Cooperative Ventures in Theological Education

This document represents the final report of the Cheswick team, a cooperative effort among five team members, which stands now as a collective contribution. The team’s hope is that this report will strengthen cooperative ventures in North American theological education. The structure of the report is as follows: Chapter I provides an introduction to the research methods and theoretical underpinnings of the study. Chapter II offers a brief overview of the evolution of cooperation in theological education. Special attention is given to the consortia movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Chapter III describes the major findings that emerged from the questionnaire survey and the interviews conducted in the United States and Canada. It reports on the wide variety of cooperative undertakings which exists in theological education as it is practiced in the mid-1980s. Finally, Chapter IV concludes with recommendations based on the findings of the research. The appendices include the questionnaires and lists of persons interviewed.