By Rev. Betty Whitted Holley, Ph.D., President, Payne Theological Seminary
There are moments in the life of an institution when partnership becomes more than cooperation—it becomes a declaration of possibility. Such a moment has arrived for Payne Theological Seminary and Edward Waters University, two historic institutions of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Payne Theological Seminary and Edward Waters University have signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that creates new educational opportunities for students preparing to serve the Church and the world. Through this partnership, Payne students will have opportunities to pursue theological education while simultaneously expanding their preparation in business, public administration, cybersecurity, and education policy and advocacy.
This collaboration represents the power of AME institutions working together to strengthen our students, our Church, and the communities we have been called to serve.
Two Historic AME Institutions—One Expansive Vision
Payne Theological Seminary and Edward Waters University share more than denominational affiliation. Both institutions emerged from the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s historic commitment to education, liberation, leadership, and service.
Our ancestors understood that education was essential to freedom. They built schools, colleges, and seminaries because they recognized that faith must be accompanied by knowledge and that spiritual leadership must be equipped to address the realities confronting our communities.
Today, that commitment requires us to prepare leaders for realities that our ancestors could scarcely have imagined.
The twenty-first-century minister must certainly be able to preach the Gospel, interpret Scripture, provide pastoral care, lead worship, and nurture congregations. But today’s ministry also intersects with organizational leadership, economic development, public policy, education, technology, cybersecurity, nonprofit management, and community transformation.
The Church needs leaders who can stand confidently in both the pulpit and the public square.
This partnership helps us prepare them.
Expanding the MDiv Experience
Through the MOU, eligible Payne Master of Divinity students will have the opportunity to pursue dual master’s-level educational pathways combining the MDiv with graduate study through Edward Waters University.
These opportunities include:
- Master of Divinity (MDiv) and Master of Business Administration (MBA)
- Master of Divinity (MDiv) and Master of Public Administration (MPA)
- Master of Divinity (MDiv) and Master of Science in Cybersecurity
- Master of Divinity (MDiv) and Master of Arts in Education Policy and Advocacy
The programs will be available through online learning, providing greater accessibility for students whose ministries, employment, families, and geographic locations may make traditional residential study difficult. This is especially significant for theological education today. Many of our students are already serving congregations, working in communities, raising families, and answering God’s call while balancing numerous responsibilities. Online access allows theological and professional preparation to meet students where they are while expanding where they may ultimately serve.
Preparing Ministers for the World They Actually Serve
These dual-degree opportunities recognize an important truth: ministry does not happen in isolation from the world. Consider the possibilities:
A pastor equipped with an MBA may be better prepared to understand organizational management, finance, entrepreneurship, stewardship, and economic development.
A minister with an MPA can bring theological insight into public administration, government, nonprofit leadership, community development, and public policy. A pastor trained in cybersecurity can help congregations and faith-based organizations understand the growing challenges surrounding technology, digital security, privacy, and the protection of institutional information. A theological leader educated in Education Policy and Advocacy can engage questions of educational equity, public policy, community advocacy, and the continuing struggle to ensure quality educational opportunities for children and communities too often left behind.
In each case, theological education remains foundational. Yet the student’s capacity for ministry is expanded. We are preparing leaders who can interpret Scripture—and budgets; understand theology—and public policy; provide pastoral leadership—and organizational leadership; proclaim hope from the pulpit—and help build systems that make hope visible in communities.
Extending the Opportunity to Doctor of Ministry Students
Another exciting dimension of this partnership is that the opportunity will not be limited to Master of Divinity students. Payne Doctor of Ministry students will also have opportunities to pursue these additional areas of graduate study while completing their doctoral education.
This is particularly important because Doctor of Ministry students are already experienced practitioners. They are pastors, denominational leaders, chaplains, educators, administrators, community leaders, and agents of transformation.
Imagine the possibilities when advanced theological reflection is combined with sophisticated preparation in business, public administration, cybersecurity, or educational policy and advocacy. Such interdisciplinary preparation can strengthen not only individual ministries but also congregations, communities, institutions, and the broader African Methodist Episcopal Church.
The Power of AME Institutions Working Together
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of this agreement is what it represents institutionally. This is AME educational collaboration in action.
At a time when institutions of higher education face significant challenges, collaboration can no longer be viewed simply as an attractive option. It must become part of how we imagine sustainability, innovation, and service.
Our AME educational institutions possess extraordinary histories, resources, faculty expertise, intellectual traditions, and spiritual legacies. When we identify opportunities to share those strengths, we multiply what is possible for our students.
We do not diminish one institution by partnering with another. We strengthen both.
And more importantly, we strengthen the students whom God has entrusted to our care.
The partnership between Payne Theological Seminary and Edward Waters University demonstrates what can happen when AME institutions ask not merely, “What can we accomplish individually?” but also, “What might God enable us to accomplish together?”
Honoring Our History by Preparing for the Future
Our founders established AME educational institutions because they believed that people of African descent deserved places where their minds could be developed, their faith nurtured, their leadership cultivated, and their God-given gifts released into the world.
We honor that history not merely by preserving what they built. We honor it by continuing to build.
The challenges confronting today’s Church demand leaders who are spiritually grounded, theologically educated, technologically aware, administratively capable, socially conscious, and prepared to navigate complexity without surrendering their Christian witness.
This partnership represents an investment in precisely that kind of leader.
It also sends an important message to prospective students: theological education can open doors rather than narrow them. A call to ministry does not prevent one from developing expertise in business, government, technology, education, or public leadership. Indeed, those additional competencies may become powerful instruments through which one’s ministry is expressed.
A New Chapter of Possibility
At Payne Theological Seminary, we believe theological education must prepare students not simply for the Church as it has been, but for the Church and world that are emerging.
Our partnership with Edward Waters University represents another step toward that future.
We celebrate the leadership of both institutions that made this MOU possible. We celebrate the faculty and staff who will help translate an agreement into meaningful educational experiences. Most of all, we celebrate the students whose ministries and professional possibilities will be enlarged through this collaboration. Two historic AME institutions are joining their strengths.
Two educational legacies are embracing shared opportunities. And a new generation of leaders will benefit because we chose collaboration over isolation and possibility over limitation.
This is more than an MOU. It is an investment in the future of ministry.
It is an investment in the future of leadership. It is an investment in the future of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
May this partnership serve as both an achievement and an invitation—an invitation for our AME institutions to continue discovering what becomes possible when we work together for the flourishing of our students, our Church, our communities, and God’s world.
