Located in Harlem, New York City, City Seminary of New York seeks in its five-year grant to support its Thriving in Ministry Initiative project. This is an effort to cultivate an expansive community of pastoral practice across often disconnected ministries and church traditions in the metropolitan area. Through collaborative inquiry and praxis reflection groups, spiritual direction retreats, portraiture, and annual gatherings, City Seminary hopes to connect pastors in similar and different seasons of ministry to a community of support and encouragement. The project proposes to nurture clergy faith and spirituality, invite clergy to listen to their congregational members, explore the importance of their family and intergenerational interactions, and make space for them to reflect on their congregation’s mission and purpose in a complex and ever-changing urban setting. City Seminary will incorporate project activities into its ongoing graduate and non-degree programs and its operating budget. The overarching vision is to make Thriving in Ministry part of the fabric of our seminary life now and into the future.
Project Name:
Esperanza for Pastoral Leaders in Hispanic Ministry
Description:
The Mexican American Catholic College is partnering with the Lilly Endowment to strengthen existing programs and launch new initiatives that help pastoral leaders thrive in ministry as they serve in congregations of color. MACC received $1,000,000 to be spent over a three-year period beginning in January 2021 and continuing through December 2023.
The primary focus of the grant is to address the glaring inequities of access to integral ministerial formation and higher education for Latino(a) lay men and women who discern a call to ministry but cannot afford to receive the formation and credentials needed for employment as a Lay Ecclesial Minister. To accomplish this and in partnership with the Archdiocese of San Antonio, MACC has established the Institute for Lay Ecclesial Ministry and Service. The Archdiocese also committed a matching grant to support the staffing and programs of the Institute and other MACC programs that serve the local Church.
Additionally, through close collaboration with national partners in ministry formation, the project is strengthening supportive programs for Women and Men Religious in Hispanic Ministry, Priests, Seminarians, and Deacon Candidates. These programs include language and
intercultural studies, spiritual accompaniment (especially of young leaders), and supportive peer
groups to keep the hard-working pastoral leaders hopeful and healthy.
“Esperanza - Hope” is MACC’s overarching theme for the project to provide integral ministerial formation and resources for pastoral ministers to thrive. MACC believes that hope-filled ministers can fill the empty hearts of families mourning the loss of loved ones to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hope-filled ministers can give direction to communities of color paralyzed in fear and uncertainty, without trustworthy guidance. Hope-filled ministers can heal hearts and transform structures ravaged by generations of systemic racism. Hope can animate and strengthen Pastoral Leaders in Hispanic Ministry who are weary and disoriented.
Project Name:
Bridges: Colloquia for Cultivating Ministry
Description:
The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board of American Baptist Churches (MMBB), which serves nearly 18,000 pastors and religious leaders in more than 5,000 churches and faith-based organizations from more than 15 denominations and hundreds of independent churches, requests a five-year grant for the Bridges: Colloquia for Cultivating Ministry program. Using the colloquium model, this program will bring together pastors to share with each other best leadership practices, reflect on key topics related to ministry challenges and transitions, and build relationships for personal and professional renewal. By fostering peer colleague relationships, the pastors will give each other support and guidance as well as accountability to foster higher levels of professional competence and well-being. To sustain this program, MMBB will incorporate programming into its operating budget and seek funding from new donors and denominational partners.
Vineyard USA, an association of more than 2,400 churches worldwide rooted in the Evangelical and Pentecostal traditions (“third wave”), is excited to have been awarded a five-year grant to support Vineyard’s Well-being of Pastors Initiative. This endeavor will invite at least 90 pastors over 5 years into three affinity-based peer cohorts. Each of three cohorts launches with 30-36 pastors completing a wellness survey and attending an initial retreat to get to know other cohort members. The following month and over the next two years, these affinity-group pastors will meet as a peer group in online video conferences with their affinity mentor, and he or she will meet individually with a specialized support team consisting of their mentor, a coach, and a spiritual director of their choice from a pool of top-rated professionals within the Vineyard. The individual and group meetings will occur 17 of the 23 months during the two year period. At the conclusion of each cohort’s two years together, the cohort will gather in person again and a second wellness survey will gauge the professional and personal growth of the pastors. Survey results will be used to fine-tune the program. An additional 30 pastors will take the wellness survey at the beginning and end to function as a control group for measurement accuracy. To sustain this effort, Vineyard USA will incorporate the program into its operating budget and seek financial support from individuals and congregations who are committed to pastor well-being.
Project Name:
Pastoral Excellence Program: Thriving in Ministry
Description:
Columbia Theological Seminary seeks a five-year grant for its Thriving in Ministry Initiative project, an effort to support pastors in times of personal and professional transitions. Based in its Center for Lifelong Learning, Columbia will establish two new programs and enhance a third. First, Columbia will offer a series of colloquies for peer groups for black pastors, Latino/a clergy, clergy serving in rural ministry settings, and pastors serving particular populations. Peer groups will consist of 12 clergy each and will gather for two, three-day colloquies facilitated by two experienced clergy. Second, Columbia will create the Healthy Transitions program to provide support for clergy facing forced termination from their congregational ministries. Finally, Columbia will expand its Leadership in Ministry workshops, which provide pastors the opportunities to reflect on their ministries with peers and mentors. To sustain this project Columbia will charge modest program fees and seek support from donors.
Project Name:
From Wander to Wonder: Surviving Pastoral Exile to Thriving in Pastoral Excellence
Description:
Without a doubt, the African Methodist Episcopal Church has weathered many storms. From the realities of systemic and institutional racism, to being on the front lines of the Yellow Fever epidemic, to navigating the current COVID-19 pandemic: through these varied generational challenges, the AME Church has survived. The survival, in many instances, is based on innovative and strategic thinking. The AME Church has played a critically important historical and contemporary role in cultivating the spiritual and social lives of people and communities of African descent in and beyond the United States. Consequently, beyond the ongoing global challenges of racism, the AME Church also faces the dilemmas of other mainline Protestant denominations: pastors trained solely for traditional congregational pastoral leadership. The Fifth Episcopal District has seized opportunities to fortify the District by implementing the following that are addressing the need to:
create cohorts/covenantal learning groups that will meet monthly to discuss challenges and best practices, and for the ultimate purpose of offering collegial support,
require coaches for clergy and offer talk therapeutic opportunities, and
engage retired pastors as necessary support/supply for sabbaticals, educational or vacation needs.