I remember reading with great interest about the idea of the Disseminary when AKMA and Trevor started posting about it a couple of years ago. As the idea evolved, I started to think more and more about new ways of theological education in my local context and in many ways, it influenced the formation of Resonate as well as some articles I have written over the years. Those thoughts also came up in conversations with the Church of the Exiles as a way of thinking about theological education. This spring I had some conversations with a couple of other churches about starting an alternative seminary to make quality theological and Biblical teaching available to those who want to explore that in Saskatoon for free. As summer came, those conversations got lost in the excitement of a hot Roughriders start, a couple heatwaves, and escapes to the nearest lake but as the weather has cooled and summer comes to an end around here, we are looking at seeing it happen. Of course we are not the only ones to have done this. The Alternative Seminary in Philadelphia, the Invisible College in Kingston, Underground Seminary in Ohio and even City Seminary of New York have all explored how to bring contextualized theology to their cities.
It will look quite different in Saskatoon and my partners in crime and thinking of a January 2008 launch. If you are interested in learning more and would like to offer some feedback, drop me a line at coop AT exileschurch.org and I’ll keep you informed.
