2025 Report to Church of the Brethren Annual Conference

Bethany Seminary

February 1, 2025

As Bethany Theological Seminary enters its 31st year in Richmond, Indiana, we are delighted to report that our educational mission is thriving! We continue to see strong enrollment as students from the Church of the Brethren (as well as other Christian traditions) come to Bethany as they respond to a call from God to ministry and service. Thanks to strong financial support from alumni and friends, our robust academic program is affordable and accessible to all qualified students.

We have responded to the changing needs and interests of students by investing in technology that extends our learning community around the world. We regularly update courses or add new ones to help students grow spiritually and intellectually and prepare to minister and serve in a wide array of contexts. Yet the education we provide remains grounded in the enduring values and distinctive witness of the Church of the Brethren. 

A review of the past decades reveals a clear trajectory as the Seminary has moved through worry about the institution’s survival, completed diligent work to ensure our long term financial sustainability, and arrived at a moment where we can imagine flourishing for generations to come. The key to our success is that Bethany is a truly student-centered institution. When we put our energy and resources into providing students with a truly transformative seminary education, there is no doubt that Bethany, and our distinctive Brethren witness, will continue to shine.

 Leadership

Board of Trustees

The Bethany Board of Trustees is led by Chairman Mark Clapper (Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania). Jacqueline Hartley (Elgin, Illinois) is vice chair and Jonathan Frye (McPherson, Kansas) is board secretary. New members of the board are Katy Gray Brown (North Manchester, Indiana), David McFadden (Milford, Indiana), and Dennis Webb (Evanston, Illinois).

Campus Leadership

Rev. Dr. Jeff Carter is in his 12th year as president of Bethany. He is assisted by an experienced leadership team that helps guide long-term planning and day-to-day decision making at the Seminary. This year Jeff has represented Bethany at meetings of the World Council of Churches, the Association of Theological Schools, and on visits to Nigeria. Locally, he remains engaged in the local community, working to build relationships with key partners. Jeff continues to speak in congregations and at district and denominational events, and is working to strengthen the seminary’s connection to the Brethren colleges.

Major Initiatives

The Seminary is working with the six Brethren colleges to establish a pathway for high achieving students at the colleges to earn a graduate certificate or begin work on a master’s degree through Bethany while they are still undergraduates. Bethany hopes to have memoranda of understanding with all of the institutions signed within a year. The program will not only strengthen ties between the colleges and the Seminary, but also to provide undergraduates a seamless, affordable, and accessible way to pursue theological education and prepare to answer a call to various forms of ministry and service.

Bethany held its first Commencement ceremony in Jos. Nigeria on May 21, 2024. That joyous occasion honored 22 graduates who had completed postgraduate diplomas and certificates between 2021-24. The event marked an important milestone in a multiyear effort to build and nurture relationships in Nigeria. For context, Bethany signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ekkleisiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN) to offer an online educational program in 2016. The technology center where classes are now held was constructed in 2017. Bethany now has two full-time staff members in Jos — Sharon Flaten and Joshua Sati — who have built relationships with students, friends, and neighbors. President Jeff Carter and other Seminary leaders have traveled to Nigeria several times to meet with leaders of government offices, religious organizations, and academic institutions. We have also hosted visitors from Nigeria in Richmond. Especially notable is our connection to Rev. Dr. Daniel Mbaya, the president of EYN. He was keynote speaker at our first Nigeria commencement, and he visited our campus last summer.

Funded in part by a grant from the City of Richmond, Bethany has launched a new opportunity for leadership training and service that is open to students from all of the higher education institutions in Richmond. The Seminary has forged a new partnership with Indiana University East, which includes the opportunity for Bethany students to enroll in select courses offered at the University. These collaborations are part of Bethany’s effort to deepen its connections to the local community.

At the 2024 Annual Conference, Bethany celebrated the public launch of Flourish: A Campaign for Bethany Theological Seminary. This fundraising effort seeks $12 million to enhance the student experience, encourage faculty creativity and innovation, and to bolster the Seminary’s annual fund. As of January 1, 2025, the Seminary had received 1209 gifts to the campaign and raised $10.8 million. This total includes several leadership gifts, including $1 million from Priscilla Wampler, and her late husband, Paul, to support the Bethany BOLD program; $1.4 million from Kathy and Mark Melhorn in support of various needs; and an additional gift to ensure that the Seminary will continue to have a strong focus on Brethren studies. Bethany intends to complete the campaign in 2026.

