MISSION, VISION
and PRIORITY STATEMENT OF FTESEA, updated 2022
PREAMBLE
At its meeting in 2020, the FTESEA board determined to engage in a
strategic visioning process to review the mission and priorities of
FTESEA. As a result, the Executive Committee engaged in a series of
conversations with FTESEA’s ecumenical associates, reflecting with them
on the changed and rapidly changing situation in Asia and the Pacific,
including the changes caused by COVID-19. Conversations were held with
1) FTESEA’s historic partners, 2) ecumenical colleagues in Asia, and 3)
ecumenical colleagues in Europe/North America. On the basis of the
input received and the review of these conversations by the Executive
Committee, the mission, vision, and priorities of FTESEA have been
amended as follows:
MISSION
The mission of the Foundation for Theological Education in Southeast
Asia is to foster the ongoing development of contextual theological
thought, education, and formation of Christian leaders in Asia and the
Pacific.*
VISION
FTESEA
envisions implementing its mission through partnerships and
collaborations, especially in Asia and the Pacific. We seek
collaborative relationships with communities and leaders in theological
education through their respective theological schools, associations,
and movements, and through ecumenical theological networks.
FTESEA carries out its mission alongside its historic associates in
theological education and formation (Nanjing Union Theological
Seminary; the Department of Theological Education of the China
Christian Council and the Three-self Patriotic Movement (CCC/TSPM); the
Association for Theological Education in South East Asia (ATESEA); and
Ecumenical Theological Education (ETE) and the Ecumenical Institute of
the World Council of Churches) and other ecumenical theological
institutions with which FTESEA has been associated directly or through
its historic associates in Asia and the Pacific.
In light of its mission and a spirit of mutuality, FTESEA commits to:
- Initiating
and facilitating consultations/conferences/institutes/publications that
seek not only to enhance the mission and ministries of theological
schools and institutions in Asia and the Pacific, but also to enrich
global theological education.
- Supporting
and serving as a catalyst for theological education that engages the
contexts of Asia and the Pacific and is responsive to the conditions
and global structures that shape those contexts.
- Advocating
with denominations that are represented on the Board and their
respective theological schools and institutions for the provision of
funds and human resources for innovative programs in theological
education in Asia and the Pacific.
- Equipping
Christian individuals and communities theologically to support
competent and creative leadership in response to the challenges and
opportunities in their respective contexts; and
- Funding programs/schools in Asia and the Pacific annually.
FTESEA
understands that contextual theological education should be pursued
through consistent dialogue and engagement with the experiences,
perspectives and lived realities of people, especially of those on the
margins and those resisting the forces of marginalization.
Contextualization in Asia-Pacific involves active engagement with
rapidly changing social realities, including religious pluralism and
multifaith identities, shifting social structures and economic systems,
a global pandemic, ideological trends such as fascism and nationalism,
secularization, the development of artificial intelligence, and more.
PRIORITIES
In light of our mission, vision, and commitment to
contextual theological education, FTESEA’s strategic priorities are (1)
supporting faculty development; (2) promoting women’s leadership; and
(3) enhancing the development of digital and print library resources
and facilitating the training of librarians in Asia. FTESEA will meet
these priorities by:
- Strengthening
and developing our relationships with historic and other ecumenical
colleagues in Asia, North America, and Switzerland** and supporting the
growth of ecumenical networks.
- Facilitating
faculty and religious leaders’ engagement with contextual theologies
that address pressing challenges including but not limited to justice,
peace, ecology, and religious and cultural pluralism.
- Enhancing ecumenical resources for advanced study by theological scholars, faculty members and graduate students.
- Initiating
and facilitating workshops, consultations, institutes, and publications
that support women’s leadership, library development, and faculty
development.
FTESEA
aims to fulfill its mission and vision and meet its priorities by
working collaboratively, inclusively, and contextually, and by engaging
in ongoing self-evaluation.
_____
*At
present the accompaniment of FTESEA in the Pacific is limited to the
South Pacific Association of Theological Schools (SPATS), Fiji and the
Pacific Theological College, in Fiji.
** World Council of Churches and Globethics
Reviewed/Updated
by the Ex Com-meeting on July 27, 2021, and endorsed by Ex Com at its
meeting on July 26, 2022. Approved by the Board at its meeting on
October 28, 2022
