Exciting things began to unfold for ATA in 2018! From the expansion of current undertakings to the beginnings of new ones, ATA has seen tremendous growth in the year that went by. All these were celebrated during the ATA Annual meetings held last 15-18 January in the SIL Guest house, Manila Philippines. Each of the meetings was further energized by the expectancy of the many festivities that come with ATA’s 50thyear celebration.

Expanding current undertakings

Much of the current undertakings of ATA have expanded in 2018, beginning with the GATE workshops.

The GATE Workshops are a series of faculty development workshops that aims to equip educators to become transformational in their teaching. Institutions commit to a four-year annual three-day workshop- and 2018 has allowed us to see a lot of movement in this endeavour. 

For one, institutions from three countries have begun their four-year journey equipping the equippers with the “Biblical and Philosophical foundations of transformational education”. These countries are Nepal, with 69 faculty from 9 institutions, Mongolia, with 20 faculty from 5 institutions, and North India, with 24 faculty from 4 institutions.

On the other hand, 8 institutions with 45 faculty from South India have already finished their second year of GATE workshops dealing with “Teaching Methods for Transformational Education”.

Expansions have likewise been taking place in the Publications ministry of ATA, beginning with the Journal of Asian Evangelical Theology or JAET. Beginning 2018, ATA’s JAET has been made available in the American Theological Library Association (ATLA). This will not only open the door for us to expand the readership of JAET, but this will likewise open doors for ATA to earn royalties for each time the articles are accessed and downloaded. In addition to that, the Asia Bible Commentary Series is now available in Accordance, the world’s leading Bible software.

In addition to the abovementioned, 2018 saw us publishing five commentaries for the Asia Bible Commentary Series. The commentaries are as follows: Leviticus by Ming Him (Hong Kong); Numbers by Mitchel Modine (US but based in the Philippines); 1 Samuel by Koowon Kim (Korea); Esther by Peter Lau (Malaysia); and James by Andrew Spurgeon (India) and Luke Cheung (Hong Kong). Of the five commentaries published last 2018, two were launched during the most recent theological consultation, those being Leviticus and Numbers.

New faces in the different places

2018 has likewise allowed us to see new faces emerge in the leadership of the different AGSTs. One of which is Dr. Romerlito Macalinao who was appointed as the new dean of AGST- Philippines. Dr. Macalinao simultaneously serves as the Pacific Regional Director of Wycliff Associates. In Japan, on the other hand, Dr. Masanori Kurasawa, former President of Tokyo Christian University and Chairman of ATA- CAED, took over as the new chairman of of AGST- Japan and Dr. Naoto Kamano took on the role of the Th.D. director. And lastly, Dr. Sooi Ling Tan, Dean of AGST Alliance,  will take over as the new Presiding Dean of the AGST Council as Dr. Makito Masaki finishes his second three-year term. She will begin taking on this new role during the General Assembly in August of this year.

A new partnership, a new endeavour

2018 allowed us also to see a new partnership begin to forge between Scholar Leaders International (SLI) and ATA and this is for the Vital Sustainability Initiative (VSI) Project. The objective of the VSI project is to develop appropriate leaders and institutional capacity to sustain their mission and strengthen the witness of the church and society.

Ever since the forging of the partnership between ATA and SLI, several exchanges have been made on how to best implement the project. These exchanges have led to the decision that the project would first focus on South Asia and South East Asia. Priority will be given not only to institutions that offer graduate programs but are also influential in their region. Correspondences have already been made to the selected schools in order to invite them to enter into a partnership agreement and participate in the said project.

In addition to the VSI Project, the ICETE Academy will be made available to the faculty of member institutions as a means of their Continuing Professional Development.

New members, new visits, new processes

In the year that went by, ATA gained an additional 6 new members and they are as follows: Timothy Training International (Chicago/ Hong Kong); Carey Theological College (Canada); Grain of Wheat College (Philippines); Chinese Mission Theological Seminary (California); River of Life Pastoral Leadership Institute (California); and Taiwan Theological College and Seminary/ Taiwan Graduate School of Theology (Taiwan). We now have a total of 326 institutions, 230 of which are accredited members and 106 associate/candidate members.

Several visits have been made in the year that went by. Visiting Evaluation Teams were sent to 13 different institutions throughout 2018. ATA India on the other hand,conducted 19 accreditation visits and 9 pre-evaluation, preliminary visits to different institutions.

Furthermore, new processes are underway as the accreditation manual is undergoing revision. A team composed of Drs. Theresa Lua, Graham Aylett, Rick Weymouth, and Paul Cornelius met before the actual annual meetings in order to work on the recommended changes to be submitted to the CAED. The revision is in line with the Rome Roadmap standards which came into being more than a year ago when ICETE gathered to discuss global academic standards. While ATA need not adopt each standard to the letter and has a choice to adapt and modify, the Rome Road will serve as a set of guidelines and the basis for the revision of the CAED Manual. We hope to present the revised accreditation manual this August in the upcoming General Assembly.

Moving to a new era: taking steps to ATA’s golden year

In less than a year’s time, ATA turns 50- and to begin the festivities, we will be having our Triennial General Assembly this coming 12-16 August 2019 with the theme “Future Church: A theological Response”. Unlike earlier general assemblies and even theological consultations, this gathering will not be so much a presentation of a paper read out to an audience. Sessions will be patterned after the famous TED Talks, which has been known for its factual, engaging, and concise speeches; and rather than working towards publishing a book compiling all the papers, we will instead be producing a series of videos on the topics presented in the varying sessions. Our hope is that through this General Assembly, institutions and churches will begin to take serious measures to reach the next generation and address the critical issues that keep them from the church. In addition to that, we hope that this will be an avenue in which the next generation is likewise given a voice and is heard.

The 2019 General Assembly will be held on August 12-16 in TCA College Singapore.

In addition to the General Assembly, we hope to launch several exciting breakthroughs this year. One of those breakthroughs is the first of its kind systematic Theology text book entitled Asian Christian Theology: Evangelical Perspective.The editors are Drs. Timoteo Gener and Steve Pardue. We are aiming at launching this text book, along with six to seven commentaries, during the General Assembly.

One other breakthrough that we are aiming to put into effect this year is the new format of our ATA News and website. We are hoping to bring more innovations and to make both more interactive and up to date with the times. We have begun with this edition of the ATA News and we are aiming at putting more changes into effect little by little as this year unfolds.

Indeed, there are many reasons to celebrate!

Whether one looks back or looks forward, there are so many reasons for celebration! From expansions to the many new things unfolding up until the 50thyear, God has continued and continues to give the ATA community causes for rejoicing! And may we continue to do so as we move forward in our vision “to see member institutions effectively serving churches in fulfilling God’s global mission.”