I was waiting for a more opportune time to write this book, sometime after my next book was finished, but Ted Smith approached me about the Theological Education between the Times project and convinced me that this was the right time to write this book. He was right, and I am forever in his debt for drawing me into this wonderful work and into the lives of a fabulous group of scholars and teachers. Amos Yong, Chloe Sun, Daniel Aleshire, Mark Jordan, Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, Colleen Mary Mallon, Keri Day, Maria Liu Wong, Rachelle Green, Hoffman Ospino, Mark Young, and Uli Guthrie all helped me clarify my thinking and confirmed for me the urgency of this book and of all the books that will be published in this series. Ted Smith led us beautifully in this work with gracious wisdom, deep humility, and an extravagant hospitality that extended from our meals to our ideas. This book is inspired by the witness of Katie Geneva Cannon, William Pannell, Cheryl Sanders, Fumitaka Matsuoka, M. Shawn Copeland, Eleazar S. Fernandez, Daisy Machado, Vine Deloria Jr., Evelyn Parker, and Kwok Puilan. Along with being accomplished scholars, these wonderful souls saw deeply into the dilemmas I articulate in this book. I have learned much from their faithful efforts to mark a path forward. I am also thankful for my many years of consulting work for the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Religion and Theology, under the leadership during my time of first Lucinda Huffaker, then Dena Pence, and now Nancy Lynne Westfield. Working with these brilliant directors along with Timothy Lake, Tom Pearson, and especially Paul Myhre allowed me the greatest gift a scholar and teacher could ask for—friends who saw the problems and the possibilities of theological education like I was seeing them. I am also very thankful for my work with the Association of Theological Schools, then under the leadership of Dan Aleshire and now under Frank Yamada. Consulting for these two crucial organizations allowed me to be with faculty, staff, students, and administrators from Vancouver to Florida, from Montreal to San Diego, learning about the intricate realities of this work of theological education. I also enjoy the great blessing of being able to teach and do my research at Yale Divinity School alongside a fabulous group of supportive colleagues, starting with our dean, Gregory Sterling. Words cannot capture my thankfulness for their friendship. I want to offer special thanks to my former colleagues at Duke University Divinity School for their unwavering love. We share what can only come through decades of life together—a deep understanding of our shared joy, anguish, and hope. I also live thankful each day for the world I share with Joanne Browne Jennings and our grown daughters, Njeri Jennings and Safiya Jennings. Everything I write lives near my thoughts of them and inside my gratefulness for their love and encouragement.