The mission of the Division of Higher Education, with the whole Church, is to help proclaim and embody the reign of God and to be part of the human transformation that is the mission of both higher education and the Church of Jesus Christ.

"In order to develop and nurture transformative leaders for the church and the wider human community, the Division of Higher Education establishes partnerships between the church and higher education that are creative and reconciling meeting places of faith and understanding."
(Provisional Mission Statement, May, 2003)

DHE affirms without reservation the covenantal values of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and aims to be at the forefront of efforts to form and reform leadership for the church's 2020 vision and the higher goal of the Great Commission. In thinking about and devising programs for the nurturing of leaders, DHE strives to identify and nurture in Disciples women and men the gifts and graces required of those who will transform existing congregations and establish new congregations faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ in the 21st century.

The Division of Higher Education pursues its mission within five categories: undergraduate education, theological education, ministries in higher education, other ministries, and administration of the division itself.

GOAL: DHE will create programs to identify, support, and nurture undergraduate students with strong potential for church leadership-both lay and ordained-in partnership with congregations and other Disciples and ecumenical agencies.

Leadership Fellows Program

Now in its third year, the DHE leadership Fellows program has 24 fellows in 2003-2004. One of the five new fellows is an ethnic minority student, bringing the total of non-Anglo fellows to three. DHE continues in 2004 to recruit aggressively African American, Hispanic and North American Asian/Pacific students.

The third annual Leadership Fellows Conference was held in Oklahoma City November 14-16, focusing on "Leadership in Crisis" and using resource people with experience and insights from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. A prototype summer internship program for the Leadership Fellows received high marks from both the host site (St Andrew Christian Church in Olathe, KS) and our first intern (Natalie Dixon of Eureka College). DHE-facilitated internship opportunities will expand to at least four sites in summer 2004.

In partnership with the Office of the General Minister and President, DHE established and helped promote the Richard Hamm Leadership Fellow Fund, which will help support a Leadership Fellow slot to be named for Dr. Hamm. Gifts and pledges to this fund total approximately $14,000.

CD-ROM Recruitment Publication

Discover 2.0, DHE's CD-ROM recruitment publication, has reached the end of its effective life, with over 25,000 copies distributed. DHE will consider options in 2004 for creating an updated version of this product in cooperation with the colleges and universities.

Congregational College Fairs

DHE continues to work with congregations that want to sponsor local and area college fairs. DHE staff members participate in these events and provide assistance to congregations through its "how your congregation can organize a Disciples college fair" section on the DHE web site, and by giving advice and networking assistance.

College Application Fee Waiver

Delayed by technical problems, this project will allow college applicants who access information about Disciples-related colleges and universities through our web site to receive a waiver of application fee from the school or schools in question. The program is now scheduled to be up and running by fall 2004.

DHE Web Sites

DHE continues to look for ways to increase the attractiveness and effectiveness of its web sites. In addition to its own web sites, DHE also manages the web site for the Student Ecumenical Partnership (STEP) Team and for HEMA (Higher Education Ministries Arena), an ecumenical coordinating body for campus ministries.

Phillips University Legacy Foundation

The Phillips University Legacy Scholars Program named eight new scholars in 2003, bringing their total to sixteen. Phillips Legacy Scholars and representatives of the Phillips University Legacy Foundation participated in the Leadership Fellows Conference in November in Oklahoma City. DHE also assisted PULF with marketing their programs and processing applications.

First Christian Church, Winterset, Iowa

DHE assists First Christian church of Winterset, Iowa, in managing the Charles and Lois Taylor Scholarship fund and processing scholarship applications. The Taylor Scholarship Fund distributed $118,125 in scholarships in 2003.

Hyde Park Christian Church, Austin, Texas

DHE also assists Hyde Park Christian Church in administering the Alvin and Elsie East Scholarship program. The East fund awarded $66,800 in scholarships in 2003-2004.

