The think tank would be composed of board members and other Episcopal Church leaders. The group will address the Seminary's pressing financial concerns in the context of the Church's overall needs for theological education.

On hearing the news, Joel MacCollam, CEO of A Child's Hope Fund in Oceanside, CA, GTS '72, canonical Diocese of Albany tentmaker-priest serving 28+ years and CEO of several international humanitarian non-profits, wrote angrily to VOL, asking, "How can a Finance Committee of the Trustees not know about this sort of thing? Are they incompetent at GTS at the Trustee level? Are they independently audited? Do they have an audit committee? This is all part of what a non-profit organization is expected to have.

"Further questions include will the alumni/ae be advised of this situation as it stands today? Or do we need to wait for a conclusion to be reached and then a fundraising letter? The news as presented in this media release is distressing in multiple ways. One distress is that an outside consultant had to discover this, and not the Finance Committee. If a search process had not been started, when might this crisis have eventually been discovered?"

One of the seminary's more infamous students is former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, who resigned from office in 2004 after admitting he was homosexual, and subsequently found a welcome home in Chelsea, where he has been studying to become a priest in the Episcopal Church.

McGreevey enrolled in the General Theological Seminary and studied under David Lowry, director of GTS's Desmond Tutu Center for Peace and Reconciliation. The former governor expects to earn his Masters in Divinity next year.

On December 11, 2009, The Very Rev. Ward Burleson Ewing, dean and president of the General Theological Seminary (GTS), told the school he planned to retire. Ewing, 67, said in a letter dated Dec. 9 addressed to the seminary community that he expected to continue in his post until a successor is hired "and an appropriate transition accomplished."

A search committee will be chaired by GTS trustee Michael Gilligan.

"This has truly been a team effort; there are so many who have contributed to the health of this seminary," Ewing said of his 11 years at General. "I give thanks to God that I have had the privilege of walking with so many others who are committed to the mission and health of this school. And I am not done yet." In explaining his plans, Ewing, 67, cited three recent developments he considers to be milestones in the seminary's effort to achieve financial stability.

In August, GTS successfully refinanced all of its debt. Last month, it received the necessary approvals from the city to operate its Desmond Tutu Center as a hotel and to rent guest rooms to the public when they are not being used for Seminary conferences. Incomes from those rentals "are a critical component for future operating expenses and debt service," the release said.

The school has recently received what the release called two major gifts from Polly Keller Winter (widow of Arkansas Bishop Christoph Keller) and their son, the Rev. Canon Christoph Keller III, together with a sizable grant from the William Wood Foundation, which will enable General to complete a new library and to fund a new professorship in Christian education.

Ewing told the seminary community in July 2008 that "decisive action" was needed to face the school's "major financial and programmatic challenges," adding that "the immediate future of General Seminary is not imperiled." Ewing's announcement was set in the context of all Episcopal and other mainline seminaries, which have faced rising costs and stagnant or declining enrollments for the past 30 years while higher education costs have accelerated.

Board of Trustees Chairman, the Rev. Canon Denis M. O'Pray said in a Dec. 10 release that Ewing has overseen the comprehensive restoration and refurbishing of the 18 historic buildings on the seminary's Manhattan campus, the improvement of the school's information technology, the creation of the Tutu Center and an innovative geothermal energy initiative, one of the largest in the Northeast. The work cost a total of $60 million, according to the release.

Annual giving and major gifts to GTS have risen markedly during Ewing's tenure, the release said, and he led the development of new program offerings, particularly for lay persons.

END

General Seminary Dean Issues Open Letter

http://gts.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1009&catid=2&Itemid=188
April 1, 2010

New York City - The Very Rev. Ward B. Ewing, Dean and President of the General Theological Seminary (GTS) has today issued an Open Letter on the state of the Seminary.

The four-page letter was sent to the GTS Board of Trustees by email early today as well as to faculty, staff, and students of the 192-year-old institution, the oldest theological seminary of the Episcopal Church. It was also sent by mail to over 3,000 alumni/ae and friends of the Seminary. The Open Letter summarizes developments at the Seminary since July of 2008 when the Dean had issued a similar letter.

