curriculum to teach about global awareness in order to inculcate a sense of humanity and global community among their graduates. (3) Some Christian educators have also given serious thought to this emerging sense of global community, challenged by the broader educational arena. Intense interfaith dialogues since the 1960s have made positive contributions. (4) The religious community, however, has to do more than this if it is concerned about the well-being of humanity and all life on this planet earth.

Comprehending one common world

Being part of a common global community is not an easy idea to comprehend. Human diversities are widely plural and their histories complex. These diversities traditionally utilized comparatives: superior/inferior, advanced/primitive, ethical/immoral, civilized/barbaric, creative/conventional, progressive/static, scientific/traditional, etc.

Throughout history human communities, when their survival was threatened, created protective defenses over against the others. The concepts of stranger, foreigner, alien, and enemy over against friend, ally, neighbor, and partner are standard in most communities. However, in normal circumstances, if these caricatures are used as tools of exclusion, opposition, domination, or oppression, they curb the spirit of human solidarity.

Christians should not find it difficult to comprehend the global dimension of human community. Christianity is not a status of birthright but a gift of grace. Through baptism Christians join a local faith community. Through baptism one also becomes a member of the global Christian community and is connected to those who have gone before and those who are yet to come. To stretch one's imagination that far may be a daunting task.

When Jesus taught his disciples the Lord's Prayer, he used "Our Father" to address God. Relating to God as a parent shows the universal character of Christian faith. "Parent" is easily understood by all people, designating the close relationship between God and humans but also binding the human community as a family under God as the common parent. In the same Lord's Prayer there is another universally embracing phrase, "Your kingdom come." The citizenship of Christians is in God's kingdom, which transcends all earthly borders and human-created barriers. When a Christian community ponders being children of one God, who is creator of the one common world for all humans to share, they will be able to think beyond their congregation, region, or nation and recognize the need for solidarity among Christians near and far in order to be faithful to God's mission in the world.

Once Christians are cognizant of the global dimension of their faith community, all the programs of Christian formation, including ministerial formation, have to be reviewed and revised to overcome any narrow vision of community, either historically inherited or culturally shaped. That process will demand a concerted effort and patient prodding.

Ministerial formation for global community

In the last two decades in North America, especially in the U.S., one program aimed at broadening the worldviews of theological training institutions has been the "globalization of theological education." Since the Second World War, the U.S. has taken greater leadership in world affairs. If the U.S., in collaboration with its allies, is going to exercise a major global leadership role, Christians and churches in the U.S. have a similarly important task to ensure that the values promoted enhance global solidarity and wholeness. To achieve this goal, Christian churches have to reappropriate their own authentic communal nature as a global family and live this out as an inspiring model for global engagements. Christians are required to uphold what the psalmist declared centuries ago: "The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it" (Ps 24:1).

Wartburg Theological Seminary has been one of the pioneers in answering the challenges offered by globalization in theological education. Global vision and involvement is not new to Wartburg; it is an important component of its historical legacy. The seminary was an outcome of the global dream of Pastor Wilhelm Loehe (1800-1872). From his corner of the world, the village of Neuendettalsau, Germany, the imagination of Loehe stretched to include ministry and mission to German immigrants and Native Americans in North America in the mid-nineteenth century. This commitment included sending personnel and monetary assistance to America and supporting the establishment of the seminary in 1854 to develop local pastoral and missionary leadership. (5)

Unfortunately the mission to the Native Americans was not a success. But that did not deter the seminary and the Iowa Synod it was related to. To keep the spirit of global engagement alive, in 1885 they transferred "all remaining funds from NaTIVE American missions to the Neuendettalsau Mission Society for its work in Papua New Guinea." (6) This commitment to Papua New Guinea (PNG) continued as Wartburg trained graduates to be sent out as missionaries through the Iowa Synod committee on foreign missions, founded in 1917. (7) This connection to Christians in PNG continues today through the invitation of potential leaders to attend Wartburg for graduate training, as well as by Wartburg professors visiting PNG and offering graduate level courses there.

Wartburg Seminary has also been privileged to participate in the global ecumenical spirit that emerged out of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) through the formation of the Schools of Theology in Dubuque, which brought together three independent theological institutions into academic collaboration: Aquinas Institute (Roman Catholic), University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (Presbyterian/Methodist), and Wartburg Seminary (Lutheran). This joint venture provided a unique opportunity for enrichment of the Christian heritage, curricular change, and ecumenical learning. One of the outcomes of this venture is the January term cross-cultural local and global immersion program, which is key for many students for engaging in a broader horizon of cultures and contexts. (8) The original arrangement for the Schools of Theology of Dubuque came to an end when the Aquinas Institute of Theology moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1981, but the ecumenical spirit it generated is still felt locally with the continued academ ic cooperation between Wartburg and the University of Dubuque Theological School.

