Seminary of the Southwest

Seminary of the Southwest
Established	1951
Location	Austin, Texas, United States
Website	http://ssw.edu/

Seminary of the Southwest (also referred to as SSW and The Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest) is one of 11 accredited seminaries of the Episcopal Church in the United States. Founded in 1951 by Bishop John E. Hines as a “seminary for the whole church,” Seminary of the Southwest forms Christian leaders pursuing ordination within the church, as well as those interested in lay forms of ministry, including chaplaincy and counseling. The five-acre campus is located in the urban setting of Austin, TX.

History

The seminary changed its name from The Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest partly because of its length and also in an effort to re-brand and better market itself in the face of dwindling enrollment. In the summer of 2008 the new name, Seminary of the Southwest, was launched as part of a new brand identity campaign along with a new website.

Degrees Offered

Bailey Center at Rather House-West End

Bailey Center at Rather House-East End

SSW Courtyard

Marta S. Weeks Campus Center

McDonald Building

Booher Library

Episcopal Diosece of Texas

• Master of Divinity
• Master of Divinity with Hispanic Church Studies Concentration
• Master of Arts in Religion
• Master of Arts in Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care
• Master of Arts in Counseling
• Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation

Diplomas Offered

• Diploma in Anglican Studies
• Diploma in Theological Studies
• Diploma in Spiritual Formation

Continuing Education Offered

• Contact Hours for Continuing Education Units (CEU)
• Online School for Spirituality and Mission (non-credit)
• Continuing education courses/workshops

Accrediting Agencies

Seminary of the Southwest is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award master’s degrees and post-baccalaureate diplomas. The seminary is also accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. The seminary belongs to the Council of Southwestern Theological Schools and the American Theological Library Association.

Core Values

• A hospitable community life that embraces diversity and ensures that all voices are heard.

• A collaborative learning environment that values each student’s expertise, promotes mutual inquiry, and builds on structured common experiences.

• Spiritual formation in the Anglican tradition that nourishes a rule of life rooted in worship, prayer, study, creativity, and service.

• Preparation for ministry through rigorous study in the seven canonical disciplines and the practice of justice.

• Multi-cultural and global awareness and competence acquired primarily through the Hispanic experience in the Southwest, as well as engagement with World Christianity.

• Mission orientation and passion for living and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed with those outside the church.

• Development of effective servant leaders who practice integrity and who are advocates for ministries that transform lives.

Center for Christian Ministry and Vocation

The Center for Christian Ministry and Vocation (CCMV) at Seminary of the Southwest is founded on the principal that God calls all Christians to the service of the Gospel. The mission of the Center is to support Christians in discerning what it means to respond faithfully to God’s call in their particular lives and circumstances. Through its programs and degrees, the Center provides educational opportunities for men and women from any denomination (or from a non-denominational community) to strengthen their knowledge of theology, scripture, and ethics, as well as pursue more specific training in chaplaincy, counseling, spiritual formation, youth ministry and Christian education.

Christ Chapel

The architecture of Christ Chapel is quite different from the traditional seminary chapel. Two things are especially striking: the shape—inspired by Bedouin tents—reminds us that we are all just travelers here passing through; and the Cross—located outside the chapel—reminds us that the work of the Church is in the world. The chapel—including the floor-to-ceiling hand-blown stained glass windows—was designed by celebrated architect Arthur Fehr. It was, by his own admission, Fehr’s favorite work.

Booher Library

On site, holdings of the Booher Library include more than 150,000 items, with several thousand in Spanish. The collection provides nearly 500 print periodical titles as well. Ample resources relate to the major theological disciplines, including an abundance of materials concerned with the tradition and history of the Episcopal Church. The Booher Library collaborates closely with the Stitt Library at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, just a few blocks away. A slightly longer walk takes seminarians to the fifth largest library consortium in the United States, the General Libraries of the University of Texas at Austin, including their unequaled Benson Latin American Collection. All these libraries extend borrowing privileges to our students free of charge. The internet and the OCLC international network of libraries provide materials unavailable locally; and the library offers a growing number of electronic resources including ATLAS Full Text Plus, TexShare, and EBSCO.

Archives of the Episcopal Church

Located on the top floor of the Booher library, the Archives of the Episcopal Church (USA) is the national research repository for the Episcopal Church and houses the records of the General Convention, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, the Presiding Bishops, Commissions and Committees, Episcopal Church organizations and personal papers. The Archives serves the broader mission of the church by using its resources to support individual ministry, education, community identity and the corporate life of the institutional church. The Archives serves as an information resource for inquirers throughout the church and seminarians are welcome to visit the Archives with questions.

Diocese of Texas Regional Office

The office of the West Region of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas is located on the campus of the Seminary of the Southwest.

Cross-Cultural Programs

Seminary of the Southwest is committed to educating students about the global context of Anglicanism. In that connection, students are encouraged to undertake placements abroad. SSW has developed a relationship with the Diocese of Peshawar in Pakistan. Students have also undertaken study in Kenya, Belize, Panama, and the Dominican Republic.

Financial Aid

Seminary of the Southwest provides scholarship grants to students with demonstrated financial need. Endowments and gifts from supporters provide the resources for this support. As a matter of institutional policy, the seminary seeks to practice good stewardship in the administration of scholarship programs. In so doing, the seminary strongly discourages students from incurring debt in order to attend (indeed, for that reason the seminary does not participate in federal student loan programs), and the seminary awards as much as possible, preferring to err on the side of generosity.

Faculty

• The Very Reverend Douglas Travis—Dean and President
• The Reverend Cynthia Briggs Kittredge—Academic Dean & Ernest J. Villavaso, Jr. Professor of New Testament
• Dr. Scott Bader-Saye—Helen and Everett H. Jones Professor of Christian Ethics and Moral Theology
• Dr. Anthony D. Baker—Clinton S. Quin Associate Professor of Systematic Theology
• The Reverend Paul T. Barton—Associate Professor of the History of American Christianity and Missiology & Director of Hispanic Church Studies
• Dr. Steven Bishop—St. Michael’s and All Angels Associate Professor of Old Testament
• The Reverend Alan P. R. Gregory—Frederic and Alma Rather Duncalf Professor of Church History
• The Reverend Micah Jackson—Bishop John Hines Assistant Professor of Preaching
• The Reverend Nathan G. Jennings—J. Milton Richardson Associate Professor in Liturgics and Anglican Studies
• The Reverend Donald E. Keeney—Director of the Booher Library
• The Reverend Kathleen Sams Russell—Associate Professor of Contextual Theology for Ministry
• Dr. Greg Garrett—Writer in Residence
• Dr. Horacio Peña—Instructor & Consultant, Hispanic Ministries

Emeritus Faculty

Bishop John Hines - SSW Founder

• The Rev. William Seth Adams—J. Milton Richardson Professor Emeritus of Liturgics and Anglican Studies
• The Rev. Paul T. Coke—Ernest J. Villavaso, Jr. Professor Emeritus of New Testament
• The Rev. Charles James Cook—Joe and Jessie Crump Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Theology and Cultural Research
• The Rev. Hilmer C. Krause—Associate Professor Emeritus of Homiletics and Hispanic Ministry
• The Very Rev. Durstan R McDonald—Dean and President Emeritus of The Seminary of the Southwest

External links

• SSW Web site
• The Episcopal Archives