Memphis Theological Seminary
Michael K. Turner, Director
Memphis Theological Seminary (MTS) is pleased to report that theological education for United Methodist students continues to remain vibrant and forward-looking.
The seminary continues to offer a robust selection of classes in Wesleyan Studies. Dr. Michael Turner (associate professor of the History of Christianity and Wesleyan Studies) continues to teach all the required UMC courses for ordination in Methodist History, Doctrine, and Polity each academic year. Dr. Turner, along with his colleagues Dr. Lee Ramsey (Marlon and Sheila Foster Professor of Pastoral Theology and Homiletics), Dr. Carmichael Crutchfield (associate professor of Christian Education, Spiritual Formation, and Youth Ministry as well as general secretary of the department of Christian Education for the CME Church), and Rev. Billy Vaughan (director for the Formation for Ministry Program) also offer a number of electives each year in the field of Wesleyan Studies. Recent offerings include Pastoral Care in the Wesleyan Tradition, John Wesley’s Practical Theology, The Prophetic Rhetoric of Henry McNeal Turner, and Covenant Discipleship Groups. Students that take a minimum of five courses in Wesleyan studies electives have the opportunity to earn the Certificate in Wesleyan Studies.
The Methodist House of Studies (MOHS) at MTS continues to provide opportunities for Wesleyan formation for both students at the seminary and pastors within the surrounding annual conferences that we serve. Dr. Turner (Western North Carolina Annual Conference), Dr. Ramsey (Memphis Annual Conference), and Dr. Crutchfield (CME Church) serve as the directors and associate directors of MOHS. The Methodist House provides support for all of our UMC students at MTS by regular gatherings for fellowship and mutual learning. Recent gatherings have focused on topics that include hospital chaplaincy, clergy taxes, and the ordination process in the UMC. The faculty members associated with the MHOS also provide academic and vocational advising to all UMC, CME, and AME students at the seminary.
Additionally, the MHOS has sponsored training for clergy covenant group leaders in the Tennessee and Memphis conferences during the past year, co-sponsored Molding Christian Conversation in a Polarized Society: Beginning the Conversation about Same Sex Marriage and the UMC with the Turner Center for Church Leadership, and co-sponsored retreats on At Table: United Methodists Seeking a Way Forward with the Turner Center for Church Leadership and the Tennessee and Memphis conferences. Dr. Turner has also led various workshops on Methodist heritage at congregations in the greater Memphis area.
Currently, faculty members at the MHOS are developing a continuing education Certificate in Wesleyan Studies in partnership with the Mississippi Conference, a council designed to facilitate dialogue between the various Pan-Methodist traditions, and we are assisting planning a Methodist-focused day at the Civil Rights Museum. In May of 2019, Dr. Turner will be leading a Wesleyan pilgrimage to England. The trip will be open to students, alumni, and interested Methodists from the annual conferences we serve.
In addition to the work of the MHOS, Memphis Theological Seminary also has received a $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to establish a Center for Pastoral Formation, Imagination, and Leadership. This center will better equip pastoral leaders in the field as well as students preparing for ministry to lead the church in the 21st century. By way of this center we are determined to offer both students at the seminary and pastoral leaders in the field the resources they need to thrive in ministry. As with our Formation for Ministry program at the seminary we are committed to fostering an imagination and accountability for the challenges pastoral leaders are facing.
Also, in September the seminary broke ground on the freestanding Hamilton Chapel. The 300-seat facility will likely be complete by Easter 2019. The chapel was made possible in part by a $3 million gift from Barbara Hamilton and her husband the late Dr. Ralph Hamilton. Dr. and Mrs. Hamilton were prominent members of Germantown United Methodist Church. This year, Jeanne Varnell completed the $500,000 pledge to support the Methodist House of Study that she and her late husband, Henry, pledged to the Ministry for the Real World Campaign.
We are grateful for the support of the Tennessee Conference and for the many fine students who have attended MTS from Memphis over the years. We appreciate the confidence that the conference places in MTS for preparation of United Methodist women and men for Christian ministry, and we welcome your ongoing involvement and prayers for Wesleyan studies at MTS. For ongoing information about the MHOS, we invite you to visit us at