Theological Executive

July 8 - August 5, 2024 • $1999.00

For individuals of color exploring or pursuing a role as an Executive at a Theological Institution.

REGISTRATION OPENS JANUARY 2025

Take your next most faithful step in Executive Leadership

In this 4-week ritual course, you will work with theological and higher education executive leaders to discover if you are called to serve as a Chief Academic Officer (V.P. of Academic Affairs, Dean of Faculty, Dean) or President. In addition to identifying your gifts for the work, you will participate in a cohort of high-performing peers discerning executive leadership and receive a free Center for Creative Leadership 360 assessment tool ($500 value) and 360 coaching sessions ($250 value) to help identify your growth areas.

By enrolling in this course, you will better understand the role of higher education in the 21st century, learn how to create conditions for diverse scholars to thrive and map your career trajectory to take on more leadership roles that prepare you for your next most faithful step. The world needs wise, courageous, and faithful theological executives like you to shape the next generation of leaders for the church, academy, and society.

Want to use professional development dollars toward this course? FTE can provide invoices prior to enrollment launch upon request. Contact Heather B.P. Wallace with details.

FTE Instructors for Theological Executive Course

Stephen Lewis is the president of FTE. He has over 15 years of experience in corporate and nonprofit leadership, strategic planning, program development, and group facilitation. Stephen is currently the chair of the Center for Courage & Renewal’s Board of Directors and was a member of Duke Divinity School’s Board of Visitors from 2008 to 2013. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in banking and finance from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a Master of Divinity from Duke University. 


Workshop: DISCERN Together: An FTE Framework for accompanying young adults in vocational discernment


For decades, FTE has conducted discernment work with partners and young adults discerning vocation and calls to Christian ministry. FTE has discovered several insights about accompanying young adult discerners. We want to now share these learnings through FTE’s new DISCERN Together framework and process for communal discernment. Through this framework, we will introduce you to six key disciplines of discernment that undergird FTE’s vocational discernment work with young adults. In this workshop, participants will discover the six disciplines, the science behind why the disciplines are practical in discernment, and how to be more articulate about their practice of vocational accompaniment and discernment. We will be joined by several YTN colleagues who participated in FTE’s Discernment Labs and are willing to share how they have used the disciplines in their contexts.

Stephen Lewis

Executive Mentors for Theological Executive Course

Dr. Charisse L. Gillett became the 17th president of Lexington Theological Seminary in September 2011. Her appointment is historic as she is the first woman and first African American to lead the Seminary as president.

She holds a doctorate in education and educational specialist degree from Northern Illinois University and a master's in education and Bachelor of Arts with a major in social work from the University of Northern Iowa. She has led Lexington Theological Seminary through a period of transformation in its academic programs, enrollment, finances, and strategic vision. She has spearheaded the receipt of over $3.8M in grants and a successful capital campaign of $4.8M in gifts.

She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Theological Schools and Commission on Accrediting. Dr. Gillett received a $15,000 Reflective Leadership grant from Leadership Education at Duke Divinity in 2018 to think carefully about leading during crisis. Reflections on Leadership in an era of COVID-19 and in the Midst of a Reckoning on Racial Injustice was published in the Journal of Higher Education Management 2021 by the American Association of University Administrators.

Dr. Gillett is the daughter of a retired 42-year veteran of the United States Postal Service and a retired 30-year Chicago Public School Teacher. She credits her parents with inspiring her to work towards her dreams. She married to Rev. Dr. Donald K. Gillett, II the General Minister and President of the Christian Church in Kentucky. They have four children and one granddaughter.



Dr. Charrise Gillett

Dr. G. Sujin Pak is Dean of the Boston University School of Theology and is an expert in the history of Christianity with a focus on the early modern period, the Protestant Reformation, and the history of biblical interpretation. She has taught courses on the history of Christianity, the Protestant reformers, the history of biblical interpretation, and medieval female mystics. Pak is the author of The Judaizing Calvin: Sixteenth-Century Debates on the Messianic Psalms (Oxford University Press, 2010) and The Reformation of Prophecy: Early Modern Interpretations of the Prophet and Old Testament Prophet (Oxford University Press, 2018), as well as several articles appearing in leading journals. Dean Pak is a strong advocate for diversity and equity and prizes these values in her teaching, research, and administrative work. In her leisure time, Pak likes to run, hike, take long walks, and read novels.



Dr. G. Sujin Pak

Course Modules

Learn how to inspire a new generation of scholars of color and identify gifts and talents that can be used during your pursuit of becoming a theological executive.

Learn how to inspire a new generation of scholars of color and identify gifts and talents that can be used during your pursuit of becoming a theological executive.

Explore leadership opportunities and what it means to step into those roles at this time.  Learn more about BIPOC leaders and different leadership positions in the academy.

Explore leadership opportunities and what it means to step into those roles at this time. Learn more about BIPOC leaders and different leadership positions in the academy.

Revisit your path to teaching and scholarship and how you relate to that journey now that you're pursing a role in leadership.

Revisit your path to teaching and scholarship and how you relate to that journey now that you're pursing a role in leadership.

Use the learnings you acquired during this course to help you prepare and take action toward your next most faithful step in pursing a theological executive position.

Use the learnings you acquired during this course to help you prepare and take action toward your next most faithful step in pursing a theological executive position.

deep resource-rich course
This is a deep resource-rich course that helps BIPOC persons explore the call to theological executive leadership. I can't recommend it enough” Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi
FAQ

The Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) is a leadership incubator that inspires young people to make a difference in the world through Christian communities. Since its founding in 1954, FTE has provided resources, events, networks, grants, and fellowships to cultivate tomorrow's leaders, pastors, and theological educators. FTE provides a forum through which gifted, purposeful students, young adults, and partners explore their passion, purpose, and call.

This course is designed for faculty of color in theological education who are exploring the possibilities of executive leadership in the academy.

FTE defines a theological executive as an individual who serve in academic leadership as a Chief Academic Officer, V.P. of Academic Affairs, Dean of Faculty, Dean, or President, etc. in higher education. 

The course is $1,999. In addition to the course material and gatherings, you benefit from a Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) 360, which is valued at $500, and coaching sessions valued at $250.

FTE created this course to meet a need for leadership development opportunities for scholars of color who seek to lead and impact change in higher education as theological executives.  Since its founding in 1954, FTE has been committed to diversifying and cultivating the next generation of theological scholars, educators, and leaders. 

Upon completion, you will join FTE's network of alumni, which includes pastors, professors, deans, presidents of organizations, civil servants, and non-profit leaders who are leading their communities, congregations, and society.  You will also receive a free Center for Creative Leadership 360 assessment tool ($500 value) to help identify your growth areas during the course to achieve your leadership goals. 

Click here to learn more about this industry-leading leadership assessment tool. 

The course is four weeks long but has pre- and post-work for the 360 process.



Yes, if you meet the requirements set forth in the course you will receive a certificate that you can post to your LinkedIn profile and download to share. 

FTE may choose to upload part or all of the Community Gathering discussions, but we'd recommend reaching out to the course teaching team with any questions you have during the course. 

Yes, there is an app for that.  NovoEd has a mobile app as does Zoom for the community gathering. 

This is an online course with gatherings taking place virtually.



This course has four Zoom gatherings along with online materials and case studies.



FTE can create invoices for Professional Development funds to be used. Contact Heather B.P. Wallace for more information.