How to be human in an age of AI
The real question today isn’t whether AI affects humans but instead how people can be faithful to what it means to be faithful
Issue
Summer 2026
23 Articles
Feature Articles
Articles
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How to be human in an age of AI
The real question today isn’t whether AI affects humans but instead how people can be faithful to what it means to be faithful
A new framework from the University of Notre Dame, funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., provides ways to consider humanity in this new age.
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2026. Students have changed. Who’s in class?
ATS-accredited schools are attracting more students than at any point in the past half century. Who’s in class? People of all backgrounds.
Schools are finding a unique student body: young and old; ordained and lay; degree-seeking and lifelong learners; those seeking a vocation and those responding to a changing world.
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Forming chaplains, shaping ministry pathways in Florida
Palm Beach Atlantic University is engaging the community and finding new ways to minister through a Pathways for Tomorrow grant.
The South Florida school is helping ministers connect livelihood and calling in ways that can co-vocational ministers to work in their communities.
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Who saw you first?
It’s up to leaders to recognize – and encourage – the next generation.
Most leaders can identify someone who saw potential in them before they recognized it in themselves.
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On Your Mind | Summer 2026: Letters to the Editor
Your thoughts about the state of theological education and the power of storytelling.
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All together in governance
New research in theological higher education governance suggests that without clarity, the governance model a school uses may not matter
New research from In Trust Center’s Governance Initiative suggests that school leaders and boards may be asking the wrong questions about governance.
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Summer Podcast Picks
From our ears to yours
Our summer edition of Podcast Picks has some uplifting choices about beauty and the arts. You’ll want to take a listen.
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Present Moment | Walking together
The future of schools and the Church is found in synodality
In the ancient Church, synodality was the practice of gathering.
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Congregational recalibration
A new study shows that congregations have come out of the pandemic disruption, and while not a revival, there’s some cautious good news
In new research recently released, the Hartford Institute for Religion Research found new stability in congregational life in the United States.
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We are honored
In Trust magazine receives award for excellence, as well as merit in major design award contest
For the third time in five years, In Trust magazine wins top honor in Associated Church Press awards.
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Future Promise | Choosing hope
Facing very real issues, Black theological institutions have a choice to make
For over 150 years, Black theological institutions have been beacons of hope—anchoring faith, nurturing leaders, and championing justice through America’s most turbulent chapters.
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The mission goes beyond the buildings
Colleen Derr went to a campus to save it. She soon realized the calling was to close the school and carry on in other ways
Institutional leadership often focuses on beginnings, but Colleen Derr realized that faithful leadership also included endings.
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The Census | Cultivating Leaders
Where do leaders come from?
The In Trust Center asked the question and then crunched the data to figure out pathways to leadership in theological education.
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Mission accomplished
Changing a school’s name can renew institutional energy while remaining rooted in its mission.
A name change in Missouri followed years of thought, work, and missional alignment.
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Remark(able) | The role of education
Who is a theological education really for?
A church historian answers the question and his answer should give fodder for theological school boards and leaders to consider.
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Power Points | Advocacy, Advancement, Advice
A reflection for advisory bodies to consider
Advisory bodies should consider their role for a school’s success.
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Just a closer walk
The Museum of Christian & Gospel Music tells the story of a unique American Art.
Nashville’s reputation as the Music City expanded with a new museum focused on religious music.
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Architecture: Moveable Feast
Relocation and renewal creates “a living place of formation”
When St. Charles Borromeo Seminary moved, it created an award-winning chapel that inspires a new generation of students.
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Relics | For the cause of justice
Remembering Rev. John Witherspoon, the only clergy leader to sign the Declaration of Independence
John Witherspoon, president of what today is Princeton University, took a stand for what he called “the cause of justice, of liberty, and of human nature.”
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Films | Two testaments of faith
Two new films point audiences to different periods of American religious history.
A film on the Great Awakening and another on the central figure of the Shakers explore key American movements.
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Focusing on the congregations
Leadership Education changes name and focus with the new Forum for Congregational Life to support faith communities.
The work of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity is expanding, as the school has a new identity, focus, and name.
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Changing Scenes
Seven new leaders answer the call
These leaders have been called to their institutions.
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The Sign | The Hope of the Harvest
In the promise of summer’s bounty, farmers and leaders till the soil of time and circumstance for what will come.
A purloined jalapeno and a church garden tell a different tale of leadership.
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