Another Telling of the Claremont Story

One of the most important -- and enjoyable -- duties as Claremont's president is to be the "Storyteller-in-Chief." As you may know, the story has had its ups and downs in recent years, but it has never been without a palpable hope and expectation for the future of this great school.

This week, I received a little help telling Claremont's story from William MacKaye.  Bill, who is a former Religion Editor for the Washington Post, spent a couple days on campus with us this summer to write an in-depth feature for In Trust Magazine, which is a national publication for leaders in theological education.  Bill is also Editor Emeritus of this magazine, which he worked on for a decade ... so he knows a thing or two about theological schools and graduate education.

When Bill first arrived in Claremont to research his story, he said the University Project sounds like a "cockamammy" idea -- his words, not mine!  But he left two days later convinced, I believe, of the prospects and promise of our new mission and vision.  In the article, he writes:

Claremont School of Theology was founded as a school to prepare Methodists for ministry. Later, it was known as the intellectual home for "process theology." It was on the vanguard of launching pastoral counseling as a recognized therapeutic specialty. Today, Claremont is aiming for the cutting edge again, developing a new mission as a multireligious graduate university whose alumni of many faiths will devote themselves to repairing a fractured world.

The magazine's blog also posted some recent photos of Claremont's campus.  But if you have a few minutes, I hope you will read the story in its entirety.  It is a wonderful snapshot of the challenges we have overcome and the audacity of the mission ahead of us.