A History

The History of a Giving Opportunity

Over the last eighteen years there have been a variety of independent efforts for furthering the cause of education related to the Bible, theology, ministry, spirituality, and conflict resolution. Multiple individuals have contributed significant funds for educating staff and for research and writing related to problem-solving and promoting unity. These efforts include full funding of five MA and MDiv degrees for teachers, supporting a current PhD student through the Wilner Cornely Scholarship Fund, and The Harmony Project.

Some of the representatives of those endeavors, as well as other respected men and women, met at a Farmstead in Georgia on the weekend of October 4–5, 2019 for the purpose of discussing a more strategic way to build capacity and leverage expertise for the teaching ministry. Participants included Alex & Patti Hunter, Dave Pocta, Steve & Tricia Staten, Jim & Helen Lenahan, Sonny & Carolyn Sessions, Dave & Peggy Malutinok, Valdur Koha, Kevin & Nanshil Grady, Jeff & Janet Jones, and Vicki Jacoby. This group of advisors includes elders, teachers, evangelists, and patrons. The meetings were sponsored by the Hunter Family Foundation (HFF) at a location north of Atlanta.

Alex Hunter, a health reform expert and former co-Board Chairman of HOPE worldwide (HOPEww), opened the discussion by floating an idea about assisting the funding of qualified candidates for biblical education. 

The strategic objective of the HFF is to provide interdependent funding and leadership for spiritually focused education and theological training for leaders and potential leaders within the ICOC.

The initial concept would involve partnering with five churches in selecting, co-funding and mentoring candidates. By the end of the two-day session, the concept evolved into developing a mechanism for training “mid-career” evangelists (“train the trainer”), creating distribution mechanisms for high-quality papers, and making a way for teachers to have protected (paid) time to teach, write, and publish through an academic journal.

Two days later, October 7–8, this exploratory discussion was brought before the ICOC Teachers Service Team (TST) in San Diego when a significant “reset” of the TST was being considered. The timing of the autonomous and uncoordinated discussions in Georgia and California seemed providential. The participating teachers discussed ten items, which included identifying all of the recognized teachers in our churches, learning of their credentials, establishing standards (peer review), and discussing term limits.

There were a variety of overlapping interests between the TST and the HFF / Georgia advisory group, but the primary shared goals included funding development of PhD-level students, creating a digital teaching platform, improving core scholastic capabilities within the ICOC, identifying the next generation of biblical theology students (both aspiring ministers and teachers), and developing a peer-reviewed academic journal.

Over the next three months there were phone discussions and face-to-face meetings involving Steve Kinnard, Steve Staten, Alex Hunter, Valdur Koha, and Dave Pocta, resulting in further refinement of the ideas. On January 3, 2020, brothers Hunter, Grady, Jones, Staten, and Pocta met in Chicago and proposed bringing some of the current independent efforts together under a new entity called the Disciples Center for Education (DCE). 

The advisory group and board of the DCE will comprise men and women coming from a diverse array of backgrounds and roles, and each member is expected to be tethered relationally and spiritually to their local congregation and the family of churches. The DCE’s functions include:

• Fund the development of 5–10 PhD-level students to become the next generation’s most capable and trustworthy teachers;

• Broad-based teaching capabilities to be infused across the ICOC through a digital platform;

• Development of core scholastic capabilities within the ICOC that are nationally known and regarded (e.g. Conflict Resolution, Campus Ministry, others)

• Identify the next generation of theology students (aspiring ministers and teachers), which will result in a pipeline of trained ministers 

• Engage with the broader academic theological community through development of a peer-reviewed journal

Initially, most of the funds for the DCE come through the HFF, but we developed a fundraising mechanism for the purpose of scaling our efforts. Meanwhile, it is important to stress that the DCE is not established to help everyone pursue advanced degrees. The selection process for future trainers who might benefit from the education-focused funds will be rigorous and will comprise mentoring and follow-up throughout a prospectively defined program.

The DCE will be guided by the board and advisors, both ecclesiastical leaders and patrons selected on the basis of shared principles about the importance of quality education as part of overall spiritual competencies. Some of the participants who were part of the original discussion or who attend the one-year follow-up session in Georgia on October 3, 2020 will be among the DCE’s advisors. 

