Project Directory

Denver Seminary, a nondenominational, evangelical school, requests a five-year grant for partial support for its Soul Care Initiative (SCI) program, an effort that seeks to provide spiritual renewal, physical rest and a supportive community for local Denver pastors.  Focusing on executive-level pastors, the seminary will form cohorts of 20 to 30 clergy each who will gather regularly for nine months for facilitated monthly retreats, individual spiritual direction and personal prayer practices.  In addition, the seminary will offer periodic retreats during pivotal seasons of the liturgical church calendar for alumni of the SCI program and other clergy throughout the Denver area.  The aim is to cultivate a wider network of pastoral leaders who support one another in their ministries.  To sustain this program, Denver Seminary will seek individual and corporate donors, church partnerships and sponsorships with organizations supporting pastoral leaders.

Through a creative alliance between Syracuse University and Le Moyne College, the “Fellowship for Emerging Leaders in Ministry” seeks to recruit, gather, and equip cohorts of gifted faith leaders who have approximately 5-10 years of ministry experience, with twenty or more years remaining. The core purpose of this initiative is to offer a dynamic and distinctive setting for the formation of visionary leaders that are empowered to flourish within the contemporary era through creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. These groups, which will meet over the course of six months, will focus on various aspects of leadership development with the goal of thriving vocationally and thus enhancing the vitality of the congregations they serve. Using a multi-generational and ecumenical approach, ministry fellows will receive guidance from recognized scholars and experienced clergy, and will have opportunities to engage undergraduate and graduate students, all for the sake of focusing on – and responding to – the diversity of challenges and possibilities found in our contemporary ministry context.

Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) seeks a five-year grant to support its Thriving on the Journey: A Process for Pastoral Leaders program.  This effort aims to support new and midcareer Mennonite pastors as they negotiate key professional transitions to help them address challenges and lead their congregations more confidently.  During this two-year program, new pastors will meet individually every other week with wise pastoral mentors and together as cohorts of five pastors each for three extended weekend gatherings.  Cohorts of six midcareer pastors each will meet with two seasoned leaders with expertise in pastoral ministry and intercultural competence four times a year to build peer mentoring relationships with each other and develop stronger skills for leading congregations in their particular ministry contexts.  To sustain this program, AMBS will seek contributions from participants and their congregations and cultivate gifts from new donors.

Hood Theological Seminary (HTS), affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and approved by the University Senate of The United Methodist Church, requests a five-year grant for partial support for the Institute for Early Career Clergy Development.  This Institute will support clergy in their second through seventh year of ministry in and around North Carolina.  The Institute seeks to promote sustainable ministry through the creation a network of local pastors, peer-mentor relationships between early career and experienced clergy, continuing education opportunities for all clergypersons, and retreats focused on topical aspects of ministry in the 21^st century.  To sustain this program, HTS will seek contributions from new individual donors, solicit support from local foundations and identify potential donors among denominational and congregational partners.

Virginia Union University seeks to launch a new effort to help pastors address major personal and professional challenges. Based in its Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology (STVU), the project will provide pastors with holistic self-care, mentorship and collegial relationships, and congregational and community support. STVU will develop peer support groups for pastors, set aside sacred spaces for pastors to engage in reflection and retreats, and build support at the congregational and community levels for pastors to seek out and receive help when necessary.

Catholic Leadership Institute requests a four-year grant for partial support for its Revolutionizing Pastoral Placements: A New Way to Match, Appoint and Transition Catholic Priests to Parishes program. This endeavor seeks to move beyond the limits of the current diocesan placement system – often reactive and based on “plugging holes” – and create a leadership context in which priests build awareness of their strengths and a path for professional growth, parishes understand their unique charisms and ministry needs, and dioceses can think strategically into the future, armed with better information to align pastors and parishes. Catholic Leadership Institute will leverage innovative technology to assess the strengths and competencies of both priests and parishes in a diocese, as well as identify potential best-fit alignment between them. Catholic Leadership Institute will then work with diocesan personnel teams to proactively identify leadership needs and develop a transition and development plan for priests and parishes. Through this process, priests will have access to mentors and a network of peer and diocesan support. Catholic Leadership Institute will seek funds from diocesan partnerships and raise contributions from new donors to sustain this program.