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Speaking about the new Bethany BOLD (Build. Organize. Love. Dare.), Carter said, \u201cIt feels good to have a new program,\u201d and added, \u201cIt goes back to our founding: education rooted in practical experience.\u201d He recalled how the students on the old Hastings Street campus in Chicago would put their theological education to work in local hospitals, jails, and soup kitchens, and emphasized that Bethany continues to be \u201cmade new again in new ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Maggie Elwell, the new Assistant Professor of Peace Studies and Director of Bethany BOLD, said that the program \u201cis faith in action,\u201d adding, \u201cOur students want to put what we know into action in the community.\u201d BOLD involves students in local school board meetings and similar organizations to educate them in the ways community organizations work, and how they wield power. Other programs encourage students to explore ways they can invite these community members to fulfill their desire to bring change to their community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important for students to see the good, the bad, and the ugly,\u201d Elwell said, and to learn about \u201cboth the beauty and terror of power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learning how Richmond, Indiana, the home of Bethany, works, she suggested, gives them experience \u201c. . . they can take with them no matter where they go. I want them to build the Kingdom of God where we live.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another major cog in Bethany\u2019s growth has been the emphasis on Theopoetics, which is, according to Dr. Joelle Hathaway, Assistant Professor of Theological Studies and Director of the Theopoetics program, is a way of speaking theologically that makes space for a variety of methods of expression \u2013 poetry, drama, and storytelling among others. It involves \u201c. . . opening oneself out to listen to other people\u2019s stories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hathaway added \u201cIt creates a liminal space for people who have been hurt in church. They still have faith in God but don\u2019t want conventional church expressions.\u201d Hathaway has been trained in Systematic Theology, but also enjoys the decidedly unsystematic expression in Theopoetics. Evidently so do a lot of folks, because a significant portion of Bethany\u2019s student body chose the seminary for its Theopoetics program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n