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By registration; The ATS Executive Leadership Intensive is an annual gathering of presidents, rectors, and chief executive officers from across the ATS membership who come together as a community of practice to share both the joys and challenges of leading a theological institution. This December, join us for a rich week of learning, growing, and imagining possibilities as we look toward the future of theological education.
• Seminar for New Executive Officers — December 9–10, 2024
Come connect with other newly appointed colleagues as we explore the range of responsibilities foundational to executive leadership in a theological school, learn from the insights of experienced leaders, and reflect together on shared hopes and challenges.
• Executive Leadership Colloquium — December 10–12, 2024
Deepen connections with your presidential colleagues and find encouragement in your work during these days designed to promote learning from, for and with your peers in theological education, sharing ideas and resources, delving into topics of common concern, and investing in skills for effective service in your institution and community.
Whether you’ve attended often in the past or are joining us for the very first time, we invite you to lean into this unique opportunity for encouragement and learning together, deepening the community connections and collegial support that can help you thrive in your work.
Conference Goals:
5:00 p.m.
Seminar for New Executive Officers Registration and Reception
6:00 p.m.
Opening Dinner
Welcome and Introductions
8:00 a.m.
Morning Meditation
8:15 a.m.
Developing and Sustaining Vision for the School
9:30 a.m.
Break
9:45 a.m.
The CEO's Role in Advancement and Fundraising
11:00 a.m.
Break
11:15 a.m.
Building an Effective Administrative Team
12:30 p.m.
Lunch
1:30 p.m.
The In Trust Center for Theological Schools
Amy Kardash, President, In Trust Center for Theological Schools
2:00 p.m.
Case Studies in Faculty Relations and Governance
3:00 p.m.
Break
3:15 p.m.
The New CEO and Financial Realities in Theological Schools
4:30 p.m.
Adjourn
5:00 p.m.
Reception together with those arriving for the Executive Leadership Colloquium
6:00 p.m.
Dinner together with those arriving for the Executive Leadership Colloquium
Conference Goals:
4:30 p.m.
Executive Leadership Colloquium Registration
5:00 p.m.
Reception for ALL Executive Leadership Intensive participants
6:00 p.m.
Opening Dinner and Welcome
8:30 a.m.
Morning Meditation
8:45 a.m.
ATS Executive Director’s Welcome and Address
Frank M. Yamada, Executive Director, The Association of Theological Schools
9:30 a.m.
Theological Education Between the Times
Ted Smith, Associate Dean of Faculty; Charles Howard Candler Professor of Divinity, Candler School of Theology of Emory University
10:45 a.m.
Break
11:00 a.m.
Lessons I Have Learned
11:15 a.m.
It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Anna Robbins, President; Director, Andrew D. MacRae Centre for Christian Faith and Culture, Acadia Divinity College
12:30 p.m.
Lunch
1:45 p.m.
Workshop Session I
2:45 p.m.
Break
3:00 p.m.
Workshop Session II
4:15 p.m.
Emerging Conversations
5:30 p.m.
Adjourn
(Free Evening)
8:30 a.m.
Morning Meditation
8:45 a.m.
Lessons I Have Learned
9:00 a.m.
Navigating Challenging Conversations I: A Framework for Analyzing Situations We Find Tough
Ann Garrido, Associate Professor of Homiletics, Aquinas School of Theology
10:30 a.m.
Break
10:45 a.m.
Navigating Challenging Conversations II: Strategies for Breaking Through Impasse
Ann Garrido, Associate Professor of Homiletics, Aquinas School of Theology
12:15 p.m.
Lunch
1:30 p.m.
Navigating Challenging Conversations III: Putting It All Together
Ann Garrido, Associate Professor of Homiletics, Aquinas School of Theology
2:30 p.m.
Break
2:45 p.m.
Leading in Community: The Wisdom of the Room
4:00 p.m.
Closing Session and Adjournment
View Bio
Ann Garrido is associate professor of homiletics at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri, where she has held multiple administrative roles, including the director of the Doctorate of Ministry in Preaching, director of field education, and director of the Masters of Pastoral Studies in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. She is the author of multiple award-winning books in the fields of preaching and ministerial leadership including the popular "Redeeming" trilogy: Redeeming Administration (2013); Redeeming Conflict (2016); and Redeeming Power (2024). She has spoken with leaders in more than 350 education, social service, and health care settings.
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Amy Kardash serves as president of the In Trust Center for Theological Schools, a role she has held since 2017. She previously served as the director of programs for eight years. Kardash oversees In Trust Center's programs and initiatives in resourcing more than 240 seminaries, theological schools, and affiliate organizations. In 2012, she collaborated to create the expanded In Trust Center, launching Resource Consulting, enhanced learning community space, and new grant-funded initiatives. During her leadership, the In Trust Center has redeveloped In Trust magazine, created new programs and modes of connecting with leaders, and cultivated critical institutional partnerships in support of theological school leaders.
