Project Directory

The Center for Courage & Renewal will use its Circle of Trust® approach to help pastoral leaders develop and nurture the collegial relationships vital to thriving in ministry and sustaining the work of faithfulness.  We will create and convene five communities of practice made up of twenty-five early career clergy and six to eight seasoned clergy and trained facilitators each.  These communities will gather for three, multiple-day retreats and monthly, small group peer learning calls over the course of a year-long program.  To sustain this project, the Center will incorporate the project into its operating budget and seek funding through partnerships, grants, individual donations, and project revenue.

Missio Seminary, an inter/multidenominational, evangelical school, seeks a five-year grant for partial funding of its Program for Urban Leaders and Pastors in Transition (PULPIT); an effort to support pastors serving urban congregations in the Philadelphia metropolitan region, and help them negotiate various key professional transitions at different stages of their ministerial careers.  The program will bring pastors together as peer colleagues to develop healthy support systems for each other, encourage them to attend to their own health and wellness, and equip them to address challenges faced by urban churches.  In addition, this endeavor will help the pastors develop flourishing relationships with other pastors that cross racial, ethnic and socioeconomic boundaries, and encourage them to help their congregations bridge these divides.  To sustain the program, Missio Seminary will incorporate programmatic components into its operating budget and its doctor of ministry degree program.

The Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, affiliated with the Episcopal Church, requests five-year grant to support its Flourishing Pastors: A Wholistic Systems Approach program, an effort that seeks to provide for the flourishing of newly ordained clergy serving in rural, small congregations in the diocese.  The program will provide individual mentors for all newly ordained clergy and those new to the diocese, host monthly regional clergy groups for spiritual formation and support, organize diocesan clergy retreats and conferences to sharpen leadership skills, encourage and support spiritual direction and coaching for clergy, and conduct regular leadership development programs for teams of parish clergy and lay leaders.  To sustain this effort, the diocese will incorporate the program into its operating budget and raise funds from new donors.

Catawba College, affiliated with the United Church of Christ, requests a five-year grant to support its Catawba Clergy Network program to provide opportunities for rest, reflection, resources, and relationships for local and alumni/ae clergy. The Catawba Clergy Network will identify and focus on specific contexts of ministry within our network, beginning with part time or bivocational ministers and clergy in their first call. These pastors sharing similar contexts will be formed into cohorts. Local and alumni/ae clergy will be invited to Catawba Clergy Days to interact with Catawba faculty, students, and other community leaders for conversation, continuing education, networking, and reflection. The Catawba Clergy Network will also award small grants to pastors to support innovation and specific ministry needs.

Campbell University, an institution of Christian Higher Education, historically rooted in the Baptist theological tradition, is offering the Fellowship for Clergy in Rural and Underserved Areas program.  Focusing on pastors who serve congregations in rural and small-town settings, located primarily in, but not exclusively, central and eastern North Carolina, this program will develop pastors through peer learning cohorts of 16 clergy each who meet in person and online for a one-year period.  During the program, the pastors will explore common ministry challenges and build connections with peer colleagues, mentors, university faculty and expert consultants.  A second year of participation is available to those clergy wishing to continue as mentors to first year participants. The aim is to strengthen the leadership capacities and resiliency of the participating pastors.  Campbell’s mission is to “lead with purpose.” This Fellowship bookends a cycle of work with high school students in our Youth Theological Institute, our undergraduate population, graduate students in partnership with our Divinity school, and now pastors in rural congregations. Formation in and through relationships is central to thriving in ministry and how we seek to increase the possibilities for pastoral ministry.

Grove City College, a Christian liberal arts and sciences college in western Pennsylvania, seeks a five-year grant for its Project on Rural Ministry (PRM). This effort will convene pastors who minister in denominationally diverse but geographically and demographically similar contexts to receive and share accrued wisdom concerning the practice of ministry in rural settings. The PRM will form three cohorts of 10 pastors each who serve rural and small town congregations in the Agricultural, Rust Belt, and Appalachian regions served by the college. Key program activities include: an opening and closing conference for combined cohorts; participation in a virtual network with clergy peers; regional single-cohort meetings; customized single-church site visits by consultants specializing in social work, entrepreneurship, and Christian ministry; and the provision of student interns and service learners who will respond to pastors’ requests for more concentrated resources based on their communities’ needs. To sustain this work, Grove City College will seek to establish and extend the work of the PRM by funding an ongoing Ministry Institute to foster engagement between college, church, and community. Project details may be reviewed at www.ruralministry.org.