College and University Grants

In spring 2003, DHE approved three College/University Grants for a total of $41,250. College/University Grants fund on-campus projects designed to enhance the relationship between undergraduate institutions and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Transylvania University Symposium on the "Theological Exploration of Vocation"

With Transylvania University, DHE co-sponsored a second summer Symposium as part of Transylvania's Lilly Endowment-funded project on "Theological Exploration of Vocation" June 19-21, 2003, in Lexington, Kentucky. This second symposium, "Equipping Students for Leadership," involved college chaplains, campus ministers, church relations directors, and students, and was led by Stephanie Paulsell and Kay Bessler-Northcutt. The third symposium, July 17-20, 2004, will host presidents and other key administrative leadership from Disciples-related colleges and universities. The 2004 meeting of the Council of Colleges and Universities will be held in conjunction with this event.

Undergraduate Institution Leadership Changes

In 2003 Dr. Paul Lister became president of Eureka College, Thomas V. Chema became Interim President at Hiram College, and Dr. William Fox became president of Culver-Stockton College.

GOAL: DHE will facilitate cooperation between the church and its institutions of theological education in their joint responsibility for the recruitment, education and nurture of the church's leaders.

Disciples Seminarians Conference

Planning is underway for the 2004 Disciples Seminarians Conference October 21-24 in Nashville, Tennessee. DHE works in partnership with the other general ministries of the church to plan and conduct this signal event.

Admissions Officers Meeting

Admissions officers from the seven theological institutions met October 19, 2003, in conjunction with the General Assembly in Charlotte, NC. The group discussed institutional changes, enrollment and recruiting trends and other matters of common interest.

Scholarships

In 2003 DHE named two recipients of the Brown Scholarship, (M.Div. students Lee Hull and Nathan Brown), three recipients of the Ann E. Dickerson Scholarship for women Ph.D. students (Amy Artman, Patricia Duncan and Kristin Van Heyningen), and the Florence and Gilbert Jones Scholarship for Ph.D. students who are ordained ministers (Brandon Cline). Other endowed scholarship aid for ministerial students is administered through Disciples Home Missions.

The Fund for Theological Education - Partnership for Excellence

DHE continues to support the Partnership for Excellence initiative of the new Fund for Theological Education. FTE programs that will continue in 2004 include: (1) The Doctoral Fellows Program and Dissertation Fellows Program for African-Americans, (2) The Ministry Fellows Program for current M.Div. students, and (3) The Undergraduate Fellows Program for students considering ministry and theological education. DHE continues as part of the ecumenical group planning the details of the initiative, and participates in conversations around new FTE initiatives addressing issues such as seminarian indebtedness and the identification and tracking of potential candidates for ministry. In addition, in 2003, FTE began a program of consultation to describe the characteristics of congregations that have a history of calling men and women into ministry.

Ethnic Minority Ministries Endowment

During the 2003-2004 academic year, DHE continued to use this fund to provide support for the Brite Divinity School Korean Studies Program. We also committed income from this fund to assist ethnic minority students in the Leadership Fellows Program, and to support the 2004 Hispanic Ministers Workshop sponsored by the Central Pastoral Office for Hispanic Ministries.

The Hughey-Peery Fund

In 2003 we made $6,500 in Grants from the Hughey-Peery Fund, which provides fieldwork subsidies and grants for special learning opportunities as well as emergency grants to students whose ability to continue their education is threatened by financial circumstances.

Association of Disciples for Theological Discussion

ADTD met October 10-12 on the new campus at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa. DHE provides administrative and programmatic support for this organization of Disciples scholars in religious studies and theology.

Disciples Scholars Breakfast at AAR/SBL

In partnership with the Christian Board of Publication, DHE hosted the annual breakfast reception for Disciples scholars and teachers at the American Academy of Religion/Society for Biblical Literature annual meetings on November 23, 2003, in Atlanta.

Leadership Changes

Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University has inaugurated D. Newell Williams as its president.

GOAL: We will develop national linkages among students and student groups with the aim of nurturing students for church leadership.

Student Ecumenical Partnership Team (STEP)

STEP continues to foster a national collegiate organization of Disciples and UCC students through the STEP web page--www.stepnetwork.org--and leadership in local, regional and national church events and conferences. STEP refines and expands information of interest to college students including new resources, mission and service opportunities and links to various groups and opportunities.