Alex Hunter is DCE chairman. Jeff Jones, Kevin Grady also comprise the board, which will expand. Steve Staten, a DCE advisor along with Dave Pocta and Valdur Koha, will be funded as a consultant for the purpose of working on the DCE and the TST where it serves their mutual interests. Virginia Lenahan serves as administrator for Alex and Steve.

The first two initiatives of the DCE are an application process for future scholars who aspire to and are qualified for a PhD in a specialty of DCE focus, and a peer-reviewed academic journal.

The Development of PhD-Level Teachers

The DCE seeks to aid prospective students to pursue a PhD (or ThD) in Bible, theology, archaeology, spirituality, church history, leadership, or religious studies. These degrees, especially when received through AST accredited universities, are the highest degree of study or accomplishment. ThD stands for Doctor of Theology, while PhD stands for Doctor of Philosophy. These are equivalent doctorate programs, where the main difference between the ThD and the PhD is that the ThD is concentrated more on studying Christian theology. When the DCE refers to a PhD, we include the comparable ThD.

There are two pathways for identifying possible candidates. First, the ICOC Teachers Service Team uses its institutional and relational knowledge and its contact database from conferences to comb through the list of graduates and students enrolled in high-level programs (MDiv, DMin, etc.). The TST has a growing database that includes education history and status. The second avenue is for a candidate to apply through the form available on the DCE website. In both cases the student will be required to submit a completed application. 

The selection and vetting process is accomplished in tandem with the local leadership where the student is worshipping, the DCE board, and a list of scholars associated with the journal. We seek 5 to 10 PhD-level students in good standing, capable of the rigors involved in research and writing, who represent the next generation. Both men and women will be selected based on merit and the metrics of shifting demographical representation. Ideally, we would have US and non-US graduates of difference races, ages, and circumstances of influence.

The partnership between The Disciples Center for Education and the ICOC Teachers Service Team, as well as participating churches, will strengthen the overall teaching ministry. Over the last year, there has been greater organizational clarity with the Ministry Teaching Academies (MTAs), as well as an upsurge of interest for teaching conferences and collaboration. This means that we have greater awareness of current and aspiring teachers and their credentials and contributions. For a complete list of all ongoing educational programs, go to ICOCteach.org.

The Teleios Society and Teleios Journal

A new journal will become a reality in February, and Steve Kinnard will serve as the journal’s general editor. Teleios – A Journal of Holistic Spirituality will be published by the Crossroads Publishing Company. One of the best practices for developing journals is to create and maintain a pipeline at least two volumes deep, prior to launch. The academically trained teachers in our fellowship will be the primary writers for the journal. We use other respectable journals as benchmarks for developing format and content standards. The following description comes from the Teleios Journal website:

Teleios is the journal of the Teleios Society. The Teleios Society exists to promote holistic spirituality in the lives of disciples of Jesus. 

Teleios is a Greek word meaning, “mature, whole, complete, or perfect.” The Apostle Paul used this word to state his purpose for writing the churches in Colossae, Laodicea, and Heirapolis, “It is he (Christ) whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone (Teleios) mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28, NRSV). This verse serves as the mission statement of the Teleios Society and the Teleios Journal. 

Teleios is a journal for the Stone-Campbell movement of churches, specifically the ICOC branch of Stone-Campbell churches. The goals of Teleios as a journal are: (1) to provide peer-reviewed articles for the advancement of scholarship in schools, churches, leaders, and members in the Stone-Campbell movement, (2) to encourage holistic spiritual growth and to provide material for maturation within the churches of this movement, (3) to build bridges between the various branches of the Stone-Campbell movement, (4) to promote holistic spirituality in the lives of Christians. 

For more information, go to the Teleios Journal. You can find out how to subscribe, submit articles and learn about the Teleios Society, a community tied to both the journal, additional articles and conferences.

We welcome feedback while we strive to establish the DCE as an interdependent entity with our churches for the purpose of enabling strong education (including coordination / collaboration for theological training, MTAs, and other schools of ministry, etc.). Our vision would be for Education to grow to become another vertical support structure to serve disciples, similar to HOPEww, Disciples Today, and our mission societies.