The opening section of the letter outlines the Seminary's financial condition, a subject of growing concern as other Episcopal seminaries have reported on serious fiscal challenges in recent months. Following up on the three-year financial plan approved by GTS Trustees in May of 2008, the Dean reported that on March 13 of this year the Seminary successfully refinanced its current indebtedness and closed on a $22 million with M&T Bank.

The loan will pay off existing debt, construction cost overruns, and provide working capital for the next two years. "The agreement from M&T Bank to refinance the Seminary's loan, including additional working capital, is a strong testimony to the basic financial health of GTS," the Dean wrote.

The letter includes news of a new faculty appointment, that of the Rev. Dr. Patrick Malloy as Associate Professor of Liturgics, as well as the arrival of the Rev. Dr. David Lowry as Director of the Center for Peace and Reconciliation, and that of Dr. Frederick W. Gerbracht, Jr. in a temporary position as assistant to the Dean for program development.

In the same section of the letter, entitled "Program Enhancements," the Dean discusses the new "world-class home" the Seminary is building for the 240,000-volume St. Mark's Library and that funding is still required for the interior of the new facility. The letter also describes plans the Seminary has to increase revenue, a new strategic plan for GTS, new marketing programs that have been initiated, and hopeful news concerning enrollment.

The General Theological Seminary, founded in 1817, prepares women and men for both ordained and lay ministries through a wide variety of degree and certificate programs. Its historic campus in the heart of New York City is also home to the Desmond Tutu Center, a modern, full-service conference facility.

The President's Letter

April 14, 2009

Last July, in light of the recent financial news regarding other Episcopal seminaries, GTS published an Open Letter describing the Seminary's situation. In it I reviewed the financial and programmatic challenges we face, the continued concern to develop new income streams both to meet operating expenses and address construction cost overruns. I also discussed the three-year financial plan approved by the Trustees in May 2008 to address these concerns and assured you that our problems were not insurmountable. (The July letter is available in the Newsroom section at www.gts.edu) This current letter is to inform you of new developments and to bring you up to date on the progress on our plans. Allow me to share with you some of our excitement, as well as the challenges.

Our Financial Situation

One week after sending our July 6 Open Letter, our Executive Vice-President Maureen Burnley, and I met with representatives of Commerce Bank to discuss terms for conversion of the Tutu Center construction loan into a term loan, a common practice that had been planned. Instead, Commerce Bank, which had been bought by Toronto Dominion Bank, informed us that they would not convert the loan and that in October we must either pay it in full or be found in default on this and the other loans held by them–a total of $22 million. There was no advance warning of their decision.

Now, eight months later in the midst of the worst financial crisis in eighty years, we have successfully refinanced the Seminary's loans with M&T Bank, a northeastern bank that was not invested in sub-prime loans. On March 13 the Seminary closed on a $22 million loan with M&T which will refinance $12 million of existing debt and provide the Seminary with $10 million to pay off the construction cost overruns (for the Desmond Tutu Center, the renovation of Kohne and Dodge Halls, and the implementation of the geothermal heating and cooling system), and provide working capital for the next two years. The agreement from M&T Bank to refinance the Seminary's loan, including additional working capital, is a strong testimony to the basic financial health of GTS.

Our loan with M&T will replace the earlier Commerce Bank loan of $12 million and provide an additional $10 million to pay for $6.5 million in cost overruns and provide $3.5 million for working capital. Previously, at their May 2008 meeting, the Trustees approved additional borrowing beyond the $22 million, so in the summer of 2009, another $10 million loan will be received to refinance our last loan with Commerce Bank. The total of $32 million in debt will be amortized over 30 years, renewed at 5-year intervals. Payments for the first two years of the loan are interest only.

The increased income required to service this debt will come from increases in enrollment, both at the Seminary and in the preschool we operate, from renting additional Seminary apartments to the public at market rates, from increases in annual giving, and from increased income received from the operation of the Desmond Tutu Center. Detailed projections of these increases in revenues were provided to the Seminary's Trustees at their February meeting.

Many people contributed to securing this refinancing--and in the midst of a very challenging economic downturn. Most especially we are grateful to the Rt. Rev. Orris G. Walker, Jr., Bishop of Long Island and the Trustees of the Estate belonging to the Diocese of Long Island who agreed to guarantee a portion of the borrowing. I also wish to thank Maureen Burnley, and our Controller, Frank DiMaiuta, whose steadfast endurance have been extraordinary.