Council for Ecumenical Student Christian Ministries (CESCM)

CESCM is the US affiliate of the World Student Christian Federation and provides opportunities for student fellowship and leadership training. CESCM also sponsored CELEBRATE! - a national ecumenical college student gathering - in Albuquerque, New Mexico December 28, 2002 - January 1, 2003.

Higher Education Ministries Arena (HEMA)

At the end of 2003 DHE took over responsibility for the Higher Education Ministries Arena web page and the HEMA Personnel Service. The online Directory of Ministries in Higher Education allows users to locate campus ministries and campus ministers on many different campuses throughout the country. The HEMA Personnel Service List serve has a current participating membership of 650 persons and has publicized over 50 position openings to date.

GOAL: DHE will pursue long-term projects to identify, nurture and support potential leaders of Disciples institutions.

Disciples Leadership Roundtable

The second meeting of the Disciples Leadership Roundtable was held August 22-23, 2003, in Chicago. This meeting joined our earlier group of senior denominational leaders with selected young adult church leaders to continue discussion of strategies "to identify, nurture and support potential leaders of Disciples institutions." The group forged a strong consenus about the need to continue the conversation, but to focus on the gifts and vision younger leaders bring for the transformation of the church rather than on how those leaders will fit into the church's current perceived needs. To this end, the roundtable guided DHE toward exploration of an open-ended event by and for young adult leaders as the next step in this process.

Higher Education Sunday/Leadership Harvest

DHE conducted the second round of this program to recognize congregations for their innovative approaches to developing their youth for leadership in the church as part of "Leadership Harvest." Summaries of all leadership development programs gathered through the Leadership Harvest program are available on the DHE web site at www.dhedisciples.org. Churches recognized for their youth ministry programs are First Christian Church of Bentonville, Arkansas; First Christian Church of Rogers, Arkansas; First Christian Church of Boulder, Colorado; Central Christian Church of Waco, Texas; First Christian Church of Leavenworth, Kansas; and First Christian Church of Meridian, Mississippi.

Research on Education for Non-Ordained Pastoral Leaders

DHE participated in the church wide summit meeting on Licensed Ministry May 29-30, 2003, at Barton College and presented the results of its research on educational resources for non-ordained pastoral leaders. The meeting developed a strong consensus for the development of church-wide standards for licensed ministry and of church-wide mechanisms for delivering theological education. An action group is currently working on specific proposals to bring before the church.

Communications

All DHE-related web sites have set new records for usage during February 2004. DHE's primary web site, dhedisciples.org, had more than 5,500 visits in February, due in large part to the winter scholarship cycle and the announcement of the Leadership Harvest awards. Minor changes to stepnetwork.org made the site more informative and easier to navigate. Database development on higheredmin.org continues to show great promise for this site, which will help students identify denominational and ecumenical campus ministry programs near their campuses as well as providing campus ministry job listings.

Facilities and Equipment

On May 13, 2003, the DHE offices moved to 11477 Olde Cabin Road in Creve Coeur, two miles southwest of our previous location. The move brought a significant reduction in our facilities expenses.

Resource Development and Finances

Like all the church's ministries (congregational, regional, general), DHE is seriously stressed by adjustments in the church's funding mechanism, by loss of investment earnings in the continuing economic downturn, and by changes in patterns of individual and congregational giving. Both DHE staff and its board of directors recognize and have responded to the necessity of creating multiple revenue streams alongside Disciples Mission Fund support with larger goals for annual fund support each year. Though gifts from individuals are indeed increasing, their growth is not yet keeping pace with declines in denominational support. Management has instituted stringent controls over non-essential expenditures, reduced travel budgets, and directed staff to economize in every way possible. The 2003 budget provided only nominal salary increases and the 2004 budget freezes all staff salaries at 2003 levels.

DHE Staff

Dennis Landon, President
Linda Plengemeier, Vice President and Treasurer
Kathy Carson, Director of Program Services
Brad Lyons, Director of Communication and Program Officer
Elnora Hinson, Assistant to the President