Dear Friends of Ecumenical Theological Seminary,
I hope that you are enjoying these warm summer months!
Our summer began here at ETS with a remarkable Commencement ceremony, launching the Class of 2016 into the world, commissioned with a message of hope 
delivered by our Commencement speaker, artist Tyree Guyton, founder of the internationally renowned Heidelberg Project here in Detroit. Now, we are preparing for our Doctor of Ministry students to return in August, and I just received the wonderful news that our Admissions Committee has admitted a record-breaking incoming class for the Fall Quarter when our Masters, Certificate, and Urban Ministry Diploma students return. Good news indeed!
As you have heard, ETS has been approved to offer a new academic degree program, the 
academic Master of Arts, in which students can pursue graduate study specifically in Biblical studies, theology, or ethics. We honor Dr. Anneliese Sinnott, O.P. in her retirement after 29 years on the Faculty of Ecumenical Theological Seminary, and simultaneously welcome our new full-time Faculty member, Dr. Hannah Hofheinz, who has lived in Istanbul, Turkey this past year following the completion of her Th.D. at Harvard Divinity School. The Rev. Dr. Kenneth E. Harris is stepping down as Dean after five years in that role, but will continue his service to ETS as Professor of Biblical Studies, while Rev. Dr. Tony Curtis Henderson moves into the role of Interim Dean. We are in a season of change!
Today, I am emailing you as a friend of Ecumenical Theological Seminary to ask you to consider making a gift to ETS before the end of our fiscal year, coming up at the end of July, just a week away. Your gift will enable our beloved Seminary to 
continue to offer leadership as we prepare the next generation of ministers and chaplains, pastors and priests, activists and scholars who will lead our churches, visit us in hospitals, and write the books that inspire our souls and ministries. We are so thankful for your support over our 35 years of providing a theological education in metropolitan Detroit.
You may click here to make a gift online using a credit or debit card, or send a check, payable to Ecumenical Theological Seminary, to me at Ecumenical Theological Seminary, 2930 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201. If you are interested in other ways of helping ETS through your charitable gifts, information is available at http://www.etseminary.edu/giving.html.
Ecumenical Theological Seminary is strengthened by the loyal support of its alumni/ae and friends, and we thank you for being a blessing to us, so that we might be a blessing to you. Have a wonderful summer.
Peace be with us all,
The Rev. Dr. Stephen Butler Murray
President and Professor of Systematic Theology and Preaching
Ecumenical Theological Seminary
smurray@etseminary.edu
P.S. Please don’t hesitate. ETS’ fiscal year ends on July 31st.
specifically academic focus offered by Ecumenical Theological Seminary, with students able to choose among three areas of focus: Biblical Studies, Theology, or Ethics. In our design of this program, we believed that these three areas represent the academic strengths of our ETS Faculty, with notable faculty members in each of these fields bearing national and even international reputations through their books and journal publications, conference presentations, and leadership roles in academic societies. Furthermore, we believe that these three fields of study, Biblical Studies, Theology, and Ethics, will attract graduate students from a variety of backgrounds: pastors who want to learn more about an academic field that will enhance their preaching and public witness; recent college graduates who wish to gain the foundation of a master’s degree in a field of religious studies before applying to Ph.D. programs; and laity who wish to engage their interests in the academic study of their faith who may be from all walks of life.
version of our M.A. degree, the first graduate degree that Ecumenical Theological Seminary is able to offer fully online. We already boast a strong selection of online courses in Biblical Studies, and look forward in future years to broadening our online courses in the fields of Theology and Ethics. This offers the promise of Ecumenical Theological Seminary, rooted to Detroit in its bones, to attract students from throughout the United States and Canada, even across the globe, for a graduate degree program that is not limited to those who can commute to metropolitan Detroit. The potential of Ecumenical Theological Seminary to become a truly national level seminary is real.
Wayne State University, that all faculty, staff, and students of Ecumenical Theological Seminary will enjoy the same on-site and remote access to WSU library collections as their respective WSU counterparts. This is will allow ETS constituencies access to the extensive Wayne State University research facilities, including the book collection of ETS which will move to the WSU Library system during July 2016. At ETS, we plan to keep a substantial portion of our book collection focused on pastoral ministry, preaching, and counseling materials as the ETS Resource Center, which we hope to make available to our ETS students and alumni in the coming months.
Ecumenical Theological Seminary 