Talbot’s legacy goes back 70 years, and 50 more when you include the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. That legacy inspires me in my role as dean. We have a profound responsibility to steward our legacy well. We stand on the shoulders of greats, professors, deans, and staff that go back for decades.

We remain committed to the Bible and mission with passionate faithfulness, because we also love Jesus and the church.

I saw this commitment firsthand at the meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) in November. I was thrilled that Talbot had more representation (presentations, panels, and moderators) than any other non-denominational school at ETS.

I loved meeting so many alumni at ETS, like I’ve also gotten to do on the Lead the Way van tour. All over the world — in churches and academia — Talbot alumni are serving and indeed leading the way.

At ETS many scholars and students shared our excitement about Talbot’s remarkable growth in a world of declining seminaries — especially after we announced that we’re hiring several new faculty and staff roles.

We’re expanding into new places. With our Lilly grant, we will accelerate the launch of new regional sites with Talbot Embedded. San Diego and Seattle start this spring — with Orlando, Chicago, Houston, Portland, the Bay Area, Phoenix, and Honolulu coming soon. These hybrid, modular cohorts will embed Talbot training for leaders within their local community and ministry.

We’re also growing with new partners. The Aspire Network (formerly Transformation Ministries) announced that Talbot is now their denomination’s partner seminary. Partnerships with Acts 29, Stonecroft Women, and more coming announcements show that we are becoming the seminary option for many evangelical groups.

Finally, along with being a graduate-level seminary, Talbot is also the undergraduate school of Bible, Theology, and Ministry at Biola. Every undergraduate student takes 30 credits of Bible and theology through Talbot. This biblical focus continues Talbot’s vision, because we wanted to guard Biola theologically as the school moved from a Bible institute to a Bible college in 1949. Talbot has now also enrolled the largest undergrad class of Bible, Theology, and Ministry majors since Biola became a full university in 1981.

I love Talbot’s legacy. As we grow, we honor that commitment to the Bible and mission. As we build on that foundation bright days are here — with even brighter ones ahead.