Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV) requests a four-year grant for partial support of its Uptick program. This effort seeks to provide clergy with individual and group interactions that will enable them to deepen their spiritual leadership, heighten their sense of accountability to colleagues and lay leaders, and construct a vision for their pastoral vocations that will guide their ministries. BGAV will identify young pastors who serve congregations in three high-density population areas of Virginia that are ethnically and racially diverse and form them into peer clergy cohorts. During a one-year period, the pastors in each cohort will engage in a combination of retreats, online meetings, coaching and mentoring aimed at helping them deepen their listening skills (such as the ability to listen to God, mentors, peers and people in the communities they serve) and responding appropriately as pastoral leaders. They will also address the challenges of ministry by training for intercultural intelligence, reconciliation and urban community development to build bridges of civility for flourishing. To sustain this program, BGAV will cultivate a “pay-it-forward” ethos, raising funds from former participants and their congregations and soliciting gifts from new individual donors.
Gustavus Adolphus College, affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), operates the Continuous Growth Pathway (CGP) program in partnership with the Southeastern and Southwestern Minnesota Synods of the ELCA. Since 2004 Gustavus and the synods have offered a clergy wellness resource called Pastor-to-Pastor. The CGP builds upon this successful program and significantly expands it to create a comprehensive leadership development structure for the ELCA rostered leaders of Southern Minnesota. The CGP program offers rostered leaders: 1) on-going leadership development and mentoring opportunities sensitive to their tenure in ordained ministry to help them engage in a more focused professional development strategy; and 2) additional leadership support resources and focus for those serving congregations in rural, multicultural, and pioneering contexts to help them gain greater understanding and clarity about ministry in these particular settings. The CGP includes opportunities for rostered leaders to conduct self-assessments and professional inventories, participate in peer-to-peer small group opportunities, build relationships with mentors, receive spiritual direction and pursue advanced leadership development. To sustain the program, rostered leaders participating in the CGP pay an annual membership fee and the CGP appeals directly to congregations and individuals for financial support and shares a portion of the program costs with the synods. Membership in the CGP is limited to rostered leaders serving in the Southern Minnesota Synods of the ELCA.
The PLNU Center for Pastoral Leadership is excited about the potential to further its mission to resource pastors and partner with them in ministry through the Ministerial Coaching Initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to provide professional developmental coaching to church-planting pastors, pastors serving small-membership churches and pastors serving congregations serving communities of color. Through a personal and cohort coaching model, encouraging peer-to-peer connection and resourcing between pastors, this initiative provides tailored training that addresses the specific leadership challenges these pastors encounter. We hope to help pastors navigate the unprecedented challenges they face today with congruence, authenticity and courage.
Benedictine Women of Madison, an ecumenical religious community, received a five-year grant to support its Ecumenical Center for Clergy Spiritual Renewal program. This endeavor seeks to offer pastors in the early- and mid-stages of their careers the opportunity to experience spiritual renewal through immersions in Christian contemplative practices and the forming of supportive relationships with clergy peers. The pastors will participate in two immersions to experience the rhythms, people and sacred space of Holy Wisdom Monastery. Between immersions, pastors will stay connected to one another through video conference calls and a variety of leadership resources and activities sponsored by the Center. The Benedictine Women will sustain this program through partnerships with congregations and external organizations, grants, earnings from its endowment and modest participant fees.
Hispanic Access Foundation (HAF), a national nonprofit faith-based organization, is launching its Hispanic Leadership Network: A Focus on Ministry for Thriving Churches program. The effort seeks to develop a mentoring and leadership development network to support young, midcareer and experienced Latino/a pastors serving high need rural and urban congregations across the United States. The program will engage pastors who have been closely involved in HAF initiatives for nearly eight years and will gradually incorporate new faith leader participants in 12 geographic regions, so they become more fully connected and supported by their peers. Program activities include: a five-day in-person orientation; participation in regular small group meetings with peers and mentors; and professional leadership development webinars. In addition, pastors will be encouraged to hold one community event in their churches or neighborhoods. To sustain this effort, HAF will seek to raise funds from a variety of sources while developing a low-cost model to maintain the peer network.
California Lutheran University received a five-year grant to create the Thriving Leadership Formation Program. Working in partnership with Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and 11 synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the program will help pastors and church leaders strengthen specific practical leadership skills not learned in seminary while encouraging them to deepen their engagement with their congregations and communities. This effort will emphasize collaborative learning in cohorts (in person and online) that cultivate mutual support, practices, and accountability, and provide pastors and church leaders with mentoring, spiritual direction and coaching. To sustain this program, California Lutheran and its partner organizations will monetize mentoring and leadership development resources developed through the program and solicit financial support from its network of synods and congregations.