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On My Mind
The straight truth
Categories are useful for defining and organizing complexity but don’t always fit. It’s time to reconsider some of the binary distinctions we use in theological education.
On Your Mind
On Your Mind
I am grateful that Frank Yamada (“Under pressure,” Summer 2023) explored some of the reasons for the accelerating executive turnover in theological schools.
The Star
Podcast picks
Productivity and organization are important. These podcasts will help you find new ways to keep things together.
The Star
Trends, tradition, and hard decisions
Elizabeth Palmer Bennett, CPA, was the vice president for finance and administration and chief financial officer at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania before it merged with Moravian Theological Seminary in 2021.
The Guardian
Big thinking in Hartford
After taking over as president of Hartford Seminary, Joel Lohr, Ph.D., and the board began a process that would end up transforming the institution.
The Guardian
Stewardship
For the Very Rev. Dr. Michael DeLashmutt, helping General Theological Seminary meant going deep into the Anglican tradition.
The Crossing
The truth about trust
Cory Scheer, a former pastor, college administrator, and an expert on trust, explores what it takes for organizations to succeed.
The Guardian
Remark(able)
Take a moment to consider how the institution communicates and how it can help people move toward action in its communications.
The Sign
Humility: A lesson in bronze
As an editor of a busy news operation, I was like a circus ringmaster. Was leadership in the church much different?
The Star
New research about Gen Z mental health and spirituality
New research provides some surprising results but can help seminary leaders prepare for the next generation.
Feature articles
Lessons from a Founding Dean
Doug Strong considers what he learned after spending a significant part of his career taking over a university’s theological program and then founding a seminary.
The Star
A Giant Step for Theological Education
Initiative will help schools understand and experience new “skills or perspectives” to better approach theological education.
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Guide
Wise Stewards Guide
This is "the" guide for people governing theological schools. As the introduction says, "How well a theological school is governed is key to the institution’s overall effectiveness and its fidelity to its mission. In the midst of change and discontinuity, the governing board is the steward that nurtures the purpose and vision of a theological school across the span of time." Download the guide and get started!
White paper
Sustainability and strategic thinking in theological education
White paper
Planning to plan
Guide
The board’s responsibility for evaluating the president
White paper
How to hire consultants
White paper
Scenario planning
White paper
Engaging people in your space
Template
A menu of wise practices for boards
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News & Insights
‘Sitting beside’ people to assess new leaders
Larry Braskamp proposes a type of assessment to engage people at all levels, particularly during a pandemic.
News & Insights
How (and why) to do board assessment
As part of the ongoing work of the In Trust Center's Wise Stewards Initiative, participating schools are completingboard self-assessments, which their faculty coaches are usingto create board development plans. Creating a plan is something that every school should consider doing.
News & Insights
Overwhelmed by the idea of strategic planning? Start here
Strategic planning can be expensive and daunting for boards and executive leadership teams. It can be a great idea to bring in a consultant to lead and guide the process, but for schools struggling with tight budgets, the cost can be prohibitive. So why not handle the strategic planning process internally? The problem might be thatyou don't know where to start, or what model to follow.
News & Insights
Strategic planning = spiritual discernment
Leaders of theological schools routinely navigate the nuances of Torah law; Trinitarian controversies; the oeuvre of Rahner, Barth, and Marion; not to mention the subtleties of shared governance. Yet we can still be intimidated by the occult mysteries of strategic planning — not just planning, mind you, butstrategic planning.
News & Insights
The board’s responsibility for evaluating the president
"Regular evaluation of presidential performance is among the top responsibilities assigned to boards of theological schools. It is also a task that many board members prefer not to tackle. So they don't."