To enhance the global perspective, Wartburg through the International Exchange Program regularly invites scholars outside of traditional Northern American and Western European settings to teach at the seminary. Similarly, Wartburg faculty members go to Martin Luther Seminary in PapuaNew Guineaand the Paulinum Seminary in Namibia because of the special academic relationship with those two seminaries. In addition, Wartburg continues to explore relationships with seminaries in other countries in the South, where faculty members might spend some of their sabbatical time and students do part of their theological studies. Such arrangements currently exist with theological institutions in Tanzania, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Singapore, and India, besides the Free Faculty of Theology of the Church of Norway in Oslo and the Augustana Hochschule in Neuendettelsau, Germany.

Contextualization and globalization worldviews

If contextualization was a catchword in theological circles of the 1970s, globalization became a new emphasis in the 1980s. (9) In a way, globalization is a new dimension to the vision of contextualization and indigenization of earlier times. Therefore, globalization is not to be seen as contrary to contextualization but as a binding force of different contexts with their own integrity. The contextualization and globalization matrix strives to include all people and situations of the world, especially those whom the political and economic globalization efforts tend to ignore as insignificant entities in global affairs.

Globalization addresses the new reality of the interconnectedness of humanity, what Richard Osmer calls a "global reflexivity: a heightened awareness of cultural others and the construction of diverse images of the global whole." (10) Market and economic forces may be the stronger forces of such interconnectedness, but they have been not only welcomed but also despised by communities around the world. The challenge to Christian communities is to continue to uphold their commitment to contextualization while being open to the positive aspects of globalization.

The reality of globalization is not alien to world religions. By nature, faith traditions are global--in fact they are meant to be universals; in some way all subscribe to the dimension of transcendence. Almost all of the founders, or founding visions, of faith traditions include the interconnectedness of life, especially of human species. In their existential reality, some religions may have strong local ingredients like language, symbols, images, rites, and rituals. But one could argue that historically this was not meant to be an end in itself; these local particularities are for the initial nurturing of these religions.

The leadership of Roger Fjeld's presidency

Wartburg's participation in the Globalization of Theological Education program bolstered its historical global connection and local ecumenism. It was during the presidency of Dr. Roger Fjeld (1983-1999) that Wartburg Theological Seminary became involved with the Pilot Immersion Project for the Globalization of Theological Education in North America (PIP/GTE), coordinated by the Plowshares Institute. This five-year program involved twelve seminaries in the U.S. It was envisaged by the Association of Theological Schools in the U.S. and Canada and was implemented by different seminaries and institutions in multiple ways. The PIP/GTE understood its project in the image of Pentecost and expounded it as follows:

For the Christian Church 'globalization' is, in many respects, a late 20th century equivalent of Pentecost. (Acts 2:1-3; 6-12) To be self conscious about globalization is to be amazed and perplexed by the growing interdependence of the world's diversity and disparity. To open oneself to globalization is to be confronted with a new reality and ask, "What does this mean?" (11)

Through the PIP/GTE, the Wartburg faculty and some of its Board members and students had immersion experiences in Hungary, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Peoples Republic of China, Peru, Cuba, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and several other countries. If Christianity is to be a global community, it is important that Christians know each other's ways of being Christians in different contexts. Only through such exposure can we challenge the parochialism of a community and also provide stimulation to the multidimensional ways of witnessing to Jesus Christ in the contemporary society. These experiences impact the total community, leading to institutional change. (12) This has been the experience of Wartburg in matters of curriculum and related pedagogy.

The Refectory at Wartburg, decorated (permanently) with flags of the countries of its students and where faculty are involved, is a constant reminder that Wartburg is part of a global community. Wartburg was and is home at various times for students from Australia, Brazil, Chile, Canada, Columbia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Germany, Guyana, India, Japan, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Norway, Papua New Guinea, and Tanzania.

Two other ongoing programs of a global nature were shaped during the Field presidency: the Center for Global Theologies and the Master of Arts program in Theology, Development, and Evangelism (MATDE). The MATDE was specially created to meet the needs of partner churches in the South, where development is not separated from evangelism, as well as to meet the challenge of social ministries within the U.S. As this program is closely related to the Division for Global Mission (DGM) of the ELCA, Wartburg benefits from the DGM' s expertise and broader engagement in global Christianity.

The MATDE program is the continuation and formalization of the vision of former Wartburg President, Dr. William Weiblen (197 1-1983), of having 10 percent of the Wartburg students attend from churches around the globe in order to create a critical mass to generate a global ethos at the seminary. During Weiblen's presidency, faculty and graduate students had significant involvement in the independence struggle of Namibia, and today the seminary houses an out-of-country archive of much of that portion of Namibia' s history.

