Belhaven University, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), seeks a five-year grant to establish the Rural Mississippi Pastors Initiative (RMPI), an effort to connect, equip, and empower 80 rural pastors from across the state to help them strengthen their leadership skills and thus help their congregations and communities to flourish. RMPI will recruit two cohorts of 40 pastors each who are serving rural communities throughout Mississippi. Gathering regularly during a 24-month period, the pastors will build supportive and lasting peer relationships, form mentoring relationships with experienced rural pastors and engage in consultations with experts on specific leadership challenges, such as conflict resolution, finance, governance and communication. Through these activities, the program seeks to deepen each pastor’s understanding of his or her professional identity. To sustain this program, Belhaven’s development office will cultivate financial support from their network of large churches and their alumni/ae donor base.
George Fox University seeks a five-year grant for its Portland Seminary to launch the Institute for Pastoral Thriving. This effort will build one-year peer cohorts of eight to twelve pastors each to foster authentic relationships, offer safe spaces for exploring pastoral leadership challenges, nurture spiritual disciplines, and provide a network of allies to support their own thriving in ministry. The Institute will directly address challenges to pastoral thriving, particularly professional transitions and the rapidly changing demographics of the Pacific Northwest. It also will offer an annual symposium for all cohorts to gather as a larger body alongside the seminary community with the intent to foster fruitful conversations regarding pastoral spiritual renewal. To sustain this project, George Fox University will seek funding from denominations and congregations and provide advanced standing credit in the seminary degree programs for project participants.
Pepperdine University’s “Sanctuary: Thriving in Ministry” program, funded by a five-year grant from the Lilly Endowment, focuses on ministers serving in Churches of Christ, seeking to help them flourish and prosper. The program focuses annually on cohort groups of around twelve ministers who meet as a peer group through the year. These cohorts are formed in different regions of the United States so that the ministers can be involved in each other’s lives beyond the meetings. Pepperdine also uses the resources of its Boone Center for the Family and its annual Harbor lecture program to establish a network of support and mentorship for the participating ministers and to provide them with needed resources. To sustain this project, Pepperdine will seek new sources of funding from foundations, corporations, individuals and other partners.
Project Name:
Wounded Healers Pastoral Support Program
Description:
The Second Episcopal District African Methodist Episcopal comprises 360 rural, suburban, and urban churches located in Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia, and North Carolina serving primarily Black congregations and communities. The Wounded Healers Pastoral Support Program (WHPSP) is designed specifically to promote holistic wellbeing among all clergy in the Second District, including new/early/mid/late-career and retired pastors. WHPSP has five goals that will help pastors thrive: 1. improve self-care, 2. engage spiritual formation practices, 3. maintain healthy boundaries, 4. cultivate authentic voices, and 5. establish meaningful collegial relationships. Pastors can take advantage of the program components, which are support groups, mentoring, retreat, or online web to increase their well-being. Resulting from discussions at clergy town hall meetings and feedback from online webinars, WHPSP partners with Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary and Chaney Coaching Group. Through this collaborative, clergy may receive training as mentors or the prerequisite preparation required to become a certified coach. The program also offers pastors the opportunity to participate in support groups, mentoring, retreats, and/or online Q&A website and webinars.
Catholic Rural Life (CRL) requests a five-year grant for its Thriving in Rural Ministry program, an effort designed to renew pastors serving rural parishes and revitalize their communities. Through retreats and opportunities for ongoing engagement with peers, the pastors will build a community of peer support and develop a renewed vision of the vocation of rural ministry. The program will provide pastors with theological formation and renewal experiences, encounters with exemplary rural leaders and opportunities to foster relationships with other rural priests. To sustain the program, CRL will solicit contributions from dioceses and parishes to defray program costs and dedicate a portion of its existing fundraising efforts to raise additional funds.
Project Name:
Thriving Throughout the Seasons of Pastoral Ministry
Description:
International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC), a denomination of more than 1,700 churches in the United States, seeks a five-year grant for partial support for its Thriving Throughout the Seasons of Pastoral Ministry program. Through this program, 180 to 200 pastoral leaders — women, men, pastors serving multiethnic/multilingual congregations, church planters, and those in transition from rural to urban ministry settings and vice versa — will engage in multiple-year peer learning and mentoring communities with pastors serving similar size congregations so they might build a peer network and explore together leadership challenges posed by their settings. To sustain this effort, IPHC will launch a deferred giving and capital campaign effort dedicated to this program and will incorporate elements into its operating budget.