At the instigation of seminary presidents who told us that they often feel isolated and marginalized, cut off from other social institutions, we wanted to learn how theological schools and the leaders they educate are connecting, or not connecting, with the wider public. As a group, they have different kinds of seminaries, including Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant, and evangelical Protestant institutions, a university divinity school and a seminary linked to a college. We were not surprised to learn that seminaries are virtually invisible to leaders of secular organizations and institutions, even those in the seminary's own city and region. The seminary leaders who urged us to conduct this study had predicted that finding. Most of the general public, church members included, do not know even that the seminaries in their community and region exist.
Social leaders are no more aware than the general public of the presence of seminaries.
Seminaries and their leaders are not usually viewed by those who head other organizations in the community as a major civic asset, or even as an educational one. There are exceptions, of course. African American seminary presidents, for instance, are more visible than others in the communities we surveyed. Because of the small size of our sample, we may well have missed other examples of schools and leaders that have made themselves known. But most seminary presidents, other administrators, and faculty are not well-known to their peers in other enterprises.