Moving Forward Together
Stepping Boldly into the Future
Taylor Seminary and Sioux Falls Seminary are stepping boldly into the future of theological education by coming together to create a first-of-its-kind, bi-national system of theological education.
After nearly five years of ever-deepening partnership, Taylor and Sioux Falls are entering a formal union wherein both schools will be governed by the same board and will share one accreditation, one staff, one faculty, and one mission.
Through this union, the institutions will leverage the Kairos Project to provide affordable, accessible, relevant, and faithful journeys of discipleship that can lead to certificates and degrees at the bachelor, master, and doctoral levels.
What is the Kairos Project?
With over 500 students, 1,000 mentors, and nearly 70 faculty members spread out across four continents, 30 countries, 4 provinces, and 30 states, the Kairos Project has become one of the largest, most diverse, and most innovative systems of accredited theological education in the world.
Students in the Kairos Project engage in a journey of discipleship that prepares them to thrive in their vocations as they join God on mission. People from all walks of life are engaged in Kairos. Pastors, lawyers, doctors, nonprofit executives, fighter pilots, missionaries, church planters, and more are pursuing degrees that were once out of reach for them. Through this union, Taylor and Sioux Falls will expand the opportunities available through the Kairos Project. In fact, a fully- accredited bachelor’s degree and a research-level doctoral degree will be available starting this fall!
One Mission, Renewed Heritage
Looking toward the future, Taylor and Sioux Falls Seminaries are grateful for the work God has done in and through them. The schools will faithfully honor the past as they fully appreciate and embrace the future God has in store. The unique heritage and identity of both schools will continue to be honored and celebrated even as God calls Taylor and Sioux Falls forward into a remarkable new journey.
One way to honor the past is by retaining both institutions. In Canada, business will continue to be done as Taylor Seminary and in the United States as Sioux Falls Seminary. Faithful followers of Jesus have invested much time, energy, and resources in both of these institutions. It is important to remember this heritage and bring it forward into the future.
Another way of honoring the past is through a commitment to offer undergraduate education once again. The vision is to launch an undergraduate program that is affordable, accessible from anywhere around the world, relevant to a student’s vocation, and faithful to the unshakeable truth of God’s word. The prayer is that this opens doors that have been closed for many years. Through this union, the seminaries are a bi-national system of education, a North American Baptist college and seminary, that can serve the North American Baptist (NAB) Conference.
While honoring the past, the schools are fully embracing the future. God has much in store. Taylor and Sioux Falls are excited to be moving forward together, united around God’s mission, their NAB heritage, and their shared passion for serving the Body of Christ.
Exciting Next Steps
As an exciting first step, the seminaries will launch the Kairos Development Network, an innovative approach to collaboration wherein partners from around the world can work together to develop servants for participation in the Kingdom mission. Comprised of schools, churches, ministries, and other kingdom-minded organizations, the Network will share resources, ideas, and learning in order to make the Christ-centered development of people more affordable, accessible, relevant, and faithful. More information about the Network’s first partners will be announced next week!
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Greg Henson and David Williams
More Information
This article has also been published on the Taylor Seminary taylor-edu.ca/union and Sioux Falls Seminary sfseminary.edu/union websites. If you have questions or would like to talk with someone at one of the seminaries, please contact David Williams at Taylor Seminary david.williams@taylor-edu.ca or Greg Henson at Sioux Falls Seminary ghenson@sfseminary.edu.