Skip to content
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

Auburn Theological Seminary

Auburn Theological Seminary identifies and strengthens leaders—from the pulpit to the public square—to build communities, bridge divides, pursue justice, and heal the world.  

LEARN MORE
Copy of Untitled Design (5)

About Auburn Theological Seminary

Auburn Theological Seminary exists to nurture and grow a diverse community of faith leaders working together for a loving, just, and healed world. The work we do at Auburn spans ages, locations and faith traditions. Our Leadership Development, Research, and Storytelling & Narrative Change programs deliver transformative training and resources to emerging and established faith leaders nationwide.  As a visionary theological seminary for today’s world and tomorrow’s leaders, for more than two centuries, Auburn has cultivated diverse faith leaders, growing vital skills, understanding, and community to seed theological imagination and connection for a flourishing world. 

 

Auburn is committed to:

Ground faith and religious leaders in their traditions and a diverse multifaith community of learners

Equip leaders with vocational practices and tools to sustain their work long-term and intergenerationally.

Connect leaders committed to healing the world with peers across religious and cultural differences.

Our Programs

Auburn Theological Seminary hosts in-person and virtual programs throughout the year. Our Dean’s Lectures are virtual and open to all who register. Our cohort programs for Emerging Leaders, WINKS, and Storytelling and Narrative Change leaders are by application and begin with in-person intensives followed by virtual gatherings. 

Auburn Courses on the PSR Collective

Building Community Course coming summer 2025.

Date Pending

View
Date Pending

View

What Participants Are Saying

I remember the leadership feedback... [It] really, really encouraged me, and stuck with me. You told me that I had power. You told me that, that there was a sort of radiant brilliance ...a light to what I do. I left this program feeling very empowered and comforted by people who really saw me and saw the best in me.

Gloria, Cohort 3 [Christian]

On Leading with Love

We actually faced a series of pretty serious leadership challenges [in my congregation] this summer...but I think this [program] actually helped me work with our board to listen deeply, to create space for people who give voice to how they're feeling, and then to build consensus on how we're going to move forward. And I think where previously, I'm like, well, we won't figure this out ... you really gave me the tools to go, no let's hold space, even if it's difficult, even if we disagree, right?

Brandon, Cohort 2 [Christian]

On Bridging Divides

No matter the age, no matter the background, no matter the faith experience everyone was seeking meaningful allyship and bonds, and they were there with a true intentional purpose to understand how to solve ongoing conflicts within their communities. To see that level of gravitas from everyone in a program like this was comforting.

Afif, Cohort 3 [Muslim]

On Building Community

You don't get to the context of how people internalize stories without sitting with them, without being in proximity. And how often do people get the chance to do that? That's important. That shapes your ability to be in any community.

Samiah, Cohort 1 [Jewish]

On Bridging Divides

“It’s clear that Auburn has spent a lot of time thinking about the pedagogy of how they were going to bring us all together and the structure of every single day...Being able to have so many different modalities in which we’re not only just learning these things, but also playing with them, putting them into practice. It’s really helped me learn some of these skills in a much more powerful way.”

— Liz, a Jewish Emerging Leader cohort member

“This interfaith space and these practical tools feel like professional lifesavers for me right now. I’ve been reminded all week how nourishing and impactful interreligious spaces can be, and I’m already looking forward to growing more of those connections in my home city and communities. My mind is also buzzing with how these reconciliation tools can be used in truly every faith-based, nonprofit, and/or reflective space I work in — and how I might combine them with other tools and practices I had already possessed before the program. Much material for exploration and collaboration!”

– [name], Christian Emerging Leader cohort member

Upcoming Cohorts

2-2

Storytelling and Narrative Change Cohort Fall 2025 

Auburn’s Storytelling and Narrative Change program equips leaders with tools to identify, engage, and transform the religious and spiritually rooted narratives and stories that cause fear, scarcity, division, distrust, isolation, and alienation. Drawing on Auburn’s history going back to the groundbreaking work of the late Dr. Walter Wink, leaders will be equipped to name the narratives that feed ruptures and conflict. They will be provided storytelling tools to proclaim, reclaim, propagate, and employ prophetic and hopeful narratives across faith traditions that lead to healing and the common good. The Storytelling program begins with an in-person residential retreat followed by a year of monthly virtual cohort gatherings.  

Worshiping Intergenerationally and Nurturing Kids through Story (WINKS) 2025 date and location TBA 

Auburn’s WINKS program develops leaders who nurture children through worship using an updated curriculum first pioneered by long-time Auburn faculty, the late Dr. Walter Wink. The method nurtures children’s spirituality and faith by engaging all ages in the text and how it speaks to our social situation, through hearing, playing, embodying, and applying the text. These in-person programs are intergenerational and family-friendly so leaders may bring children to the training. 

1-2