Next Steps: Plans for the 2007-2008 Academic Year

+Beginning Fall 2007, we’re recruiting 10-20 Volunteer Colloquy Coordinators, who will work across campuses to support existing efforts and build new networks among students sharing mutual concerns (eco-justice, global advocacy, interfaith peace-building, etc).

+We are currently seeking a suitable building to lease for Servant House, an inter-seminary housing cooperative, which will offer a supportive environment for spiritual formation in ministry.  Seminarians will adopt a simple, shared living style and engage in neighborhood volunteer service as part of their monthly ‘service learning’ rental arrangement.

+Our Seminary Student Leadership Event in September 2007 will build student organizers’ skills for more effective leadership on their own campuses and ministry sites, as well as create leadership networks for problem-solving and collaborative action.  Workshop presenters will include experienced semi-nary student leaders as well as organizations such as Interfaith Youth Core, SCUPE, Interfaith Worker Justice, and the Urban CPE Consortium—all of which offer outstanding hands-on opportunities for seminary students.

+Our newspaper is recruiting volunteers for an expanded, Multi-Campus Production Team to include co-editors, distributors, advertising sales, and regular columnists and reporters.

+We are compiling student input for two upcoming volumes: What I Wish I’d Known Before I Started Seminary, and The Seminary Student Activist’s Handbook.

+Our Inter-Seminary Spirituality Retreats will offer students rest and renewal as well as opportunities for service, in cooperation with area churches.

+We are developing an Advisory Board of professors who promote servant-based and relational models of theological education; leaders in established seminary-related organizations; and experienced student leaders/ alumni.

The Future: Hopes for the Next 5-10 Years

+We hope to find space to establish a Volunteer Action Center which will provide resources for students to connect with service opportunities in the Hyde Park/Woodlawn neighborhood, as well as provide guidance for organiz-ing service trips, service projects, registering for cross-cultural and study abroad, and supporting students who seek non-traditional educational opportunities to emphasize social justice in their seminary degree programs.

+We hope to partner with existing organizations to offer courses to fill needs in our local context such as ‘Religions in the City,’ ‘Church in the Modern World,’ and increasing the number of Socially Responsible Study Travel opportunities available to ACTS seminary students.

+We hope to partner with the emerging Interfaith Peace Teams and similar organizations to encourage people competent in interfaith peacemaking to train for religious leadership roles; and to encourage new religious leaders to develop skills in interfaith peacebuilding and human rights work.