May 15, 2024
by Greg Henson, President
We are excited to share a bit about a two-year effort known as the Innovation Accelerator Project. This initiative, supported by the Kern Family Foundation, brought together multiple theological schools to explore how innovation can take root across entire institutions rather than remaining isolated within individual programs.
The project focused on schools engaged in Accelerated Pastoral Degree Programs and created space for shared learning, experimentation, and collaboration. Over the course of the project, participating institutions worked to strengthen their programs while also examining how innovation might extend into governance, operations, and institutional culture.
One of the central insights that emerged is that the primary challenge facing theological education is not a lack of new programs. For decades, schools have responded to declining enrollment and financial pressure by launching new offerings. Yet this approach has not produced the desired results. Research connected to the project showed that nearly all innovation efforts in the field have focused on program development, even as costs have risen and enrollment has declined.
What became clear through this work is that innovation in theological education is a systemic challenge. It involves how institutions understand their mission, how they operate, and how their practices align with what they claim to value. Without addressing these deeper dynamics, new programs alone will continue to fall short.
The Innovation Accelerator Project produced several key resources designed to help schools engage this challenge more effectively. These include an Innovation Readiness Assessment, which helps institutions identify internal barriers and misalignment, and an Innovation Handbook, which provides a structured approach to cultivating innovation across an organization.
The handbook, available here, builds on the Practicing Innovation framework developed by Greg Henson in 2022. That framework shifts the focus from innovation as a product to innovation as a set of practices. Rather than asking what new program should be created, it invites schools to consider how their shared life together either supports or hinders innovation.
At the core of this framework are practices that shape the life of an institution. These include cultivating a trustworthy community, developing a shared understanding of reality, and creating structures that empower participation across the organization. These practices are not steps to complete but ongoing commitments that shape how an institution discerns, experiments, and adapts over time.
The Innovation Accelerator Project demonstrated that when schools engage innovation at this level, new possibilities begin to emerge. In several cases, schools began to rethink not only their programs but also their structures and strategies.
While the formal project has concluded, the work itself continues. The resources developed through this initiative are already being used by schools, networks, and organizations seeking to foster fresh expressions of theological education. The hope is that this work will contribute to a broader movement in which innovation is not confined to isolated initiatives but becomes part of the ongoing life and mission of theological institutions.