I was saddened last week to learn that the United Methodist Church removed Asbury Theological Seminary from its list of approved seminaries. For more than 100 years, Asbury has faithfully and effectively educated thousands of ministers of music, missionaries, ordained deacons, and elders for the United Methodist Church.
Of course, there has long been disagreement among many clergy and laity regarding key theological issues, and those disagreements have not always been easy. But, as should be true among Christians, there has generally been cordial discourse between Asbury and supporters of other seminaries. Despite theological differences, these institutions coexisted and accomplished tremendous Kingdom work. Certainly, there were those who never missed an opportunity to criticize seminaries with which they disagreed, but the diversity of thought often produced healthy conversations.
Meanwhile, Asbury grew to become one of the largest seminaries in the world and educated more United Methodist pastors than any other Wesleyan educational institution. Even as the United Methodist Church experienced division and splintering, the seminary campuses remained committed to providing sound theological and academic training.
Sadly, over the years, criticism of Asbury from some other seminaries and their graduates has, in many cases, turned into open hostility. That is both sad and deeply concerning.
In the early 1990s, I was wrestling with God’s call to vocational ministry. At the time, I was blessed to be working in the profession I had always dreamed of. I had just married the love of my life, and we had purchased a home where we thought we would raise our family and spend the rest of our lives.
But when God’s call is genuine, it does not become quieter with time—it becomes louder.
Natalie and I prayerfully, and with great faith, said “yes.” We have never regretted that decision.
The United Methodist ordination process can be intimidating, and I remember being extremely nervous during my first meeting with the District Committee on Ministry. As I was leaving that introductory meeting, one of the pastors on the committee followed me to my car. We made small talk, and before leaving he said, “So, I hear you’re going to Duke. That’s good. All the boys go to Duke.”
Yes, he really said that.
At the time, I had planned to attend Duke. However, my brother-in-law, Charles—one of the most faithful Christians I have ever known—encouraged me to visit Asbury Theological Seminary before making my final decision. I knew very little about Kentucky beyond basketball and Abraham Lincoln, but I respected Charles, so I scheduled a campus visit.
The moment I stepped onto Asbury’s campus, I knew God had led me there. It remains one of the clearest answers to prayer I have ever experienced.
So I had to break the news to the pastor who had spoken with me earlier. Here was a seasoned minister with an opportunity to encourage a young man preparing for a major life transition. Instead, when I told him I had decided to attend Asbury rather than Duke, I will never forget the look on his face.
“Oh no,” he said. “You don’t want to go to that narrow institution. Besides, if you go to Asbury, you’ll never get a good appointment.”
Well, he was wrong.
There was nothing narrow about Asbury. It was well known for its academic excellence, commitment to Wesleyan theology, and unwavering dedication to the authority of Scripture. Throughout my ministry, I received not just good appointments, but five outstanding appointments—including the one I have today.
I learned this week that the United Methodist Church will no longer accept academic work from Asbury Theological Seminary or recognize its graduates for ordination. That is a tremendous loss. In my opinion, the University Senate has made a very narrow decision. I wonder whether it considered the thousands of lives that have come to Christ—and to the Wesleyan way of faith—because of this more than 100-year-old institution. Under the leadership of only a handful of presidents, Asbury has produced some of the finest Christian leaders in Methodism.
As I mentioned earlier, Asbury has educated more United Methodist pastors than any other Wesleyan seminary and has produced some of the denomination’s most faithful, effective, and biblically grounded pastors and leaders.
As of this writing, many Asbury graduates continue to faithfully lead United Methodist congregations through one of the most challenging seasons in the denomination’s history. What message does this decision send to those pastors who have faithfully served the church for decades? What does it communicate to them that the denomination no longer recognizes the institution that helped prepare them for ministry?
Does this decision suggest that the United Methodist Church no longer values pastors educated in historic Wesleyan theology, sound pastoral leadership, and orthodox Christianity? Is there no longer room for civility, even in academia, where thoughtful, honest disagreement should be encouraged rather than silenced?
For more than fifty years, Asbury graduates have sacrificed, prayed, served faithfully, planted churches, revitalized congregations, and encouraged the churches they served to faithfully support the ministry of the United Methodist Church through millions of dollars in apportionments.
The University Senate has made a statement that should cause every current member and clergy person of the United Methodist Church to pause and reflect.
Healthy Christianity has long regarded the Wesleyan Quadrilateral as a faithful guide for living out our faith with integrity. At Asbury, students are taught to think theologically through the lenses of Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience. Those four elements have served Methodism well for generations.
Had the University Senate applied that same wisdom, perhaps it would have slowed the path it now appears to be taking—a path that risks becoming another example in church history of what can happen when the church turns away from its first love, embraces moral compromise, treats brothers and sisters in Christ as enemies, and calls lukewarm theology “grace.”
Lord, forgive us.
In Christ,
James