So begins the In Trust Center's resource guide,The Board's Responsibility for Evaluating the President, a free resource written by governance expert Rebekah Burch Basinger.The guide outlines five principles to consider so that the board and the president can approach the presidential evaluation with confidence and competence.
View All Related News & Insights
Videos & Webinars
Conflict + Crisis: Navigating the Shoals Part 1
Presenter Donna Alexander, President & CEO of Advoxum Global Strategies, offers best practices for navigating conflict and crisis. She examines the crucial elements of defining conflict and crisis, identifying, and prioritizing affected stakeholders, utilizing effective communication strategies, and ultimately, executing a plan of action.
Videos & Webinars
Stakeholder Management Planning
With any organizational plan, certain pivotal individuals – both internal and external – hold significant influence over our goals. To ensure the success of a program, initiative, or on-going strategy, we must prioritize these “Audiences of One” differently from larger audiences. Learn how the “Stakeholder Management Plan” tracks the status of these relationships to help boost overall success.
Videos & Webinars
Using Change Management Best Practice to Achieve a Sustainable Business Model: Part 1
Webinar 1 of a two-part series provides a change management framework to include best practice for leading change initiatives and common pitfalls to avoid. This session includes a consideration of institutional readiness for change, especially around the use of a strategic finance lens.
Videos & Webinars
Guiding Transformations: Change Management
The In Trust Center is pleased to announce a new webinar series focused on change management models. These webinars are presented by rpk GROUP, a national leader in helping institutions create sustainable business models that reflect both mission and market. This series includes two webinars. Webinar 1 provides a change management framework to include best practice for leading change initiatives and common pitfalls to avoid. This session will include a consideration of institutional readiness for change, especially around the use of a strategic finance lens.
Videos & Webinars
Change Management
This webinar series addresses the basics of change management and adaptive leadership needed to navigate change.
Videos & Webinars
Executive Parameters: Optimizing the Relationships Between Presidents and Their Governing Boards
In this session, we consider the policies, practices, and key performance indicators most helpful to supporting the essential partnership between the president and the governing board.
Videos & Webinars
Hiring a Consultant: Why, When, Who, and How?
This webinar, led by Donna K. Alexander, President and CEO of Advoxum Global Strategies, will help lower the perceived hurdles to hiring a consultant so you can achieve strategic goals, improve the bottom line, and yield excellent results for your institution.
Videos & Webinars
Building a Strategic Communications Plan: How to Use Communications to Deliver on Your Highest Priority Goals
Join Josh Peskin from Millwork Strategies as he talks about strategic communications plans.
Videos & Webinars
Guiding Transformations
Dr. David Rowe, creator of TransformingCollege.com and former interim president of Lancaster Theological Seminary, will lead this series, helping participants turn mental models that explain how theological education is being disrupted into frameworks for overcoming that disruption.
Videos & Webinars
It’s lonely near the top: How a trusted advisor can help you
Learn the value of having a trusted advisor and how to select one to meet your needs as a leader.
Videos & Webinars
Finishing Well: When Leading Means Leaving
This webinar will address how seminaries can own their destiny by being responsible and "finishing well," rather than closing in crisis.
Videos & Webinars
Demystifying the Research Process for Mission-Driven Organizations
Join us for a webinar led bySpringtide Research Instituteabout 'Demystifying the Research Process for Mission-Driven Organizations'.
View All Related Videos & Webinars
Podcast
Ep. 50 - Hartford's story, making big change
After taking over as the president of Hartford Seminary, Joel Lohr, Ph.D., undertook a new strategic plan, which seemed routine. But after bringing in Rick Staisloff of rpk GROUP, he saw an opportunity and charted a course that ended with a revitalized mission and a new name: Hartford International University of Religion and Peace.
Podcast
Ep. 48: Keeping the mission vibrant - Lancaster's story
While serving as an interim president of Lancaster Theological Seminary, Dr. David Rowe was challenged with how to merge the school and preserve its mission. Rowe and Elizabeth Palmer Bennett, former CFO at Lancaster, discuss how the development of the merger came about, their observations, and the lessons they learned in the process.
Podcast
Ep. 43: Making CHANGE in theological education
Is there a way to help theological schools cut overhead costs and free up resources to focus on mission? That’s the goal of the CHANGE (Configuring Higher Education Administration for Next Generation Excellence) Initiative, one of the projects funded in Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative. In this episode of the podcast, Dr. David Boshart, president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and Dr. Jeff Williams, the project director of the CHANGE Initiative, provide an overview of how a nonprofit organization could provide business offerings to schools, increasing quality of services while allowing schools the space to innovate. Dr. Jeff Williams can be reached here: jwilliams@ambs.edu
Podcast
Ep. 38: Moving for mission: Gordon-Conwell’s pivot
Rev. Dr. Scott Sunquist, the seventh president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, joins the podcast to talk about the school’s “pivot”
Podcast
Ep. 34: Making a turnaround happen: Midwestern’s story
In this episode, Dr. Allen talks about some of the principles that led to the change as outlined in his new book Turnaround: The Remarkable Story of an Institutional Transformation and the 10 Essential Principles and Practices that Made it Happen. 
Podcast
Ep. 32: Transforming the Education Model
Dr. David Rowe answers questions about why the educational model needs change and offers practical advice for theological school leaders.
Podcast
Ep. 29: Preparing for crises
Dorian Persaud, a seasoned employment attorney who works with theological schools, helps organizations anticipate and understand key crisis issues before they happen.
Podcast
Ep. 22: Consultant Series: A conversation with Carol Marturano-Becker
In this week’s episode, we kick off our Consultant Series with Carol Marturano-Becker, founder of IMPACT Learning Inc.
View All Related Podcast Episodes

Upcoming Events

The In Trust Center hosts learning community spaces throughout the year. Check out our upcoming events below.

Conflict + Crisis: Navigating the Shoals, Part 2 – A Deeper Dive

Thursday, February 15, 2024, 1:00 p.m. (ET)

Presenter Donna Alexander, President & CEO of Advoxum Global Strategies, offers best practices for navigating conflict and crisis. She examines the crucial elements of defining conflict and crisis, identifying, and prioritizing affected stakeholders, utilizing effective communication strategies, and ultimately, executing a plan of action. Click here to register.

In Trust Center Resource Grants

FEBRUARY 22, 2024, 1 PM (ET)

An In Trust Center Resource Grant offers member schools a chance to explore innovation at their institutions through a matching grant opportunity of up to $15,000. Join us for this 30-minute information session, including Q&A, as we provide details on eligibility requirements, funding priorities, application process. Previous grantees are eligible to apply as long as they are not within our current funding cycle. Click to register.

Conflict + Crisis: Navigating the Shoals, Part 1

ON DEMAND

Presenter Donna Alexander, President & CEO of Advoxum Global Strategies, offers best practices for navigating conflict and crisis. She examines the crucial elements of defining conflict and crisis, identifying, and prioritizing affected stakeholders, utilizing effective communication strategies, and ultimately, executing a plan of action.

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