News
UCC Learning Network at MTSO unveiled
Methodist Theological School in Ohio has formed the UCC Learning Network at MTSO, a house of studies serving students, clergy and lay leaders who are members of the United Church of Christ.
The UCC Learning Network will support MTSO’s UCC students throughout their theological education and help them become familiar with the denomination’s ordination processes. It also will serve UCC clergy and lay leaders with opportunities for lifelong education through MTSO’s Theological Commons.
As part of the UCC Learning Network, MTSO is augmenting its academic offerings in UCC history and polity by creating inquiry groups of UCC students. They will meet together under the guidance of UCC Central Southeast Ohio Association Minister Janine Wilson and MTSO Professor of Worship and Music Robin Knowles Wallace, an authorized minister in the UCC. Inquiry groups will have additional opportunities to meet with UCC clergy and denominational leaders.
More information about the UCC Learning Network is at www.mtso.edu/ucc.
“MTSO has long had students from the United Church of Christ preparing for ministry, chaplaincy, and counseling,” Wallace said. “This learning network will be based in a community of inquiry and practice as UCC students in all MTSO degree programs network with each other, with persons throughout the denomination, and with the ethos of the UCC.”
“We’ve had a strong affiliation with the UCC on our board of trustees, in our teaching and in our student body, and we welcome this intentional partnership for the education and formation of UCC ministers,” said MTSO Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs Lisa Withrow. “Our history and polity courses will be enhanced through inquiry groups with UCC students so that they begin to live and breathe their denominational ethos.”
“The Ohio Conference UCC is thrilled to partner with MTSO to provide students with the resources they will need not only to be successful in their degree program, but for a lifetime of learning in their ministry,” said Rev. Nicole Havelka, Ohio Conference minister for resourcing, networking and creativity. “This partnership will provide ministers with a supportive network of UCC ministry colleagues as well as a solid connection to the vast array of denominational resources on which they can draw for their entire careers.”
Methodist Theological School in Ohio prepares leaders of many faith traditions for lives of lasting significance in service to the church and the world. In addition to the Master of Divinity degree, the school offers master’s degrees in counseling ministries, theological studies and practical theology, along with a Doctor of Ministry degree.
CONTACT:
Danny Russell, director of communications
drussell@mtso.edu, 740-362-3322