Kyle Barger, Information Systems Manager, monitors a live Seminary webcast.

The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) is among more than 40 theological schools to receive a $300,000 grant from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. to participate in a national program for using information technology in effective theological teaching.

With the program, the Endowment will assist North American seminaries to gain access to important technological resources, train faculty and staff in their use, provide for their maintenance and updating, and rethink teaching practices in light of the new possibilities that these technologies offer.

"We have begun the process of using technology in the classroom," said Professor. Richard Stewart, a faculty member who teaches parish administration at the Seminary, and who will serve as the Project Director for this grant program. "The difference the grant makes possible is that we can now encourage the faculty to dream about new methods for presenting their material. Now we can supply equipment for developing new classroom presentations. This grant takes us a giant step forward from our responding only to those faculty who have been willing in the past to explore the cutting edge of technology."

"This grant will make it possible for us to do better what we do all the time, that is, to teach present and future leaders of the Church how to do theology and to proclaim Christ from the Scriptures in their contexts," said the Seminary's President, Dr. Philip D. W. Krey. "Computer technology provides another means for better pedagogy, and I am eager to adapt my courses using the grant."

Craig Dykstra, Endowment vice president for religion, said, "Improving the quality of theological school teaching is a central focus of the Endowment's grantmaking in religion. With this initiative, we expect theological schools to develop their capacities to use computer-based technologies to enhance teaching and learning. Our long-term goal, of course, is to enrich American Christianity with a generation of knowledgeable ministers who can lead vibrant and health congregations in this country."

Proposals were invited from all 230 members of the Association of Theological Schools.

Since the Endowment began this initiative in 1996, it has invested more than $24 million for information technology programs in 80 theological schools in the United States and Canada. The Endowment is a private foundation that follows its founders' wishes in supporting the causes of community development, education and religion.

Founded in 1864, LTSP is one of eight seminaries affiliated with the 5.2-million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. With an enrollment of more than 430 seminarians, including some 160 in its Advanced level Degrees program (D.Min. and S.T.M.), the Seminary was the denomination's second largest last spring. It is located on a 13-acre campus in Philadelphia's historic East Mt. Airy section. Seminarians having more than 30 denominational and church backgrounds have studied on its campus. The Seminary is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools and the Middle States Association.