The Rev. Allison St. Louis is director of field education and “The Second Three Years,” a mentoring program for graduates of Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, an Episcopal seminary.

John Senior is an assistant professor of the practice of religion and society at Wake Forest Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C. Theological education is among his areas of expertise.

Don Sweeting is president of Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Fla. He wrote an essay on theological education in which he stated he thinks seminary education is more important than ever.

Luder Whitlock Jr. is chairman and interim president of Knox Theological Seminary, a Reformed school in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The school recently launched Knox Virtual for distance students.

Chuck Kelley Jr. is president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, which announced in April 2011 it would lay off seven people, including three professors.

Viki B. Matson is an assistant professor of the practice of ministry and director of field education at Vanderbilt Divinity School at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. Her areas of interest include church leadership development and theological education.

The Rev. Sky McCracken is district superintendent for the Paducah district of the Memphis Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He wrote a July 2011 essay for The United Methodist Reporter in which he questioned the value of seminary education in training pastors to successfully lead congregations.

Joseph A. Bessler is an associate professor of theology at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Okla. He wrote a chapter on the endangered seminary for the book Revitalizing Practice: Collaborative Models for Theological Faculties.

Gary Peluso-Verdend is president of Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Okla., a multidenominational Protestant school. He is also an associate professor of practical theology and is an expert on congregational cultures and training for church leadership.