Western Seminary, affiliated with Conservative Baptist Association of America, seeks a five-year grant for partial support to launch the Center for Pastoral Flourishing program (CPF), an effort to nurture and support the long-term well-being of pastors in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. The program will focus on new pastors early in their service, emerging leaders stepping into larger pastoral leadership roles, mid-career pastors encountering transitions in settings or roles, and seasoned pastors looking to contribute to the emerging next generation. The CPF will identify and intentionally incorporate more pastors into its leadership networks, sponsor forums on leadership practices that foster and sustain flourishing in ministry, form pastors into peer cohorts, produce pastoral leadership resources for personal and group learning, and provide coaching for pastors and congregations. To sustain the CPF, Western Seminary will charge participants a nominal fee and seek funding from partners who share a commitment to strong pastoral leadership.
Project Name:
Shared Wisdom for Thriving in Ministry
Description:
Wake Forest University, through its School of Divinity, a multi-denominational school rooted historically in the Baptist theological tradition, seeks a five-year grant for the Shared Wisdom for Thriving in Ministry program, an effort to bring together and build supportive relationships among inter-generational cohorts of pastors who serve congregations in multiple contexts. The Wake Forest School of Divinity will work in partnership with the Center for Congregational Health in the Wake Forest Medical Center FaithHealth Division and identify 72 clergy who serve in different ministry contexts (including solo pastors, heads of staff, associate pastors, intentional interim pastors, church planters and bi-vocational pastors). These pastors will be formed into three peer cohort groups. The program will connect each pastor with a pastor-mentor and a clergy-coach, and the pastor peer cohorts will participate in a series of leadership development opportunities led by Center for Congregational Health and divinity school faculty. To sustain this work, the divinity school will fold elements of the program into its doctor of ministry degree and certificate programs, and the Center for Congregational Health will incorporate the work into its ongoing clergy continuing education programs.
Project Name:
Thriving In Ministries : Bishop D'Arcy Program in Priestly Renewal and Strong Foundations for Pastoral Leaders Program
Description:
The University of Notre Dame seeks a five-year grant to establish a new project to support pastoral leaders and help them thrive in ministry. Based at its McGrath Institute for Church Life, this project will host annual, weeklong retreats for 12 pastors each who are nominated by diocesan bishops and organize regular continuing education events to support priestly renewal. The Institute also will host eight-day retreats to connect mentors and pastoral leaders in the first years of ministry to help prepare them for long-term ministry through professional development, financial and career planning, and personal and relational support. Mentors will meet with these early career pastoral leaders for two years. Ongoing engagement through digital resources will extend the reach of the initiative. The Institute will incorporate project activities into its operating budget to sustain the project.
Project Name:
RISE Together National Mentorship Network
Description:
Union Theological Seminary is home to RISE Together, a national mentorship network specifically for women of color that connects seminarians and early/mid-career clergy with experienced female ministers, pastors, scholars and community leaders. Founded as an initiative of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (Union) in collaboration with the women of color in Ministry (WOCIM) Project, RISE supports both the professional and pastoral formation of women of color as they embark on ministerial careers and serve in church and faith-based leadership positions. RISE Together program staff are working to develop a sustainable model for the recruitment and retention of mentees, mentors and host institutions. Currently, the mentorship network has 10 cohorts in 7 cities—New York, Atlanta, Nashville, Chicago, Lancaster, Pa., Oakland and Los Angeles with a total of 104 mentees. Host institutional partners include, RISE headquarters Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, American Baptist Seminary of the West, Innovative Spaces for Asian American Christianity, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Interdenominational Theological Seminary, Lancaster Theological Seminary and McCormick Theological Seminary.
Resilient Leaders Project at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology strengthens the three streams of resilience — people, practices, and purpose — in the lives of Christian leaders. Over one year, cohorts of 8-16 church workers gather for four multi-day learning modules and monthly peer groups. Resilient Leaders Project provides clergy with opportunities to build relationships; practice spiritual, physical, and emotional fitness; and discern their vocational next steps to build generative communities. Leaders leave the program with deeper self- and other-understanding, expanded capacity to manage stress and change, and tools to create redemptive narratives from their personal and congregational stories. The project is committed to learning about the practice of pastoral resilience and its impact on congregations and communities. To sustain this work, The School’s advancement team will work with a development consultant to cultivate major donors interested in supporting this project.
Spelman College, an historically black college for women, seeks funding for the WISDOM Center Fellowship program. Building on the activities of its successful WISDOM Center (which was launched in 2003 with Lilly Endowment support), this endeavor seeks to provide African-American millennial women in ministry, especially Spelman alumnae, with opportunities for peer learning, rest and creative engagement. The program will focus on younger black women clergy who are serving as associate pastors and discerning paths toward senior pastoral leadership positions. The pastors will form cohorts and meet for one year with mentors who will lead their retreats and gatherings. To sustain this work, Spelman will incorporate the program’s costs into its operating budget and solicit contributions from donors.