Denver's Methodist Seminary Holding Steady
At a time when theology schools and seminaries are downsizing, merging or closing, Denver’s Iliff School of Theology is holding steady.
The United Methodist-related school, tucked next to the University of Denver on South University Boulevard and East Iliff Avenue, is little known around the metro but has garnered a national reputation as a progressive theology school rooted in social justice causes. And that reputation might be what’s saving them.
Fewer students have been attending theological schools; enrollment dropped 9 percent in the U.S. and Canada from 2007 to 2017, when there were 72,896 students. That drop comes as Pew Research studies find that fewer Americans identify as religious, a change largely attributed to the growing number of millennials who aren’t members of any organized religion.
But despite the grim picture, the United Methodist seminary has been able to buck the downward trend, surviving in part because of its liberal theology instead of rigid doctrine that is more typical of many religious seminaries, administrators say.
“That is not Iliff’s future,” school President Tom Wolfe said of seminaries closing. “That is not even in our thinking. We are turning this exactly in the opposite direction.”
Students seek social justice
While Mina Nau pursued a career in fashion in Los Angeles, she stayed with a family friend whose son was in San Quentin State Prison.
She answered the phone once when he called. Nau could tell he needed advice, so she dropped a Bible verse. The two began writing and talking about faith. After the fifth letter, they began dating. They’ve been together for six years.
Nau’s boyfriend repeatedly urged her to study theology. He wasn’t the first to make that suggestion. Nau’s family is from Tonga, a Polynesian kingdom of South Pacific islands, and Christianity is one of the biggest tenets of Tongan culture. Eventually, Nau, 35, decided her boyfriend might be right.
“I really don’t know how I ended up (at Iliff) but I was spiritually led to be here and it totally makes sense,” said Nau. “It’s a social justice-oriented institution. It’s the perfect place for me because they care for people who are rejected and not accepted in society.”
Between 35 and 40 faiths are represented in the school’s roughly 300-person student body. Around 30 percent openly identify as LGBTQ.
Four Faculty Promoted to Full Professor
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| Gail Murphy-Geiss, Sociology |
Gail Murphy-Geiss, SociologyMurphy-Geiss earned her Ph.D. in religion and social change at University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology and became an assistant professor at Colorado College in 2004. She teaches Gender Inequality, Sociology of Religion, Sociology of Family, Research Design and Thinking Sociologically. She also teaches courses in the Feminist and Gender Studies program and has taught the course, Contemporary French Society in Lyon, France. One student described Murphy-Geiss’s teaching as follows: “She worked to provide an alternative to the narrative that permeates our culture — the idea that everything around us can be traced back to individuals and their psychology, rather than social forces. At its core, this required constant (and frequently uncomfortable) critical thought. Given the nature of sociology, this also required us to think critically about our own lives and social positioning. It takes a special person to cultivate such a space for this. She always contextualized the need for such critical thought, as well.”
Since earning tenure in 2010, Murphy-Geiss has authored or co-authored three journal articles and two book chapters. The most recent article, “One Size Does Not Fit All: A Case Study of an Alternative Intimate Partner Violence Court,” was published in Feminist Criminology.
Since earning tenure in 2010, Murphy-Geiss has authored or co-authored three journal articles and two book chapters. The most recent article, “One Size Does Not Fit All: A Case Study of an Alternative Intimate Partner Violence Court,” was published in Feminist Criminology.
