Dr. John Schwandt preparing to welcome the site visit team with a summary of Redemption Seminary’s history and hopes.
August 31st was a big day in Redemption Seminary’s story. It may seem strange to talk about a site visit for a school committed to being 100% online. The visit is to have all stakeholders in one place so the DEAC representatives can more easily verify our compliance with DEAC standards.
Thank you for your prayers throughout the day. It was such a blessing to have the day covered in prayer. Please continue to pray since we won’t hear any results (required and suggested actions) until mid-October. The first opportunity for a judgment on our accreditation will be in February.
The event opened with a summary of the institution from the president.
Summary of the Institution
brief History
This is an exciting day for Redemption Seminary which we have been working toward since our inception in 2018.
While working as the Executive Director of Mobile Ed for Logos, I saw many people who wanted a graduate-level education in areas of theology, but a traditional seminary program wouldn’t fit their ministry setting. However, seminaries were declining the option to use Logos Mobile Ed courses for their lecture content. To serve this demand at a lower cost with perhaps more focused guidance through mentoring, Logos leadership decided to spin off a seminary as an independent non-profit in October of 2018.
In 2019, we became an officially recognized 501c3 tax-exempt non-profit. Logos allowed me to direct some time and effort to launch the school, and generous board members stepped forward to enable the school to run without debt.
2020 was the first year we started enrolling students, and I transitioned to full-time at Redemption. By the end of the year, 50 students had enrolled. Dr. Mike Heiser helped immensely even while contracting pancreatic cancer. Initial course reviews by students exceeded expectations. They loved the flexible schedule, individualized mentoring, low cost, and structured curriculum that focused on competencies.
In 2021, as Mike’s health deteriorated, we began shouldering the promotional work and focused on completing the curricular materials for the program. We enrolled another 50 students that year and refined our policies, manuals, and protocols to apply to DEAC for accreditation.
In 2022, we submitted two massive Self Evaluation Reports (SER) and made the necessary adjustments to comply with all regulatory requirements and suggestions. These efforts reduced the amount of time for marketing. Nevertheless, we continued to enroll students, but our net student body headcount didn’t increase that year. We had four people graduate from the CBS program and six people graduate with a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies. We were thrilled to move Dr. Joel Wingo and Mrs. Tracey Hopkins from contractors to full-time employees to round out a phenomenal core administrative staff.
We began 2023 by mourning the death of our dear friend Dr. Mike Heiser. In faithful response to his hopes for Redemption, we have entirely shouldered our marketing efforts and are on track to meet or exceed the 2023 expectations in our three-year strategic plan and budget. We have already enrolled over 60 students and have a 125 total headcount. Eight people have already graduated with a MABS this year. We are thankful that the Lord has increased the size of our board and the number of significant donors who are supporting the effort.
From the beginning, our policies and protocols were developed with an attitude toward regulatory compliance and best practices as we developed a learning model geared toward the non-traditional student base we serve. It is our hope, the hope of our students, and the waiting list of students in states that functionally require us to have accreditation, that we will be found compliant in this site evaluation.
Summary of Our DNA
Our mission: Redemption Seminary helps adult Christians grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3:18) through quality distance education which enables learning within their ministry setting.
Our work is student-centered with a focus on holistic growth. It is important for our work that we are doing more than informing students (mere knowledge). Our courses focus on “grace,” by guiding and developing students’ habits, skills, attitudes, perspectives, and relationships in their ministry setting.
Our students are adult Christians already in their careers, raising a family, or retired. Our model must be flexible enough to accommodate the diversity and challenges of these schedules. In addition to offering many starts during the year with six terms, students can work at their own pace in preparation for a course. This improves students' ability to succeed within the mentoring term.
Our goal has been to minimize the risk and maximize the reward for students. In addition to keeping the program affordable, students are encouraged to try a course to see if it is the right fit for their life. Students only pay for what they use and can step away from a course or program at any time without any financial obligation remaining. There are also early exit options with the certificate program or a non-matriculation option.