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Chris A. Meinzer, senior director and COO for The Association of Theological Schools (ATS), is a CPA with more than 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Since joining the ATS staff in 1999, he has provided oversight of ATS financial and business affairs as well as the ATS institutional database—a repository of institutional, enrollment, personnel, financial, and development data provided by ATS members. Meinzer has done extensive analysis and research of this data and presented his findings in a variety of settings to administrators and boards of theological schools.
In addition, he has provided counsel to ATS member schools on issues of finances, organizational planning, and strategic thinking. Through discussions with theological schools and their leadership, Meinzer has encouraged reflection on intergenerational stewardship and its impact on both academics and economics within these schools. He has designed and implemented a revision of the ATS Strategic Information Report, a useful strategic tool that provides ATS member schools with peer and industry data on a variety of market fundamentals.
Meinzer holds an accounting degree from The Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Divinity degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
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Tay Moss is a priest, educator, and software developer living and working at the interesction of faith communities and technology. He is the director of CHURCHx, a website for education and collaboration, and the coordinator of the Innovative Ministry Centre at TUCC, a Toronto-based nonprofit providing professional management services to church organizations. Educated at Yale Divinity School and ordained in the Episcopal Church, he has more than 20 years of pastoral ministry experience and has created or supervised numerous innovative ministry projects, social enterprises, and technology projects.
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Anna Robbins serves as president of Acadia Divinity College and dean of theology for Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada. She earned BA, MRE, and MA degrees, and completed her PhD in Wales before being appointed to the faculty of the London School of Theology in the United Kingdom, where she served for 12 years as a teacher and academic leader. In 2012, she returned to Nova Scotia with her family, to join the faculty at Acadia Divinity College, and was appointed president in 2019. She is committed to the engagement of faith and culture, enthusiastic about adaptive and innovative leadership, and excited about future possibilities for theological education and the church.
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Ted A. Smith is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Divinity and associate dean of faculty at Emory University's Candler School of Theology. He also serves as director of the Theological Education between the Times project and as co-principal investigator, with Joanne Solis-Walker, of Candler's innovative Pathways for Tomorrow grant projects. Smith is the author of three books: The End of Theological Education (2023), Weird John Brown (2015), and The New Measures (2007). Together, these books try to think theologically about core American Protestant institutions, practices, ideals, and rhetoric in the time of their unraveling. Ordained to ministry in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Smith served as pastor to two small-membership churches prior to his doctoral studies.
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Courtney Wiley-Harris is the vice president for institutional advancement at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (CRCDS). She has more than 12 years of executive administration and higher education/teaching experience, focusing on nonprofit leadership, management, marketing, and fundraising. Prior to her work at CRCDS, she was the vice president of development and institutional advancement at New York Theological Seminary, before which she served the Department of Education for the City of New York as a classroom teacher and staff developer for 12 years. She is the founder of Creative Workship LLC Consultancy, which serves faith-based institutions and organizations in leadership training and development. Wiley-Harris earned her MA in urban affairs from Hunter College, and her MDiv and DMin from New York Theological Seminary. She has an Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and she is a 2018 graduate of the Institute of Educational Management at Harvard University.
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Frank M. Yamada began as executive director of The Association of Theological Schools in July 2017. He oversees the work of both the Association and the Commission on Accrediting. Prior to ATS, he joined the McCormick faculty in 2008 as associate professor of Hebrew Bible and director of the Center for Asian American Ministries. In 2011, he was elected as McCormick’s tenth president—the first Asian American to lead a Presbyterian Church (USA) seminary. His tenure there was marked by increasing diversity in McCormick’s student body and creative engagement with the shifting realities of theological education. Yamada previously had taught Hebrew Bible/Old Testament for nine years at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.
An active biblical scholar, Yamada has authored and edited books and articles on cross-cultural and feminist hermeneutics. He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, where he has served as a chair and as a steering committee member of the Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics Group, the Feminist Hermeneutics of the Bible Section, and the Committee for Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession. In addition, he was a member of the Ethnic Chinese Biblical Colloquium and the American Academy of Religion, and he was the cochair for the Managing Board of the Asian Pacific Americans and Religion Research Initiative annual conference.
A graduate of Southern California College, Yamada earned his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy from Princeton Theological Seminary. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, USA and has written and spoken on the future of the church and theological education.
Registration deadline: November 12, 2024
Registration Fees
Dress is business casual.
Event Contact
Saren Williams
Date & Time
Mon, Dec 09, 2024
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Thu, Dec 12, 2024
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Location
Sheraton Phoenix Downtown | Phoenix, AZ