November 3, 2025
by Greg Henson, Kairos University President and CEO
Fostering fresh expressions of theological education may be the most important work we can do in this season. Over the past several decades, we have witnessed significant shifts that have shaped and reshaped the landscape of theological education. Tuition has increased. Student debt has grown. Dropout rates remain high. Enrollment surged for a time but has since declined, and in many places the perceived value of theological education has eroded. At the same time, the relationship between the church and the academy has grown more fragile.
Ted Smith refers to this pattern as an unraveling, and that may be the most accurate word for what we are experiencing. It is not a simple story of decline. It is the loosening of structures and assumptions that once held things together. In some ways, that unraveling feels disorienting. But it can also be a gift. Because when things come apart, we are given the opportunity to ask what still matters, what must be reimagined, and what the Spirit might be inviting us to become.
This series has offered one way of engaging that opportunity. It began with the theological foundations for innovation: our calling to participate in God’s mission, to practice ongoing discernment, and to steward what has been entrusted to us. It named five barriers that often keep institutions from moving forward. And it introduced eight practices that can help communities foster trustworthy relationships, develop a shared view of reality, and create structures that empower rather than constrain.
None of these practices are formulas. They are not prescriptions for growth or guarantees of success. They are postures, habits, and ways of being that open space for the Spirit to work. They invite institutions to align their words and actions, to steward information with clarity, to build resilient trust, and to define problems with both data and empathy. They call for a form of strategy rooted in discernment, not control. They require us to release power, think in terms of systems, and embrace change as a continuous process of learning.
To practice innovation in this way is to walk a different path than the one offered by conventional approaches to change. It is slower. It is more relational. And it is more disruptive. But it is also more faithful. Because at its core, innovation in theological education is not about institutional preservation. It is about forming communities that are able to respond to God’s call with imagination, courage, and hope.
This is not easy work. But it is necessary. And it is worth doing together. The challenges facing theological education are significant. But so is the opportunity. As the unraveling continues, we have the chance to weave something new.
Let us move forward not with fear, but with trust. Not with anxiety, but with openness. Not with nostalgia, but with hope. Let us practice innovation not because we are chasing what is next, but because we are committed to joining Jesus on mission.