New Beginnings and Time-Tested Processes

Co-Authored by: Alex Macias and Luke Palmerlee

This upcoming week is a significant and busy week in the life of NPTS. You likely have heard faculty and staff referring to the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) Accreditation visit and the self-study document that was prepared over the last 12 – 18 months by the faculty and staff. The visit is upon us! The ATS Evaluation Committee will be arriving Monday afternoon and will be on our campus starting Tuesday morning and conclude their time on campus Wednesday evening. While here, they will review our documents and interview dozens of people including faculty, adjunct faculty, staff, current students, alumni, field education supervisors, and seminary and university leadership. Please greet them and welcome them to our campus if you see them moving around campus!

The faculty and staff have spent the better part of the last 12+ months preparing a self-study document which is used by the Evaluation Committee to determine if we are meeting the educational standards set forth by ATS and that we are fulfilling our mission. This document was a great collaborative work with input coming from not only NPTS faculty and staff but many University staff members as well. It began under the leadership of Stephen Chester, continued with Tim Johnson, and completed under Dwight Perry. Hauna Ondrey was also tasked with compiling the writing from various groups and editing the entire document. How long is this document you might ask? The actual self-study is 120 pages long, the appendices totaled an additional 506 pages, and the additional supporting documents totaled 709 pages for a total of 1,335 pages!

So why do we go through this lengthy and often cumbersome process? Because seeking accreditation is about submitting to a process of reflection – not unlike our faith journeys. We choose to be accountable to ATS, because we are accountable to you, our students. Through this process, we take a long, hard look in the mirror as an institution, and acknowledge both beauty and blemish so that we can be a stronger institution in the end – and better able to serve our students.

Some of us were reminded of why we do this just this past week. Dave Kersten, Amy Oxendale-Imig, and Alex Macias were able to travel to Mission Springs Covenant Camp to welcome our new Ignite cohort into the seminary journey. Ignite is a partnership between North Park, the Pacific Southwest Conference of the ECC, and the local church to make seminary education available to those already serving in ministry.  This group of over 40 students just began their first class together: Christian Theology. We were so encouraged by the excitement and commitment of these new students!

As we wrap up a fun first week of class and plunge into a new week of self-evaluation, may we sense God’s presence in each experience, and may this time-tested process of accreditation embolden us to move forward with many more new beginnings!