Introducing Kairos University
God is at work among the NAB family. We are excited to share news of a new era in theological education through Sioux Falls Seminary and Taylor Seminary.
Sioux Falls Seminary and Taylor Seminary are excited to announce the launch of Kairos University in partnership with Evangelical Seminary, Houston Graduate School of Theology, and BLI School of Ministry. As a first-of-its-kind global network with students from 30 countries spread out across six continents, Kairos University is creating fresh expressions of affordable, accessible, relevant, and faithful theological education.
Kairos University is the next step in a vision first shared by Sioux Falls Seminary and Taylor Seminary in 2015. Over the years, as God brought together additional legacy partners and a global network of people, Kairos University has become a platform on which partners, schools, and individuals from around the world can experience theological education at various levels and in various ways.
Kairos University views theological education as a system of interconnected and interdependent parts. Through its global network, nearly 50 different partner organizations are working together to steward followers of Jesus who flourish in their vocations for the sake of the world.
Students can enroll from anywhere in the world, deepening their roots in their local contexts by working with mentors and crafting an educational journey that encourages face-to-face interaction in their communities. In addition to being accessible from anywhere, the educational experience provided by Kairos University is intimate and personal. All around the world, students, mentors, professors, and partners of Kairos University are seeing God move in exciting ways every day. This includes a growing number of students, mentors, professors, and partners within the NAB.
Over the next few months as Sioux Falls Seminary and Taylor Seminary boldly step into the future with their partners, more exciting developments are expected. To learn more about this venture or ask questions, please email Greg Henson or David Williams.
Identity: Part 4 – Irenic
Over a span of six weeks, we will be sharing a series of articles from NAB Executive Director Harry Kelm about our identity as the NAB. You can read the fourth article below or find all of them here.
As the NAB, we can be identified by what we believe and by what our end goals are. We can also be identified by the way we work together. I heard someone say that the best advertisement for the Christian life is how Christians get along. The same person then said the worst advertisement for the Christian life is how Christians get along. As the NAB, we strive to have an irenic spirit with one another.
To be irenic is to move toward peace. In the Scriptures, peace is not the absence of conflict or even a calmness or serenity. It is knowing wholeness and fulfillment in God through Jesus. It is finding meaning in our walk with God and his will for our lives. This is not just intended for us to know individually and personally but also as a community of faith in Jesus. The Bible describes the peace we can have in Jesus, but it also describes us making peace and seeking peace with others.
Romans 14:19 instructs us to make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. God’s peace does not mean peace at any cost or peace at all cost; God’s peace means seeking God’s best for others. This means connecting with each other and working together. This means investing in each other’s lives. This means loving one another, listening to one another, and learning from one another. Philippians 2 tells us to value others above ourselves and to look out for the interests of others.
To be irenic also does not mean we will agree on everything. It is to find the things we agree on and build from there. As the NAB, we must allow our connection with Jesus Christ and each other to help us find ways to understand one other and to work together on those things that God has called us to that bring his peace to our world.
New ITG Booklet
Every year, the NAB International Office puts together a booklet of the current ministry efforts surrounding the four ends of the North American Baptist Conference to send to each NAB church. Inside this booklet are read stories from a church planting couple finding fresh ways to connect with their neighbors, pastors and leaders whose ministry has been positively impacted by Blue Ocean and The Bonfire, international missionaries expanding the Gospel’s reach, and more!
This booklet has already landed in the mailboxes of some NAB churches, but if your church has yet to receive it or you’d like to check out a digital version, you can find one at the link below.