With the refinancing complete and with the security of having working capital in hand, we can begin to turn our attention to the future and our mission as the General Seminary. Fortunately, in addition to addressing our financial situation, our staff and Trustees have also been working hard to chart a pathway for GTS to continue on as a dynamic institution in the years ahead.

Our Strategic Plan

There is a growing awareness not only in the world of finance but in educational and religious institutions that traditional ways of solving problems and anticipating the future no longer work. The 21-page report from the Seminary's Strategic Plan Working Group, The Strategy for the Future, acknowledges the uncharted territory in which we find ourselves. Received by the Board of Trustees at their February meeting, the new strategic plan was strongly influenced by the thinking of Bob Johansen, planning expert and director of the Institute for the Future. Johansen describes our present world by the acronym VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. He makes a distinction between "problems" which the right strategic decisions can somehow "solve" and "dilemmas" which are recurrent, enigmatic, threatening, and not capable of being resolved by traditional problem-solving.

Accepting this factor of unpredictability, the strategic plan clarifies the Seminary's mission and sets forth a series of values for General. It articulates the dilemmas now facing General and offers a realistic way forward. In its final section, the report offers a series of specific tasks that should be undertaken to accomplish the realization of this vision. The report expands the Seminary's current mission statement "to educate and form leaders for the church in a changing world" calling for an "on-going conversation among the seminary, the world, and the churches in the world." Three values flow out of our mission statement when seen in this light: an emphasis on formation (including elements such as worship, personal devotion, and spiritual direction); an emphasis on academics (including a first-class faculty and well-equipped facilities), and an emphasis on General's unique place (both within the history of the Episcopal Church and geographically, including the need to preserve Chelsea Square and our beautiful Close).

Program Enhancements

The St. Mark's Library has been one of the central features distinguishing GTS from other seminaries. Its collection of 240,000 volumes is one of the largest in the Anglican Communion. In 2005, an engineering evaluation concluded that our 40-year-old library building could not withstand more than three more winters without a major stabilization effort. The original plans for a new building on Ninth Avenue called for a 17-story structure that would house the library, GTS faculty and administrative offices, and residential units that would yield $45 million in revenues. Neighborhood opposition, however, reduced the size of the building to 7 stories and revenue to only $30 million. As a result, GTS must now raise the funds necessary to complete the build-out of the library's interior space. Once that work is complete, GTS will have a world-class home for its collection, one that will serve not only to house the important volumes in its care, but also as an important gathering place for students to work and collaborate.

Like our library, the Desmond Tutu Center is an integral part of the Seminary's mission. The conferences that occur in the Center, both those sponsored by GTS and those sponsored by outside organizations, enhance the educational program the Seminary provides for its students, while introducing the Seminary to a broad range of people who may become students and supporters over time. The Tutu Center also provides new forms of revenue for the Seminary which are essential to our long-term financial health. In March 2009, The Rev. Dr. David Lowry, GTS 1972, became the Director of the Center for Peace and Reconciliation at the Tutu Center. Dr. Lowry has worked in both the private sector and the church, and brings impressive expertise in international business and corporate responsibility, as well as experience in indigenous peoples and human rights work. He will develop workshops and conferences that reflect the life and ministry of Desmond Tutu, which is the mission of the Center for Peace and Reconciliation.

In addition to the new developments at the Tutu Center, I am pleased to report that the Rev. Dr. Patrick Malloy will be joining the Seminary faculty as Associate Professor of Liturgics in the H. Boone Porter Chair. The rector of Grace Episcopal Church, Allentown, PA, Dr. Malloy holds a Ph.D. in Liturgical Studies from the University of Notre Dame and is the author of Celebrating the Eucharist, commissioned by Church Publishing in 2008. He brings a wealth of teaching experience having taught at Duquesne University; the University of Santa Clara; and St. John's University.

