Note: This article is the latest in a series highlighting resources for theological educators. In June 2019, the Acton Institute will welcome 50 Oikonomia fellows to Grand Rapids, Mi. to attend Acton University. Being awarded an Oikonomia fellowship is a unique opportunity for a cohort of seminary professors to network during our four-day conference promoting sound anthropology and economic understanding in seminaries […]
Seminary Spotlight: Wesley Seminary
Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University has had an integrative mission from its founding in 2009. It is against this backdrop that we view our partnership with, and participation in, the Oikonomia Network. There are strong affinities between the way Wesley Seminary fulfills its mission to “prepare Christian leaders to engage in missional ministry locally […]
Seminary Spotlight: Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
One of the many things we have discussed among our faculty and with our students over the past five years is how work and economics represent a major arena in our lives, through which we have opportunities to love and serve our neighbors. It is a reminder that we exist in a network of relationships […]
New EWP Talk: The Portable Trinity
The Trinity isn’t about counting to three, it’s about the God who sends us – including the “sending” we can remember and rest upon in our daily work. That’s the message of Fred Sanders’ talk at Karam Forum 2019, now available as an Economic Wisdom Project Talk for use in your classroom. Is the doctrine […]
Vocation & TOW Curricular Workshops: Insights
This the latest in a series of articles sharing insights from a joint curricular development initiative of the ON, the Theology of Work Project and three ON schools (Asbury, Assemblies of God and Western). Previous articles in this series have dealt with the integration of vocation and theology of work elements in core seminary courses. […]
Miroslav Volf on the Crisis of Theology
At a joint meeting of the 2019 ON faculty retreat and three ON-sponsored scholarly colloquia, Miroslav Volf gave a provocative talk on “The Crisis of Theology.” Speaking after dinner on January 2, just before Karam Forum, Volf laid out what he saw as the nature of the crisis – or, rather, two deeply connected crises […]
Moses, Modern Finance, and Payday Lending
When friends learned I was studying lending in the Old Testament, some asked: What about “payday loans”? Let’s see how the Old Testament’s teaching about loan ethics applies to this controversial practice. As we have seen, one component of Old Testament generosity for the working poor is loans to support subsistence expenses; in such loans, […]
Seminary Spotlight: Sioux Falls Seminary
Previous articles on Sioux Falls Seminary have shared stories of how our innovative approach to theological education, Kairos, is enabling students to cultivate human flourishing in both ecclesial and non-traditional contexts of ministry. Since the Kairos model was launched in the fall of 2014, its success has required ongoing, overlapping processes of assessment, evaluation and […]
Seminary Spotlight: LABI College
Founded in 1926 by Alice E. Luce, LABI College is one of the oldest Hispanic Bible Colleges in the country. Over the past ninety-two years, LABI has trained and equipped thousands of pastors, ministers, superintendents and professional leaders. Recently, LABI has made new progress on a number of fronts, continuing our mission to prepare students […]
New ON Impact Report
At Karam Forum in Dallas, the Oikonomia Network presented its new 2018 Impact Report. This document introduces the mission and vision of the network, with an overview of who our partners are and what we’re doing; provides testimonies and statistics on the scope of our impact; and previews our needs and opportunities for the years […]
Our New Curricular Integration Page
As a new semester begins – and due dates for next year’s syllabi are coming up – it’s a great time to think afresh about curricular integration of oikonomia issues in your classes. The insights of whole-life discipleship, fruitful work and economic wisdom are not some separate subject over on the side for theological education. They represent […]
Karam Forum: 2019 Memories, 2020 Anticipation
Karam Forum 2019 was an unforgettable experience! We are sent by the Son with the Spirit, just as the Father sends the Son; we are called to our work with the same call that calls us to Christ; we must find the sacred in the church to find it in the world. We released our […]
Moses, Modern Finance and Poverty
What implications can be drawn from the Old Testament Torah teaching on lending and interest passages (Exod. 22:25, Lev. 25:35-36, and Deut 23:19-20)? The previous article in this series showed how access to loans without interest is an important component of generosity and compassion for the working poor in need of help with subsistence needs. […]
Seminary Spotlight: Covenant Theological Seminary
Covenant Seminary in St. Louis has increased its commitment over the past decade to viewing and delivering theological education that emphasizes and values all vocations as vital to God’s mission of redeeming and restoring all things in Jesus Christ as reflected in Colossians 1:15-20. Joining the Oikonomia Network at the end of 2017 both reflected […]
Seminary Spotlight: Criswell College
2018 was a banner year for Criswell College. We celebrated our one-year anniversary as an Oikonomia Network partner school, and we took steps to begin the largest and most comprehensive undertaking in the school’s nearly 50-year history. Ministry-Minded in All Vocations While many of our graduates in the past have gone on to work in […]