| Seminary of the Southwest | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1951 |
| Location | Austin, Texas, United States |
| Website | http://ssw.edu/ |
Seminary of the Southwest (also referred to as SSW and The Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest) is one of 11 accredited seminaries of the Episcopal Church in the United States. Founded in 1951 by Bishop John E. Hines as a “seminary for the whole church,” Seminary of the Southwest forms Christian leaders pursuing ordination within the church, as well as those interested in lay forms of ministry, including chaplaincy and counseling. The five-acre campus is located in the urban setting of Austin, TX.
The seminary changed its name from The Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest partly because of its length and also in an effort to re-brand and better market itself in the face of dwindling enrollment. In the summer of 2008 the new name, Seminary of the Southwest, was launched as part of a new brand identity campaign along with a new website.[1]
Seminary of the Southwest is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award master’s degrees and post-baccalaureate diplomas. The seminary is also accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. The seminary belongs to the Council of Southwestern Theological Schools and the American Theological Library Association.
The Center for Christian Ministry and Vocation (CCMV) at Seminary of the Southwest is founded on the principal that God calls all Christians to the service of the Gospel. The mission of the Center is to support Christians in discerning what it means to respond faithfully to God’s call in their particular lives and circumstances. Through its programs and degrees, the Center provides educational opportunities for men and women from any denomination (or from a non-denominational community) to strengthen their knowledge of theology, scripture, and ethics, as well as pursue more specific training in chaplaincy, counseling, spiritual formation, youth ministry and Christian education.
The architecture of Christ Chapel is quite different from the traditional seminary chapel. Two things are especially striking: the shape—inspired by Bedouin tents—reminds us that we are all just travelers here passing through; and the Cross—located outside the chapel—reminds us that the work of the Church is in the world. The chapel—including the floor-to-ceiling hand-blown stained glass windows—was designed by celebrated architect Arthur Fehr. It was, by his own admission, Fehr’s favorite work.
On site, holdings of the Booher Library include more than 150,000 items, with several thousand in Spanish. The collection provides nearly 500 print periodical titles as well. Ample resources relate to the major theological disciplines, including an abundance of materials concerned with the tradition and history of the Episcopal Church. The Booher Library collaborates closely with the Stitt Library at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, just a few blocks away. A slightly longer walk takes seminarians to the fifth largest library consortium in the United States, the General Libraries of the University of Texas at Austin, including their unequaled Benson Latin American Collection. All these libraries extend borrowing privileges to our students free of charge. The internet and the OCLC international network of libraries provide materials unavailable locally; and the library offers a growing number of electronic resources including ATLAS Full Text Plus, TexShare, and EBSCO.
Located on the top floor of the Booher library, the Archives of the Episcopal Church (USA) is the national research repository for the Episcopal Church and houses the records of the General Convention, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, the Presiding Bishops, Commissions and Committees, Episcopal Church organizations and personal papers. The Archives serves the broader mission of the church by using its resources to support individual ministry, education, community identity and the corporate life of the institutional church. The Archives serves as an information resource for inquirers throughout the church and seminarians are welcome to visit the Archives with questions.
The office of the West Region of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas is located on the campus of the Seminary of the Southwest.
Seminary of the Southwest is committed to educating students about the global context of Anglicanism. In that connection, students are encouraged to undertake placements abroad. SSW has developed a relationship with the Diocese of Peshawar in Pakistan. Students have also undertaken study in Kenya, Belize, Panama, and the Dominican Republic.
Seminary of the Southwest provides scholarship grants to students with demonstrated financial need. Endowments and gifts from supporters provide the resources for this support. As a matter of institutional policy, the seminary seeks to practice good stewardship in the administration of scholarship programs. In so doing, the seminary strongly discourages students from incurring debt in order to attend (indeed, for that reason the seminary does not participate in federal student loan programs), and the seminary awards as much as possible, preferring to err on the side of generosity.