Academic Community

The Seminary continues to offer four master’s degrees, as well as nine programs leading to graduate certificates or postgraduate diplomas. All courses are accessible to students from anywhere in the world via an internet connection. Bethany offers students many opportunities to put their faith and education into practice through community engagement and service learning activities. Some intensive courses continue to be offered far from campus in such locations as Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Iona, Scotland.

Selected Faculty Activities

Dr. Jeff Carter led a continuing education event for pastors at the Idaho/Western Montana District Conference. He was also a presenter at the Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center’s day-long fall symposium. His presentation was entitled, “The Question of Leadership: Why It Matters!” In addition, Carter was a presenter and closing speaker at the Church of the Brethren LEAD Conference hosted by the Ephrata Church of the Brethren. He also recently published an essay in In Trust magazine discussing Bethany’s commitment to forming community in person and with technology.

Dr. Joelle Hathaway presented at the American Academy of Religion on “A New Icon of The Triumph of Orthodoxy” in a pedagogy section called “Teach This Image.” She also published a visual curation and commentary for The Visual Commentary on Scripture titled,  “Discerning the Body.” One image each from artists Graeme Mortimer Evelyn, Nyoman Darsane, and Susan Dorothea White were put into conversation with 1 Corinthians 11:17-33 to consider what it means “to come together” as a Church in today’s world. These three contemporary works were chosen as small windows into the pressing issues of global poverty, gender discrimination, and ethnic and racial oppression. Read in light of Paul’s concerns for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, these images invite us to consider various challenges to the unity of the body of Christ. Link: https://thevcs.org/discerning-body

At the December 2023 meeting of the Academy of Homiletics, Dr. Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm, Brightbill professor of preaching and worship and editor of the journal Homiletic,  gave a panel presentation on publication trends in the field of homiletics, along with editors of the International Journal of Homiletics, Westminster John Knox Press, and Rowan and Littlefield.

Dr. Denise Kettering-Lane, associate professor of Brethren studies, presented papers at two conferences last fall. In September, she presented “Lessons from the Past for 21st-Century Brethren” at The Forum for Brethren Studies at Bridgewater College. She shared “The Krefeld Connection: Pietists and Immigration to Germantown, Pennsylvania” at the Heirs of Pietism II Conference held at United Theological Seminary in October. 

Dr. Steve Schweitzer, academic dean, published “Introduction and Biblical Context Notes” on 1-2 Chronicles in Anabaptist Community Bible. Harrisonburg, VA: MennoMedia, 2025. Schweitzer presented a paper: “Proximity to an Elusive Utopia in Deuteronomy: How the Book Presents Its Vision as Accessible but Not Realized” at the Utopian Studies Consultation, national annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, in San Antonio, Texas. He also led a Continuing Education Unit event for Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center titled “Choose Life: Deuteronomy’s Message.”

Dr. Dan Ulrich, Wieand professor of New Testament studies, published commentaries about Hebrews 1:1-12 and Hebrews 10:5-10 at workingpreacher.org. Both passages appear this year in the Revised Common Lectionary.

Enrollment

As of the beginning of the 2025 Spring Semester, Bethany’s enrollment was as follows:

Certificates and postgraduate diplomas: 47

MA: 12

MATW: 21

MASST: 10

MDiv: 23

Total: 113*

*Note: some students are enrolled in more than one program at a time.

Fiscal Stewardship

FY23		FY24
Assets	$60,960,422	Assets	$66,060,717
Endowment	$47,080,825	Endowment	$51,587,976
Surplus/Deficit	$3,308	Surplus/Deficit	$11,126
Operating Budget	$3,298,544	Operating Budget	$3,581,316

Fundraising

	FY23	FY24
Bethany Fund	$722,315.33	$752,214.45
Total Giving	$1,388,106.73	$1,896,186.21
Number of Gifts	1,754	1,592

We are very thankful to all of those in the Church of the Brethren who support the mission of the Seminary.

Blessings,

Rev. Dr. Jeff Carter, President

Mr. Mark Clapper, Board Chair