Over the past weeks InDepth has provided insights about what we learned during our 2018-2023 Strategic Plan. You can access the summaries by clicking below:
Strategic Recap: Our 2018-2023 “Strategic Plan” in Review
Strategic Recap, Part 2: Creating Alternative Pathways to Graduate Theological Education
Strategic Recap, Part 3: A Winebrenner Platform with Initiatives
Strategic Recap, Part 4: Shifting from Pipelines to Platforms
Strategic Recap, Part 5: From “Pursuing a degree” to personal growth and discipleship
As we move forward with the 2023-2028 Strategic Plan, here is a summary of the strategic priorities for the upcoming five years:
Stewardship
A starting point and carry over from the items that emerged from the framework of the 2018-2023 Strategic Plan is Winebrenner’s commitment to low fixed costs and the $300/month tuition.
A helpful metric that has emerged is the “Cost to Educate” a student, in which the total budgeted expenses are divided by the total number of students. We’ve been tracking this since 2021 and provides a helpful historical marker for how well the organization is managing costs.
While often thought of strictly in financial terms, stewardship also takes into account anything that we are managing, including those items we’ve inherited from past years such as our strong relationship with the Churches of God, General Conference, accreditation relationships that are all in good standing, and personnel who are part of Winebrenner’s team.
Discipleship
A starting point and carry over from the items that emerged from the framework of the 2018-2023 Strategic Plan is Winebrenner’s commitment to creative curriculum, the deeper practice of bachelor equivalency, and an understanding that an increasing number of Winebrenner students are engaging us for a “job to be done” in their spiritual life and ministry and not in the pursuit of a degree.
Discipleship, at its core, has to do with becoming more like Jesus. Winebrenner does not primarily function in an evangelistic manner so we must recognize that students had a life of Christian faith before inviting Winebrenner into their lives. Our approach to theological education as discipleship should contribute to a student’s walk with Jesus and not just educational outcomes.
Collaboration
A starting point and carry over from the items that emerged from the framework of the 2018-2023 Strategic Plan is Winebrenner’s commitment to the four initiatives built upon the Winebrenner platform as well as a growing recognition that we must prioritize platforms and not just pipelines for students.
The intersection of stewardship, discipleship, and collaboration contributes to a growing “ecosystem” in which Winebrenner has a unique network within the larger landscape of theological education.
Next week I’ll share an invitation of how you can join in the process of clarifying these three items as we move toward 2023-2028!
- Brent C. Sleasman, President
[…] We are interested in your insights and feedback about the direction of Winebrenner Theological Seminary. InDepth has been exploring what we’ve learned over the past five years as well as our strategic direction for 2023-2028 (you can read more by clicking here). […]