Theological Education Fund
(updated 6/14/06)

The Theological Education Fund (TEF) in Albany Presbytery: a Q & A Approach to Basic Information
by (Rev.) Hugh Nevin, Albany Presbytery’s TEF Resource Person
(hnevin@nycap.rr.com; 518-372-2689)

Question: Where did the TEF come from and of what use is it?
Answer: Go back to the merger of the former southern and northern Presbyterian denominations in 1983. The southern church funded seminaries through Synods; the northern church did it through the General Assembly. In the fifteen years prior to Reunion, denominational support for seminaries dropped from 22% to 8% of their budgets overall. Our resulting denomination, the PC(USA), couldn’t decide what to do at the time of Reunion. Several years later (still with disagreement in the picture), the GA approved the initiation of the TEF with the strong recommendation (something like but different from the judicatory mission funding formula or per capita giving) that local churches support the seminaries at 1% of what they spend on local mission (line 25 on the annual reporting form). This approach has been in effect for over 15 years now and is supported by about 20% of all local churches (including 12 in Albany Presbytery). It provides 1-3 % of each seminary’s budget on average, with 22% the high.

Question: So how do the seminaries survive?
Answer: One of the other issues at the time of Reunion was that the seminaries were already largely independent of the church for their funding. They can raise more on their own than the church as a denomination is in a position to give them.

Question: Then why give them money through TEF?
Answer #1: To keep their eyes on the ministry of the whole church which provides them oversight as they educate students for ministry (10 of our seminaries are seminaries of the General Assembly; 2 relate to the GA by renewable covenant). TEF money goes to all our seminaries that have a masters program for the preparation of pastors (the exception is Auburn, which has no degree programs), thus underlining the point that ministry is the concern of the whole church and that we are a connectional body: being Presbyterian and preparing ministers for the church isn’t simply about our own local church or a particular seminary.
Answer #2: To keep the whole church in conversation with the seminaries as they go about their work. Since denominational support of the seminaries was shifted to local churches with the adoption of the TEF, a)the presidents of the seminaries sit together with church represent-atives (elected and appointed through the denomination nationally) as the Committee on Theological Education (COTE); and b) the churches receive information about the seminaries and requests for support of the TEF through the Office of Theological Education (OTE) and its volunteer network of Resource Persons in the presbyteries (who also meet together nationally at a different seminary each year). COTE is responsible for annually disseminating TEF monies to the seminaries, which it does through an agreed-upon formula and in light of special circumstances. TEF funds are contributed connectionally; direct support, while not discouraged, is outside the connectional framework.

Question: How do local churches provide monies to TEF?
Answer: Actual submission is done by a local church treasurer using the Presbytery Remittance Form. In Albany Presbytery (as in many others) there is a line on the Form for a TEF contribution. The source within local churches varies: the Session budget is the preferred source, but separate mission budgets and women’s association budgets are also used.
N.B. Albany Presbytery’s Committee on Preparation for Ministry has endorsed the TEF’s role by including a TEF contribution in its own budget.

Question: How do local churches decide to contribute to TEF?
Answer: The Session decides. It may delegate consideration of the decision to a Session committee or other appropriate source.

Below are various educational flyers for theological Seminaries

	Seminary Overview
	Auburn Theological Seminary (New York, NY)
	Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Austin, TX)
	Columbia Theological Seminary (Decatur, GA)
	University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (Dubuque, IA)
	Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY)
	McCormick Theological Seminary (Chicago, IL)
	Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (Pittsburg, PA)
	Princeton Theological Seminary (Princeton, NJ)
	Evangelico Seminario de Puerto Rico (San Juan, PR)
	San Francisco Theological Seminary (San Anselmo & Pasadena, CA)
	Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary (Atlanta, GA)
	Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education (Richmond, VA and Charlotte, NC)