Within our administration, Dr. Frederick W. Gerbracht, Jr., a Trustee of GTS, has accepted a temporary position during this spring term as assistant to the Dean for program development. With many years of experience in the Church's educational ministries, Dr. Gerbracht is contributing his time pro bono to develop a variety of new 12- and 6-week classes to be offered during the coming academic year. . Other Ways to Increase Revenue

In addition to raising funds for the St. Mark's Library, the GTS Board of Trustees at its February 2009 meeting, endorsed two additional fund raising initiatives: a significant increase of the annual fund and new endowments for student scholarships. These initiatives will facilitate the implementation of the Seminary's new strategic plan and ensure that the Seminary continues to fulfill its mission.

The Annual Fund, a key pillar in the Seminary's financial health, has a goal of $1 million for fiscal year 2009, a 20% increase over 2008. GTS offers a unique preparation for ministry. Yet, traditional sources of support for GTS are diminishing. Parish and diocesan support have declined over the last several decades. As a result, General relies increasingly upon the voluntary gifts of individuals--both our friends and our alumni/ae--who recognize the critical importance of keeping our seminaries strong. As of the end of February, the Seminary had received $575,000 in gifts--an increase over last year in the same period. This is very promising given the uncertain economic climate--but a major challenge remains for all who care about GTS and the future of theological education in the Episcopal Church.

GTS should never lose an outstanding student to another institution because of financial concerns. To that end, GTS is launching an initiative to increase the number of merit scholarships available for prospective students. GTS will test the feasibility of raising significant sums for endowed scholarship over the next three years. Ideally, GTS will seek to add 10 full merit scholarships to its endowment at $250,000 each.

Enrollment Growth

The Seminary's Admissions Office has three primary goals: expand the pool and diversity of potential students; increase the number of applicants; and lastly, ensure that all students have a positive experience at GTS. To achieve these goals GTS is actively networking with Episcopal bishops, Commissions on Ministry, and with GTS alumni/ae. Admissions is also cultivating new relationships with college departments of religion and campus religious organizations. Students who have a positive GTS experience become our strongest advocates with both prospective students and bishops and graduate to become active, generous, and engaged alumni/ae. GTS has received 55 student applications to date, an increase of 28% over the number received by this time last year. In particular, applications for the ordination track Master of Divinity are significantly higher than anticipated. These figures are a good indication that the size of our incoming class will be very encouraging. ?

Marketing and the Web

Our enrollment advances are attributable not only to a hard working staff, but also to their commitment to carrying out the recommendations of the Insight Research Group market research completed for GTS last year. Those recommendations are also being implemented by two new working groups at GTS. Our Technology Team, with assistance from the Seminary's Information Technology Department, has revamped the GTS website and instituted a system whereby departments may now create and update their own web pages. They have also inaugurated a new website for the Desmond Tutu Center, and will launch soon an internal community website to open the very active field of social networking to our students, faculty, and staff.

A second working group is the Seminary's Marketing Team, which has initiated an innovative e-marketing program that will enable departments to send well-designed announcements, promotions, and newsletters by email to all our constituents with optimal ease, enabling us to quickly send notices of timely program offerings at GTS. Further utilizing on-line technologies, staff members in Admissions, Communications, and Academic Affairs are jointly creating the Seminary's first on-line catalogue, which will be available in the early summer.

This is a critical time for seminary education in the Episcopal Church as increasing numbers of persons are being ordained who are not graduates of Episcopal seminaries. If this trend continues to grow, what will be the impact on our worship and our polity? Is there something uniquely Anglican that can only be imparted at our seminaries? How is that uniqueness challenged by the diminishment of our seminaries? And how do we as a church discuss and address these issues? While there are other acceptable venues for theological education, I continue to believe our seminaries provide the very best preparation--and that we all must work to insure that a learned clergy and laity continue to be hallmarks of our Church.

I am grateful especially for the daily efforts of our faculty, staff, and trustees, the commitment of our students, and support from our many friends.

All of us have important roles to play in assuring the health and vitality of GTS. You will soon receive a heartfelt letter from a current student requesting your support.

I urge you to consider the difference this school will make in her life and in the lives she touches and to make a generous response. See that your parish or organization supports theological education and work to insure that theological education ranks high on the list of priorities for the Episcopal Church. Thank you for your continuing support and prayers.

Faithfully,

Ward B. Ewing, Dean and President