On June 15, 2020, we began a long-term series of blog posts by looking at Romans 12 and Paul’s invitation to “be transformed.” In that first post, David Williams shared:
“Be transformed,” Paul says. There’s a new pattern. There’s a new mold into which believers are to be pressed that will shape us by its patterns. This is the shape of the new age, the patterns of the promised age which the Jews anticipated as the kingdom of God. That mold is the form and pattern of Jesus, the crucified Messiah. And we are transformed by making our minds new again.”
Over the next several weeks, months, and indeed entire year, we looked at several aspects of Romans 12, the Kairos Project, organization practices and much more. All along, the goal has been to reflect on the “new way of being” we are invited to pursue as followers of Jesus. For an organization, that means considering new ways of learning, operating, collaborating, communicating, and more so that our organizational practices help, rather than hinder, our walk with Christ. A somewhat blunt way to put it could be that we want to practice what we preach! If we espouse the importance of being transformed by the renewing of our minds, to recognize there is a new mold, “new patterns of the promised age,” then we would do well to let those patterns shape who we are not only as individuals but also as a community.
As we prepare to move into the next series of blog posts, which will focus on some of the common questions students, mentors, faculty, and partners ask about Kairos, we thought it would be helpful to capture and categorize the various aspects of the “new way of being” series we just completed. Feel free to bookmark this post so that you have easy access to each blog post in the series!
An Invitation to Transformation
We began by looking at Romans 12 and how it is inviting us to “be transformed.” This lead us to consider what it might look like to imagine theological education through a new lens.
Romans 12: Abundant Information
Standards of Excellence
Standards of excellence (i.e., what is deemed to be proficient or effective) arise from particular communities of practice. The implications of that reality are far reaching. In this series, we explored some of those implications and how they might inform our work.
Standards of Excellence Series
Standards of Excellence: Context
Standards of Excellence: Community
Standards of Excellence: Change
Implications of Context, Community & Contingency, Pt. 1
Implications of Context, Community, & Contingency, Pt. 2
Looking Back at the Standards of Excellence Series
Overview of Kairos
The Kairos Project is our attempt to live into a shared invitation into a new way of being. Within Kairos, we are striving to create fresh expressions of theological education that help us steward followers of Jesus who flourish in their vocations for the sake of the world. In the next series of posts, we shared several aspects of Kairos. Everything we do is intended to help us “be transformed” both as individual followers of Jesus and as a global community.
Introduction
We began by sharing about the educational philosophy behind Kairos.
Kairos Philosophy Series Introduction
Kairos Series: From CBE to CBTE
Kairos Series: Principles of CBTE
Kairos Series: Practices of CBTE
Platform Thinking
Then we looked at the concept of a platform and how it informs the Kairos Project.
Kairos Series: CBTE As a Platform, Pt. 1
Kairos Series: CBTE As a Platform, Pt. 2
Kairos Series: CBTE As a Platform, Pt. 3
Principles
Competency-based theological education, in our experience, is informed by seven principles.
Principles of CBTE: Introduction
Principles of CBTE: Collaborative Mission
Principles of CBTE: Mentored Teamwork
Principles of CBTE: Contextualized Discipleship
Principles of CBTE: Customized Mastery
Principles of CBTE: Integrated Outcomes
Principles of CBTE: Holistic Assessment
Practices
The seven principles of CBTE are played out in six practices – all leading to a quality framework.
Practices of CBTE: Affordable Programs
Practices of CBTE: Unified Systems
Practices of CBTE: Flexible Technology
Practices of CBTE: Collective Governance
Practices of CBTE: Continuous Improvement
Practices of CBTE: Quality Framework
The Kairos Community
In addition to a new way of learning, Kairos presents a wonderful opportunity to engage in a global community of people who call Jesus Lord and represent a broad range of theological and denominational traditions, vocational contexts, cultures, races, and ethnicities. To be faithful followers of Jesus who in engage in this kind of community, we believe it can be helpful to engage in several practices as a community.
Kairos Community Series Introduction
Practicing the Way of Jesus, Pt. 1
Practicing the Way of Jesus, Pt. 2
Practicing the Way of Jesus, Pt. 3
A Movement, Not an Institution
Localized and Global Engagement
Collaborating in a New Way
An important aspect of Kairos is our commitment to kingdom-minded collaboration. To encourage such collaboration and partnership, we have developed a framework, several resources, and a way of working collaboratively.
Intro: A New Way of Collaborating
1 Corinthians 3:1-9: Collaborating In a New Way
Foundations and Practices of Collaboration: The Integrative System
Foundations and Practices of Collaboration: Shared Values
Foundations and Practices of Collaboration: Partnership Framework
Communicating in a New Way
To foster trust and collaboration within a community spread out around the world, it is important to consider the connection between communication and transparency.
Effective Communication: Introduction
Effective Communication: Telling The Story
Effective Communication: Be Transparent – Intro
Effective Communication: Why Is Transparency Difficult?
Effective Communication: Why is Transparency Important?
Effective Communication: Practices of Transparent Communication Pt 1
Effective Communication: Practices of Transparent Communication Pt 2
This post originally appeared on the Kairos University blog.
