Guiding Principles
ESR seeks to operate according to these Guiding Principles:
Earlham School of Religion
Is a source of leadership and a resource for renewal among the larger body of Friends
- promotes Quaker scholarship
- offers a point of intersection for Friends of differing beliefs
- best serves students who fall within a range of “progressive evangelical” and “confessing liberal” in the Christian tradition
Educates and prepares students for ministry in the manner of Friends
- best serves Friends who are making or will make a positive difference to the Religious Society of Friends
- believes that discerning the leading of the Holy Spirit lies at the core of ministry preparation
- understands that ministry occurs in a multitude of vocations and contexts
Values students from other faith traditions and other countries
- seeks diversity which contributes to transformative education
- recruits students and faculty from traditions other than Friends and locations other than North America
- best serves some Quakers outside the U.S. through on-line courses and instruction at their home site
Values formative and transformative education
- affirms the academic and intellectual pursuit of theological education and ministry preparation
- offers an holistic approach to theological education and ministry preparation
- creates a community of dialogue, not indoctrination.