About The Black Mountain School of Theology & Community
Our Mission
To be a thriving, creative educational institution that counters systems of oppression and alienation through practices of co-learning and co-action for the purpose of advancing the pursuit of higher goods, the formation of durable communities, and the generation of faithful, structural change.
Our Vision
Re-imagining theological education for cultivating just communities
“I believe that the church holds a distinct power to offer hope and good news to the world. When teams of faithful leaders come together to learn and lead, they equip themselves to offer that hope and good news as the beacons of Christ that God calls us to be. I’m so grateful for the Black Mountain School of Theology and Community – I can’t wait to see how the Holy Spirit will be at work in and through it!”–Rev. Canon, Kristin Uffleman White
First Congregational Cohort
Spring 2022
Our History
The Black Mountain School of Theology & Community was born of a shared passion for the church and hope that congregations can live justly among their neighbors. Long-time practitioners of theological education, congregational ministry, and community organizing, our core group had spent years discussing common concerns. Coming together in 2018 we began to articulate together the need for a new kind of theological educational institution — an institution that embeds collaborative research in the needs and knowledges of communities and localities with an unyielding emphasis on action and social change.
We knew the trends. Congregations were fracturing. Systemic injustices and inequities were compounding. Communities were fraying. And traditional theological institutions were increasingly ill-equipped to engage these challenges in their specific local contexts. In this gulf between the traditional academy and local needs, our team brought significant experience in the power of relationship building, co-learning, and collaborative action for change. We heard again and again, from our students, colleagues, and congregations, a deep hunger for substantive theological engagement. We had witnessed the difference that theological reflection combined with the tools of organizing and located research can make for strengthening institutions and communities and revitalizing congregations.
Catalyzed by the cultural moment, we began to envisage a new kind of platform where our passions, hopes, and expertise could serve communities and enliven churches. In 2019, we founded the Black Mountain School of Theology & Community as a space for reimagining theological education for cultivating just communities.
A shared conviction drives our work: that theological education for the 21st century must focus on helping congregations deepen their theological identities by connecting to their local contexts, collaboratively strengthening their communities, and building their power for making change through work rooted in their core ecclesial practices.
Why Black Mountain? Just as we seek to help organizations discover the importance of place in their own identity and mission, Black Mountain, North Carolina, shapes who we are and the challenges we face. In the mid-20th century, it was the site of The Black Mountain College, one of the most innovative experiments in US higher education. The BMC reimagined formal (university) and informal educational paradigms, leaving an indelible mark on fields as diverse as art, literature and democratic education.
Situated at the “front porch” of the Appalachian Mountains, Black Mountain offers both a scenic environment for cultivating imaginative possibilities and
proximity to the real issues of poverty and racial animosity that pervade US culture at large. Our unique location provides the opportunity to imagine new possibilities for theological engagement and community development that begin to heal the brokenness of our churches and communities.
What is needed right now is a place for congregations, organizing communities, civic-minded collectives to learn how to learn together. The Black Mountain School of Theology & Community seeks to be just such a place—a platform for collaborative inquiry and shared action that capacitates congregations and communities to build knowledge, research, and power to make real change in their localities. We look forward to your joining us in this exciting, collaborative venture, as we together write the next chapter of theological education.