Our assessment model using direct assessment of outcomes and competencies achieved and documented with a course portfolio is another way we tailor the learning model to our student needs. Instead of using a weed-out approach to education (seen in many law and medical institutions), we intentionally work to weave in qualified adults into theological programs to advance their growth.
We believe that there is much work to be done to help ministry leaders and volunteers discover, consider, and pursue programmatic theological education. Jesus noted the need for more leaders when he taught that “the fields are white for harvest” (John 4:35). The Lord faithfully provided the leaders to launch the church and He has continued to nurture its growth.
We launched Redemption to add more helpers for this growth.
Our greatest challenge occurs when we encounter prospective students and potential ministry partners who reside in states where we can’t functionally serve residents without accreditation. We are eager to reduce these complications by becoming accredited and have welcomed the process. Working through and complying with the accreditation process has helped us fulfill our mission and it is part of our strategic plan to further this mission.
This humble and collaborative approach to criticism stems from our core values of faithfulness, optimization, respect, encouragement, and growth. We use this same approach to respond to the feedback we receive from mentors and students at the conclusion of courses. This has allowed us to refine our institution very quickly, confirmed by our high student satisfaction.
While recognizing the progress we have made, we humbly acknowledge the importance of accreditation for streamlining our students' educational pursuits and propelling our mission forward. Rooted in our core values, we continue with an open heart, ready to learn, adapt, and thrive alongside your institutions with DEAC accreditation for the sake of kingdom advancement from strength to strength.
May the Lord bless our conversations and work today.
What Happened During the Visit?
The visit was a full day of evaluators asking probing questions about our protocols, policies, approach to education, and student experiences. The biggest highlight was the feedback provided by our students and faculty. Student satisfaction is what we care most about.
We take seriously all the feedback we get from students and faculty after each course. This student-centered attentiveness helped us surpass an above 80 net promoter score. (The industry standard is 50.) The stories and glowing responses from students and faculty were extremely encouraging. Clearly, Redemption Seminary is not your traditional seminary.
What’s Next?
We want to unlock the 15 states that we cannot serve without accreditation and NC_SARA approval. This is a significant portion of the United States, and we are eager to help students and ministries in those states. We are so thankful for the support given to Redemption Seminary to bring us to this point with accreditation. As we get closer to achieving this huge milestone, we need to prepare for the next one. So, let’s look at what NC_SARA is and what it requires.
What’s Required?
In addition to being accredited, we need to become a member of NC_SARA (an organization for schools to have reciprocity for authorization among the states). To be eligible for this membership, we need a Federal Financial Composite Score of at least 1.5. To achieve that score, we need to raise $150,000. This is not a small need, but with the Lord, all things are possible. He has provided for us thus far by moving within many people’s hearts like yours, so we are full of hope that this goal can be achieved.
Even though our operational costs are covered by tuition (with an enrollment of 180), the Federal Financial Composite looks primarily at assets. Without a campus, we are evaluated primarily by financial reserves. If we can dream big (a hope that is only possible with the Lord), a 1.5 million-dollar endowment that would remain invested and untouched to produce $150,000 in annual revenue would solve our challenge year after year.
This endowment doesn’t have to be cash. Many Christian financial advisers have mapped out ways to wrap investments and businesses in a non-profit trust that can:
further Redemption’s mission to students in new states
provide tax-free revenue for a person’s retirement.
Building an endowment like this would solve the challenge of maintaining the federal financial composite score each year.
These are big numbers to unlock an affordable, convenient, and relational way for a multitude of Christians to receive graduate-level theological training that elevates their ministries. Every contribution helps, no matter the amount. We are so thankful for all the prayers and support that have upheld and established Redemption Seminary in these early years. We would be grateful if you would consider joining in this end-of-year effort.
Feel free to use this link to contribute or contact me (jschwandt@redemptionseminary.org) for details for wiring funds. We are praying for the Lord’s help through his church’s generosity to attain the score we need this year to allow Redemption to serve every state in the United States.
Dr. Joel Wingo, Mrs. Tracey Hopkins, and Dr. John Schwandt at the end of the day after the site visit. We are still smiling!