This sense of global community was the impetus for forming the Center for Global Theologies at the seminary in 2001. It disseminates the spirit of global Christianity to all aspects of the seminary community life, academic, social, and spiritual, helping the seminary and the church continuously wrestle with contemporary global issues. The sense of global community promoted at Wartburg has been picked up by many Wartburg graduates and applied in their ministry, thus multiplying the vision generated by Wartburg' s motto "Learning Leads to Mission." For example, the Rev. Mary Jo Maass, who spent a year as a student in Tanzania following her internship, recently returned to Tanzania with eleven members of her congregation in Mediapolis, Iowa, for a two-week work project at the Bible College in the Pare diocese where they ministered together with Tanzanians in building a chemistry lab. The Rev. Darren Easler, M.Div. graduate, together with Nikki Rohe, youth director who completed Wartburg's Youth Certification Sch ool, organized mission trips for their youth group from Zumbrata, Minnesota, to Navajo people in Arizona and to an impoverished community in Alabama. In each place they did service work projects and taught at day camp Bible schools, helping the youth learn how to listen to and learn from the stories they heard in these multicultural settings. The Rev. Kathy Gerking, assistant to the bishop of the Southeast Iowa Synod, helps congregations in that synod live out their global mission connections.

The challenge continues in every community

I am aware that I am writing this within the context of an institution in the community of Dubuque, Iowa, a community that made national news for its expression of racial hate by a few Dubuquers involved in cross burning events in the early 1990s. No place, no matter how small or large, is immune from racism. However, even then, Wartburg and other educational institutions in Dubuque cherished (and promoted) plurality of community. This incident has made them determined more than ever to be more intentional about racial and ethnic inclusivity.

When a group of private citizens in the tri-state area formed the Dubuque Council for Diversity in 1992 to address issues of diversity in the community, Prof. Winston Persaud (a native of Guyana) of Wartburg was invited to be a member of that Council. Although he was not on the Council as Wartburg Seminary's representative, his contribution to the Council's work highlighted Wartburg's commitment to justice, equality, and cultural diversity with the wider public. This was clearly spelled out in a supporting letter signed by a number of faculty and students of Wartburg and sent to Karman Hall Miller, Executive Director of the Council for Diversity, on April 5, 1993. The letter said, "The Wartburg Community is itself a diverse group.... Multicultural life and ministry are a very high priority in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America because all people are highly valued by God. In the light of recent attacks on you and your work, we would like to say that you have our support."

The Council focuses on educational curriculum, employment recruitment, housing, public relation events, and cultural sensitivity trainings at various levels of community, and by enshrining its ideals in concrete programs through task committees it has brought many changes to the sociocultural environment of Dubuque and the surrounding areas through the decade-long persistent labor of concerned citizens.

Recently, it was for Postville (a small town north of Dubuque), through the book Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America and the stories in the news and programs on public television, that Iowa once again received national attention. This time it was for the influx of Hasidic Jews, Hispanics, and some twenty other ethnic groups. The struggle of the people of Postville with the radical change from a homogeneous community of a little more than a thousand people to a multi-ethnic community is the new reality of rural and smaller towns in the U.S. According to Stephen G. Bloom, the cultural struggle of adjustment in Postville is not "an isolated cultural battlefield in Iowa." It spills "over [the] rest of America. What happened in Postville signaled how willing Americans were to accept newcomers who believed they had a mandate from the Almighty to show up in your backyard and pronounce that the rules you had lived by were null and void." (13)

There is no turning back from such valid challenges and daring commitments. Plurality, everywhere, is a steadily escalating reality. The student's time in seminary becomes a crucial time for in-depth reflection and a time to explore the global dimension of their faith and the global nature of their communities.

(1.) Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 90.

(2.) Richard Osmer, "The Teaching Ministry in Multicultural World," in God and Globalization, Vol. 2, ed. Max L. Stackhouse with Don S. Browning (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press, 2001), 54.

(3.) Sarah M. Pickert, Preparing for a Global Community: Achieving an International Perspective in Higher Education (Washington, DC: George Washington University, 1992).

(4.) See Osmer, "The Teaching Ministry."

(5.) Craig L. Nessan, "Missionary Theology and Wartburg Theological Seminary," manuscript of public lecture given in May 2002 at Wartburg Seminary, 5.

(6.) Nessan, "Missionary Theology," 8.

(7.) Nessan, "Missionary Theology," 10.

(8.) Nessan, "Missionary Theology," 14.

(9.) David Roozen, et al., Changing the Way Seminaries Teach: Globalization and Theological Education (Hartford, CT: Hartford Seminary, 1996), 11, 22f.

(10.) Osmer, "The Teaching Ministry," 46.

(11.) Roozen, Changing the Way Seminaries Teach, 7.

(12.) Roozen, Changing the Way Seminaries Teach, 2.

(13.) Stephen G. Bloom. Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America (New York: Harcourt, 2000), 290.

H. S. Wilson describes the great changes in world religions and Christian mission after the end of colonialism. Christians should not find it difficult to comprehend the global dimensions of human community. Through baptism Christians become part of a global community, and are connected at the same time to those who have gone before and those who are yet to come. Wartburg Seminary has long participated in the church's s mission in Papua New Guinea and has been a strong ecumenical partner in the Schools of Theology in Dubuque. Wartburg regularly invites international scholars to teach at the seminary and also sends faculty to teach in New Guinea and Namibia. During Fjeld's presidency Wartburg started a Center for Global Theologies and launched an M.A. in Theology, Development, and Evangelism.