The Institute for Excellence began officially this afternoon. Over 100 people have already arrived, with 20 or so additional people expected tonight or early tomorrow morning due to delayed flights. The diversity of the group is amazing, coming from 22 African countries, plus observers and participants from the US, UK, Germany, and Switzerland. The meeting is bilingual, English and French, with translation to the other language, although conversations in German, Portuguese, Twi, Amharic, and Swahili, among others, are taking place on the edges.
The theme of the week is "sustainability." What does that mean? Basically, it gets at the problem of how a seminary manages to accomplish its mission within the constraints of limited resources. My colleague, Scott Cunningham, started the meeting off with a presentation that argued that sustainability is about the intersection of three key components of any training institution - its business model, its educational practice, and its mission. All of these are in turn nested in the dynamic context in which the school operates. Are theological schools able to respond to the rapidly changing needs of churches and broader society? Not a few leaders here feel a bit overwhelmed, as if the floor is shifting beneath them. It is interesting to see many of the schools developing new and creative ways to sustain their missions, including approaches as diverse as renting out facilities, running a banana plantation, or providing agricultural and community development training. Dr. Daniel Aleshire, Executive Director of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) in the United States also gave a presentation on questions of sustainability in North America, to which my colleague and friend Dr. Victor Nakah responded from an African perspective. Today's sessions merely "plowed open the soil," setting the stage for much more robust interaction tomorrow. It's really a joy for me to see these sessions growing increasingly interactive and oriented toward adult learning principles with each passing year. I'm really proud of my colleagues.
Tonight, we shared a wonderful welcome banquet hosted by our friends at the Evangelical Theological College. They served a lovely Ethiopian buffet. A number of special guests from the community joined us, including the US Ambassador to the African Union (based in Addis Ababa). He is a former pastor and president of a theological school in Atlanta. He encouraged the participants that they play a critical role in raising up transformative leaders in Africa. I couldn't agree more. It's really a privilege to be with such a diverse, talented, and engaged group of people. And this is just the beginning. More to come!
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