Joining the Theologians for Thrift & Tolerance

In pre-ecumenical days, neighboring seminaries of different faiths used to eye each other warily, like hostile fortresses. But the barriers of confessionalism are falling fast -- and nowhere faster than in California's Bay Area.

There, seven divinity schools ranging from Roman Catholic to Unitarian have joined to create a unique Graduate Theological Union offering doctorates of theology and philosophy.

The G.T.U. started in a modest way: with two deans and one student, who flunked out. Now in the third year of operation, it has 24 doctoral candidates and a faculty of 54, drawn from the participating schools. Its students must meet the academic requirements of the nearby University of California and can enroll in university courses.

Geography & Excellence. Geography helped make the Union possible. Five of the seven seminaries are within a few minutes' walk of one another on what Berkeleyites call "Holy Hill"; the others are within easy driving distance. But what made the Union necessary was the high cost of academic improvements. Although the individual seminaries have plenty of topflight teachers -- Old Testament Scholar James Muilenberg at the Presbyterian San Francisco Theological Seminary, Systematic Theologian Keith Bridston at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary -- none of the schools ranked among the nation's best. Only two had doctoral programs, and their libraries ranged from average to inadequate. Back in 1959, the seminary presidents began meeting to discuss the possibility of exchanging teachers and pooling library resources, eventually worked out the common doctorate program. "No one can do things independently any more," says G.T.U. Dean John Dillenberger, 46. "It has become too expensive to create academic excellence."

The Union has led to a fiery exchange of ideas as well as of books and teachers. Last year Dean Dillenberger, a United Church of Christ minister, was the principal graduation speaker at St. Albert's College of the Roman Catholic Dominican Fathers. He currently teaches one class with Episcopalian Theologian Edward Hobbs; next quarter he will teach one with Father Kevin Wall of St. Albert's.

Theological University. The success of the Union so far gives promise that it will grow. G.T.U. officials are currently discussing the possibility of bringing in Southern Baptist, Jesuit, Mormon, Missouri Synod Lutheran and Jewish institutions. They are also thinking of an interfaith program in advanced pastoral studies. Eventually, they expect there will be some common courses on the undergraduate level, and that the participating seminaries will, in effect, become member colleges of the nation's first theological university.

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