The Oikonomia Network rejoices to announce that Criswell College has become an ON partner school. We look forward to increased opportunities to serve one another in this new level of relationship.
Criswell, located near the center of downtown Dallas – just two blocks from fellow ON partner Dallas Theological Seminary – is affiliated with the Southern Baptists in Texas Convention. In addition to undergraduate programs, it offers the M.Div. and several other theological master’s degrees. Its annual number of graduates heading into pastoral and other local-church leadership roles makes it comparable to existing ON partners, like Seattle Pacific Seminary, where a smaller theological school is embedded in a larger educational institution.
Many in the ON community know Joseph Wooddell, Criswell’s vice president for academic affairs and one of the ON’s inaugural individual faculty partners. Wooddell is one of several Criswell faculty who have led ON-associated initiatives, such as a documentary video series for students. In a statement about the school’s new ON partnership, Wooddell said:
While slogans like “Engaging Minds, Transforming Culture” help remind institutions of their focus, Criswell College follows through on its slogan. The college supports ON outcomes both institutionally and via professors and their courses. Criswell is becoming an ON partner to expand current support for ON outcomes. Criswell professors have already been attending events put on by the ON and its partners, and the college hopes partnership will not only increase that attendance, but drive professorial innovation toward even stronger and more clearly directed support for ON outcomes both in and outside the classroom.
ON partner schools are as diverse in size as they are in theology, region and demographics. While larger schools have unique opportunities and resources, smaller schools often lead the way in innovation. As many members of Christ’s body, we need each other to carry forward the mission of preparing God’s people for the challenges that lie ahead.
Schools are invited to become partners of the ON by the ON steering committee. This follows a relational process of mutual discernment, focused on the ON’s student outcome goals, in which we ask one another how partnership with the ON can help a school accomplish its educational mission. Feel free to contact us with questions.