THEOLOGICAL COMMUNITY OF MEXICO (COMUNIDAD TEOLÓGICA DE MÉXICO) The Theological Community of Mexico is an ecumenical consortium of seminaries and organizations located on the south side of Mexico City, near the National University (UNAM). It was formed in the mid-1960's as a cooperative effort between Anglicans, Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists and several other church bodies. All of these churches continue to participate in the Theological Community, and in recent restructuring they have been joined by a Reformed faculty (mostly of Presbyterian background) and the Mexican Association of Rural and Urban Transformation (AMEXTRA).  The Theological Community's chapel/auditorium While each of the seminaries that forms part of the Theological Community remains independent, they all work together in preparing their students, especially through a common core curriculum. Students take classes not only at their own seminary but at the Theological Community and at the other seminaries that form part. Thus, for example, Lutheran students will study their general courses in Bible, theology, history, and ministry not only at the Lutheran Seminary but at the Theological Community or one of the other Seminaries. However, their courses in things such as the Lutheran Confessions, the life and thought of Martin Luther, and Lutheran
theology, history, and worship will be taken at Augsburg Lutheran Seminary. Of course, these classes in Lutheranism are also open to students from the Theological Community or any of the other seminary programs. The buildings on the left and far right belong to the Theological Community. The white buildings in back are the Lutheran Center to the left and the Anglican Seminary to the right. The Theological Community has its own property that is jointly administered by the participating Seminaries. This includes classroom and office space, a chapel/auditorium, and the library. The Anglican, Lutheran, Baptist and Methodist churches all own their own property adjacent to the Theological Community, so that the various seminaries have spaces of their own as well.  The Methodist Seminary can be seen in the back on the left. On the right is the Theological Community's main building. Rather than enrolling in one of the Seminaries, many students instead enroll in the Theological Community itself, especially those who are not from any of the denominational backgrounds represented by the various seminaries. This means that we receive students from a very wide variety of denominational backgrounds.  The Theological Community offers several programs:
   Augsburg Lutheran Seminary (Seminario Luterano Augsburgo) was originally formed in 1964 in a joint effort by the American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. It was designed to train pastors not only from Mexico but from other parts of Latin America as well. For diverse reasons, the Seminary closed in 1981. In 1998, however, it reopened on a smaller scale under the direction of the Mexican Lutheran Church. On average, there have been about four to five Lutheran students enrolled in the Seminary during the eleven years of its existence. Since 2011, I have served as Coordinator of the Seminary's online course program. This program is primarily for lay people. This program continues to grow, and we have had students from almost 20 different countries participate. The Seminary's website (in Spanish) is: www.semla.org   |
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Theological Community |