Dr. Curt Longacre
::
10/09/12
Autumn is one of my favorite
times of year. I love the fall colors,
the crispness of the air in the morning and the sun in the afternoon, baseball’s
World Series, the start of football season, the smell of apple cider at harvest
time, and the approaching holidays. It
is the end of the summer and the beginning of a new academic year, which is a
good time to pause and reflect on where we have been and where we are going.
Fuller Theological
Seminary’s mission is to “equip men and women for the manifold ministries of
Christ and his Church.” At Fuller Seminary
Northern California (FSNC) we do that by educating, equipping, and encouraging
transformation in missional leaders for the work of the kingdom, and sending as
many workers into the harvest fields as possible.
Our intent is to educate for
the future, not the past. To that end, the
curricula that we offer reflects a missional understanding of the church, is
characterized by theological reflection, challenges and engages students in
personal and spiritual formation, and develops a greater sense of awareness and
appreciation of the cultures around us.
What are some of the ways we accomplish that at FSNC?
Two years ago, in cooperation
with the Centro Latino (Latin Center) in Pasadena, we launched two new degree
programs in Fremont, CA: the Maestría en Artes en Ministerio y Teología (Master
of Arts in Theology and Ministry), and the Maestría en Artes en Liderazgo
Cristiano (Master of Arts in Christian Leadership). These degree programs enable students to
complete their entire degree in Spanish.
This fall we relocated the Centro Latino classroom from Fremont to our
Menlo Park campus to provide a broader range of student services and increase
the diversity of our overall student body.
This fall we also introduced
three new emphases at FSNC: Children at Risk (Sacramento), Youth Family &
Culture (Menlo Park), and Theology and the Arts (Menlo Park). Additionally we added several new courses to
our curricula including Children in a Global Perspective, and Worship, Theology
and the Arts.
At FSNC we equip missional leaders for the work of the
kingdom by teaching our students to think critically about the many social,
ethical, and political issues facing us today, and providing the skills
necessary to engage others (and be engaged by them) whose beliefs are different
from our own. For it is in making disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to
obey all the commands that Jesus gave us, that we truly learn what it means to
be a Christ-follower and light to the world around us.