This week I am pleased to welcome Dr. Brent Sleasman as he shares about some of the ways Winebrenner Seminary is reimagining seminary education and preparing leaders for service in God’s kingdom. There are some great things happening through the work of Winebrenner Seminary and I encourage to check out more at www.winebrenner.edu.
Christ’s Peace,
Lance
I grew up at the Indian Head Church of God in the Allegheny Region (or the “West Penn Conference,” as we used to call it). I was an active member of our church youth group and occasionally served as our church’s youth delegate to our annual conference sessions. Then, in 1992, 1995, and 1998, I remember coming to Findlay to serve as a youth delegate to General Conference (although by 1998 I was pushing the boundaries of what it meant to be a “youth delegate”). It was great to get to meet others from across the denominations and learn stories from states that I wouldn’t visit until much later in life.
As Lance has shared, the theme for the 2022 triennial sessions is “Reimagine.” It’s a theme that resonates with me since I spend a considerable amount of time reflecting upon what it means to reimagine theological education at Winebrenner Theological Seminary. Everyone has an opinion about “change” but it’s important to note that creativity is a central part of what it means to be human.
Perhaps you’ve heard some variation of the phrase “today’s tradition is yesterday’s innovation” when considering organizational change and the future of the Church and theological education. When considering ways in which seminaries and theological education can be “reimagined” I am encouraged by the imagery of new life that emerges each Spring as green pops up out of the ground.
As Spring approaches (slower in some areas than others!) we will be met by a variety of flowers and new growth that will all look unique and beautiful in their own ways. If God desired all of his creation to look the same, he would have designed things in a much more basic manner. But, as the coming weeks and months will reveal, God’s design is filled with creatures and plant life that seem to share only one thing in common – they all depend upon God for sustaining health.
I’m inviting you to join the conversation! First, Winebrenner produces a weekly blog as well and over the past two months we’ve been exploring various ways in which we can creatively rethink how we approach our work at Winebrenner Theological Seminary.
Our blog is called InDepth and is focused on reimagining theological education. In case you missed one of the posts you can click on any of the following below:
Reimagining Theological Education: Introduction
Reimagining Theological Education: Priming the Conversation
Reimagining Theological Education: Collaboration
Reimagining Theological Education: Academics
Reimagining Theological Education: Enrollment & Admissions
Reimagining Theological Education: Finances
Reimagining Theological Education for a Different World
Reimagining Theological Education: Funding
Secondly, we are slowly introducing content on our digital platform, Co-Mission. Accounts are free and the site can be accessed by going to co-mission.net. We are inviting conversations with churches and regions about ways we can develop and deliver content focused on discipleship.
Thank you for the many ways you support Winebrenner Theological Seminary. I’m excited to share more with you at General Conference this summer as we “REIMAGINE” for 2022 and beyond!
Dr. Brent C. Sleasman, President
Winebrenner Theological Seminary
CGGC eNews—Vol. 16, No. 11
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