June 17, 2024
by Greg Henson, CEO 乌鸦传媒
Today, we continue to look back on the past ten years of spirit-led stewardship at 乌鸦传媒. As we noted last week, God has brought together in 乌鸦传媒 a community of Jesus followers who are committed to stewarding systems of theological education and integrated counseling that are affordable, accessible, relevant, and faithful.
The work of stewardship begins by recognizing that God has given us the resources to do the things God is calling us to do. In the world of higher education, it is common to hear the refrain, 鈥淚f only we had more [fill in the blank], we could do some great things.鈥 Usually, that 鈥渂lank鈥 is filled in with the word 鈥渕oney.鈥 We tend to look at money as our provider and, therefore, begin to believe money is what makes ministry happen. The reality is quite the opposite. As we read in John chapter 6, the first step is to take a look at what you do have and then put those resources to work.
In October 2013, Sioux Falls Seminary, one of the legacy partners of 乌鸦传媒, didn鈥檛 seem to have enough. Like the disciples in John 6, we were looking around at the need before us and concerned we might not have enough resources to meet that need. We were not alone. In fact, at the time, the majority of seminaries in the United States and Canada were facing challenges in the areas of enrollment and finances. At Sioux Falls Seminary, the situation seemed a bit more dire than most. The school鈥檚 long-term investment account had decreased significantly. While enrollment wasn鈥檛 declining, it was not increasing at the rate needed to cover rising institutional costs. To cap it all off, the school had over $11,000,000 in debt. In fact, the finances seemed so bleak that, in October 2013, the seminary鈥檚 financial auditor noted that the school鈥檚 recent financial history was creating uncertainty about the seminary鈥檚 ability to be viable in the future. Needless to say, the picture the auditor painted in October 2013 wasn鈥檛 encouraging.
By God鈥檚 grace, however, the staff, faculty, and board of the school embraced these challenges as a wonderful opportunity to explore what God might have in store for the future. In that same month, October 2013, the school began to look closely at what it did have鈥攖o consider what resources and opportunities had God entrusted to the school. In addition to a student body of about 150 and a mental health clinic providing over 10,000 sessions each year, the school had wonderful relationships with local churches, a unique commitment to integrated counseling, over 150 years of faithful service in God鈥檚 kingdom, and, most importantly, a staff, faculty, and board of trustees who were invested in stewarding followers of Jesus who flourish in their vocations.
Within two months, God began to reveal a path forward鈥攐ne that built on conversations the faculty had been having for nearly a decade and reconnected the seminary to its roots of being a school built by the church and for the church. In November 2013, the seminary received an unexpected estate gift and began to coalesce around a strategic vision for developing systems of theological education and integrated counseling that were affordable, accessible, relevant, and faithful.
In March 2014, that vision would begin to be the driving force behind the stewardship efforts of the seminary. Today, 乌鸦传媒 continues to live into what it means to cultivate educational and clinical mental health pathways that are affordable, accessible, relevant, and faithful. Given the importance of that phrase, we will spend some time next week unpacking what it means.
When we look back on this story, we see that, in October 2013, Sioux Falls Seminary was blessed with the opportunity to look at the needs around us and ask, 鈥淲hat has God given us.鈥 Unbeknownst to the board of Sioux Falls Seminary, God was inviting the other legacy partners to consider the same question, albeit through different means and on a different timeline. Later in this series, we will try to visualize the quantitative change we have seen as a community over the past ten years. For now, let鈥檚 dive into what we mean when we say, 鈥渁ffordable, accessible, relevant, and faithful.鈥