MINISTRY IN MOTION

Discovering, creating, and incubating community collaborations that address pervasive social challenges.

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MINISTRY IN MOTION

Discovering, creating, and incubating community collaborations that address pervasive social challenges.

LATEST NEWS

Center Director Speaks in the Bay Area

Mar 19, 2018

Center Director Speaks in the Bay Area

Rev. Floyd Thompkins Preaches at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia

Feb 15, 2018

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Charlottesville, Virginia. The head of staff and senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Ken Henry, is a graduate of SFTS. Westminster Presbyterian Church is a progressive and vital presence in Charlottesville. On February 4th Rev. Floyd Thompkins...

Rev. Floyd Thompkins, Director of the Center for Innovation in Ministry at SFTS, Speaks to PC(USA) Seminary Presidents and Board Chairs

Jan 29, 2018

On January 26th, the Presbyterian Church (USA) annual meeting of Presidents and Board Chairs met at San Francisco Theological Seminary. Rev. Thompkins preached at the opening worship service with a sermon entitled “Flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you...we...

UPCOMING EVENTS

November 19

Floyd Thompkins Speaking Event

Marin Lutheran Church

November 20

Rev. Dr. Erin Swenson

SFTS Chapel: Transgender Day of Rememberance

TBD

Shifts Happen Lectures

Restoring Justice: Creative Leadership in Addressing Policing

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SEE All UPCOMING EVENTS & INFORMATION

OUR INITIATIVES

Smith-King Program

Together with The Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute at Stanford University and J. Alfred Smith, Sr., we are expanding Dr. King’s passionate ministry of peace to solve community challenges.

Spahr Reconciliation

With the creation of the Jane Adams Spahr Reconciling Church Project, we are creating a more diverse and inclusive Presbyterian Church (USA). All are welcome.

This We Affirm

In partnership with Rev. Eric Elnes and the Convergence Network, we are creating an open collaboration based on the Phoenix Affirmations to breathe new life and relevance in congregations across the U.S.

STAY CONNECTED

GET INVOLVED

Shifts Happen Lectures

We are constantly bringing together some of the brightest innovators to inspire, equip and connect you with like minded leaders. Check out our Events page to register for upcoming activities, including our free Shifts Happen lectures, a lecture and discussion series featuring leading scholars and activists.

Online Collaborative Seminars

Our Collaborative Seminars are a unique combination of academic coursework, on the ground activism, and cohort based dialogue that will help you foster justice, peace and thriving community in your local context. Plus, to make the seminars available to leaders around the world, we offer all of them in an interactive online format.

Community Blog

Our community blog, A Fabulous Place, seeks to bring together those who feel marginalized, but refuse to be bullied. It is a forum where LGBTQ individuals, people of color, immigrant communities, women, those with differing levels of ability and countless others who have been targeted by hateful rhetoric, action and policy can resist through written and spoken word, art and music.

OUR PARTNERS

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR INNOVATION IN MINISTRY AT SFTS

The Center for Innovation in Ministry is an expression of San Francisco Theological Seminary’s commitment to remain on the growing edge of the ever-changing spiritual, social and economic challenges facing society.

We seek to stimulate collaborations and ignite positive breakthroughs. We link up individual innovators and partner with congregations, educational organizations, and groups seeking to act positively in the world. Together we create, discover, incubate and disseminate effective responses to our common challenges.

People of goodwill everywhere can engage through partnerships, online courses, on-campus and off-campus seminars, and various social media platforms to find the deep wisdom that can make the world a better place for us all.

Rev. Floyd Thompkins

Director of The Center for Innovation in Ministry at SFTS

Floyd Thompkins is an extraordinary communicator, and his dynamic leadership is marked by his gift for connecting to all people. He is particularly skilled at facilitating sensitive real-world subject material, implementing meaningful and relevant community initiatives to make a positive difference. His ministry is one of ethical and compassionate action.

Rev. Thompkins served as a dean and chaplain at two world-class institutions, Stanford and Princeton universities. He developed unique, highly effective programs to empower underserved teenage youth and young adults in urban and rural areas—in East Palo Alto, CA and rural South Georgia. He led Antioch Baptist Church, the oldest African American Church in San Jose, CA, and was the Education and Administrative Pastor of Covenant Christian Church in Douglas, GA.

As Associate Dean of Memorial Church at Stanford University, Rev. Thompkins founded Black Church, the largest multi-cultural religious gathering on the Stanford campus. He also implemented a special freshman support system still being used as a base academic support program. In Georgia, he was executive director of the Bower Fund and with Youth Empowerment Today, organizations dedicated to mentoring at-risk youth through middle school, high school, and into college. He is a curriculum writer and a published author with several books to his credit.

His awards include the Presidential Award for Community Service from President Bill Clinton, The Benjamin E. Mays Fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Edward G. Howel Preaching Award from Princeton Theological Seminary.