Gateway Seminary is experiencing significant transition. We are preparing for a new president, implementing a hand-off model of leadership change, and saying goodbye to a long-time leader. My unexpected candidacy to be the president of the SBC Executive Committee has further complicated the process.
Many organizations equate transition with turmoil. Not Gateway. During this transition, our spring 2024 enrollment went up compared to spring 2023. During this time frame, new faculty and senior staff have joined our team – without knowing who their new president will be. We are also in the process of receiving a major gift – from a non-SBC donor who admires our stability and mission-focus. As one employee said, “Dr. Iorg, things are going so well – you should have left sooner!”
We are in transition, not turmoil, because we train for transition. We talk openly and often about how to manage our spiritual, emotional, and psychological responses when change is thrust upon us. While change is a new set of circumstances, transition is our response to them. We collectively understand the difference and what to do when life is unsettled and new directions must be charted.
The most important factor in our resilience is our relentless focus on our mission. Our mission is shaping leaders who expand God’s kingdom around the world. We come to work every day to prepare people to take the gospel to communities and countries where it has not yet been heard. We are focused on eternal results, not daily clicks. At Gateway, the mission matters most is more than a catchphrase; it’s an organizational way of life. When other variables change, the mission remains a constant, centering force.
Another important factor enhancing our transition-management is organizational memory and cultural celebration of past victories. From time to time, we stop and reflect on past transitions, how God has worked in and through us as a result, and what we learned (personally and corporately) through the process. We are doing that again on April 1, 2024 – the ten-year anniversary of the monumental announcement we had sold our Northern California property, were moving to Southern California, and changing our name. We will do more than celebrate an anniversary; we will learn from those events and allow them to propel us through our current transitions.
Trained for transition also means God is always training us. We look forward to how much we will learn over the next few months and how much stronger our seminary will be as result.
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