Вашингтонский теологический консорциум: Экуменизм и межконфессиональный диалог.

The Washington Theological Consortium is an ecumenical organization of Christian theological schools and interfaith partners located in Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Members cooperate to deepen ecumenical unity in theological education and to broaden interfaith dialogue and understanding and to prepare both clergy and laity with skills they need to minister in a diverse church and society. The Consortium is one of the most diverse of its kind in the nation, as it includes Roman and Byzantine Catholic traditions, mainline Protestants, Evangelicals, and Historic Black Divinity schools; with partners in spiritual formation, Jewish, and Islamic education. A student enrolled at the master's level or above at a member institution may cross register into courses offered by other member schools. In addition, a student or faculty member of one member institution may use and borrow from other institutions' libraries. Students (and members of the public) may also enroll in one of four Certificates of Study through the Consortium: Ecumenism, Muslim Christian Studies, Ecology and Theology, and Criminal Justice and Reconciliation. Events for faculty development, student dialogue, and public education are held throughout the year. In 2004, the Consortium became the first group of its kind in the United States to include an Islamic graduate school, the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences (GSISS), as an affiliate. The Consortium does shared programming with GSISS now an institute, and with the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies in Baltimore, the Paulist Father's House of Mission and Studies, and the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. In 2020, it welcomed the Washington, D. C. based Museum of the Bible as its first member under the category of "public educational institution."

The Consortium offers services of cross registration of courses and combined library use among students and faculty of its member schools and institutions. It offers regular consultations between presidents of its schools, academic deans, librarians, and other administrative or affinity groups. It offers over 250 courses per semester for cross registration, a dozen theological libraries with 2.2 million books and journals for research, and regular gatherings of school leaders to enhance their collaboration. In addition to member libraries, students and faculty of the Consortium can also draw from other local academic libraries, including Woodstock Theological Library at Georgetown University, the Taha Al Alwani Library (formerly of GSISS), and an association with the Library of Congress that allows members to become research partners there. Theological faculties of member schools are served by the annual Faculties' Convocation, which addresses timely issues of theological education, and by interest area gatherings in Bible, Theology, History, Practical Theology, Worship / Homiletics, Arts and Religion, Science and Religion and more. Faculty area groups in Ecology and in Criminal Justice also oversee the certificates of study in those areas, and the opportunities for team teaching or professor exchanges are coordinated with the academic deans. Joint grant writing and publishing between faculty members are also encouraged through WTC networks. Students are served through a Student Board, which has representatives from each of the theological schools. The Student Board develops and leads three student events a year: including an Opening Prayer Service and Dinner Conversation, a Sermon Slam, with stellar preachers from each of the schools, and other social or academic events. They also plan and lead the annual Prayer Service for Christian Unity, which precedes the Figel Event on Ecumenism.

The public mission of the Consortium is defined by its three annual public events: The annual Tachmindji Event for Interfaith Dialogue is made possible by an endowment given by Diane Tachmindji. The event has included notable speakers such as Dr. Leonard Swidler of Temple University, Dr. Marc Gopin of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University; Dr. Lisa Schirch of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University; Joseph Montville, former U. S. diplomat and Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Dr. Mohamed Abu Nimmer of the School of International Service at American University, Khizr Khan, Esq., speaker at the 2016 Democratic National Convention and Gold Star father of Cpt. Humayun Khan; Aaron David Miller of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and young peace builders Mahmoud Jabari and Doron Shapir from the Seeds of Peace organization. The annual Figel Address on Ecumenism is made possible by the ongoing support of ecumenist Jack Figel. The evening celebrates the Prayer Service for Christian Unity, the presentation of the Consortium Ecumenism Award, and significant lectures on ecumenism by award recipients. In recent years, recipients and lecturers have included Dr. Margaret O'Gara (Roman Catholic) of St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto; Dr. Mel Robeck (Pentecostal) of Fuller Theological Seminary; Dr. Justo Gonzalez (Methodist), founder of the Association of Hispanic Theological Education; Dr. John Ford, CSC (Roman Catholic) of the Catholic University of America, Dr. Joseph Small (Presbyterian) of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology, Dr. John Erickson (Eastern Orthodox) of St. Vladimir's Seminary, and Rev. Dr. Paul McParltan (Roman Catholic) of the Catholic University of America. The Taha Al Alwani Lectures in Muslim Christian Dialogue are made possible by the support of the Heritage Trust in honor of Dr. Taha Jabir Al Alwani, noted Islamic scholar, educator, and pioneer in interfaith dialogue. This event features lectures by an Islamic and Christian scholar, and it has included significant lectures by Dr. Zainab Alwani of the Howard University School of Divinity; Dr. Abdul Aziz Said of the School of International Service at American University; Dr. Richard Jones, the holder of the Alwani Chair in Muslim Christian Dialogue at the Washington Theological Consortium; Dr. Waleed el Ansary of Xavier University, Azizah Y. al Hibri, Esq., formerly of the University of Richmond School of Law and founder of Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights; Dr. Wilhelmus Valkenberg of the Catholic University of America; Dr. Seyed Amir Akrami, Luce Scholar at Eastern Mennonite University and Lecturer at Yale Divinity School; Dr. Amr Abdalla of the Institute for Peace and Security Studies at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; Ambassador Anthony Quainton of the School of International Service at American University; Dr. Sulayman Nyang of the Howard University; Dr. Kwasi Kwakye Nuako of the Howard University School of Divinity; Dr. Abdulaziz Sachedina of George Mason University, Dr. Daniel Madigan, SJ, of Georgetown University, Dr. Sathianathan Clark from Wesley Theological Seminary, and Dr. Salih Sayilgan from Georgetown University.