The Community Engagement Institute at Wesley Downtown
Faithful Leaders for Change
The Community Engagement Institute comprises to Wesley’s Community Engagement Fellows Program, Heal the Sick Program, and the Center for Public Theology, which includes the National Capital Semester for Seminarians program.
What sets Wesley’s CEI Program apart from other institutions is our unique location in the nation’s capital and our ability to provide Fellows with distinct opportunities to deal with vital issues in the church and public arena. Fellows engage in innovative learning in the classroom while participating in transforming communities by innovating, integrating and initiating effective ministries.
In the classroom, students acquire theological and practical grounding and expertise in the areas of urban ministry, missional church, and public theology. In the world, Fellows live what they have learned in community as they develop innovative experiential ministries and engage in theological reflection that informs their identity formation as bridge builders and border crossers engaged in transforming communities toward the reign of God.
The Community Engagement Institute leverages Wesley’s unique location in the nation’s capital to better equip those dealing with vital issues in the public arena. The Institute is at the forefront of theological education, engaging secular and faith leaders around the meaning and shape of community.
Vision Statement
We envision a transforming church that promotes communities where all people are cherished and flourish
Mission Statement
We seek to equip leaders who are theologically grounded, contextually nimble and prophetically engaged in the public square
Spheres of Influence
The Community Engagement Institute is Wesley Theological Seminary’s presence in downtown Washington, D.C. The institute sits at the crossroads of many influences:
- Downtown urban congregations seeking to remain relevant to a gentrifying community
- A neighborhood where homeless people and urban professionals cross paths but seldom engage
- A terminus for Washington’s “K Street” and its legions of power brokers at the foot of Capitol Hill where elected leaders legislate
- A place where Jesus will manifests God’s glory only if as the church can “turns itself inside-out” and becomes a force in the public square
- A place where participating in the Reign of God requires teaching, learning and practicing social ministry entrepreneurship
