If you enjoyed the catalytic conversation at Karam Forum 2021, either live or on video, we’ve got another treat for you! The Oikonomia Network will be convening three webinars this spring to keep exploring how we can live into a flourishing future in theological education. Our focus is how theological faculty and schools can pursue the vital transition from “education as information” to “education as formation.”
The first of these webinars, “What Comes Next: A Conversation with ATS Director of Accreditation Tom Tanner,” will feature a guest with an especially well-informed vision of the future that awaits our community. Facilitated by Donald Guthrie of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, this discussion promises to uncover new insights you can use in the classroom to live into a flourishing educational future.
The webinar will meet on Thursday, February 11 at 11:00-11:45am central time (noon eastern/9:00 Pacific). It will be free and there is no registration.
Just open this link when it’s time to start.
Put it on your calendar today! And spread the word – all are welcome.
And please hold the dates for these upcoming webinars:
March 25: What I Wish My President/Dean/Faculty Knew in the New Reality
How can we cooperate better as our schools work to reinvent themselves as institutions? Join us March 25 at 11:00-11:45am central:
- Barry Corey, president, Biola University
- Abson Jospeh, dean, Wesley Seminary
- Ellen Marmon, professor, Asbury Theological Seminary
April 15: Embracing the Slash after COVID
Instead of laboring under dual faculty/administration roles as a burden, how can faculty embrace the dual role as an opportunity to revitalize shared governance model for faculty leadership? Join us April 15 at 11:00-11:45am central:
- Scott Rae, Talbot School of Theology
- Philip Thompson, Sioux Falls Seminary
- Jessie Swigart, Covenant Theological Seminary
The inherited model in our schools, which conceives of education as students obtaining information, tends to control our thinking and practice as educators. But it leaves our students with incomplete preparation for the dynamic challenges they will face in the field. It often produces the kind of disconnection between theological knowledge and real life that Darrell Bock spoke about at Karam Forum 2021.
The deeper and older tradition of theological education conceives of education as students obtaining not just information, but formation. Our highest calling as educators is to lead our students in formation as human beings (becoming disciples) and as future leaders (becoming disciples who disciple). In the ON, we have been working toward a fresh expression of that tradition for our time.
The new accreditation standards recently adopted by the Association of Theological Schools offer a game-changing opportunity for the transition that our community is embracing. Many former constraints on what faculty and schools are allowed to do have been lifted. A wide field has opened for us to innovate in ways that carry on the deepest traditions of theological education in renewed ways.
There’s never been a better time for theological faculty to roll up our sleeves and build the future!
Tom Tanner, our guest for the webinar on February 11, is director of accreditation at ATS. From 2018 to 2020, he served as the ATS Commission staff liaison to the task force that developed the new accreditation standards. Few people are as well-qualified to help theological faculty discover what the new standards mean for how we do our work as scholars and educators.
So mark your calendar today for February 11 at 11:00-11:45am central time (noon eastern/9:00 Pacific) and make a note of this link.
That’s everything you need to join us for this stimulating conversation.
We’ll see you then – in the meantime, spread the word to those who might also want to join!
