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.
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 21st 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.
Street Psalms convenes and coordinates a global network of training hubs who are committed to developing incarnational leaders to love their city and seek its peace. Our Thriving in Ministry initiative is called “Preaching Peace.” It is focused on urban pastors who are called to preach and practice peace in vulnerable urban communities. The model began in Tacoma, WA where, for more than five years, local pastors gather weekly over a sack lunch for 1.5 hours. Together they reflect on the Gospel lectionary text they will preach the coming Sunday. In addition, pastors convene an annual retreat for mutual support. They also host a lecture series for the broader community. This simple model has cultivated deep community that sustains pastors and their congregations. It has also created the space for a wide variety of collateral programs to develop organically – ones that under resourced urban churches cannot achieve on their own. Street Psalms is sharing this model in at least 10 new sites throughout its network.
Project Name:
The R.E.A.L. Black Women in Ministry THRIVE Fellows
Description:
Union Baptist Church, in the Village of Harlem, New York (Rev. BD Scott, Pastor), is home to The R.E.A.L. Black Women in Ministry THRIVE (REAL BWIM THRIVE 50) FELLOWS: a 4-year, national, personal, pastoral and professional formation and development mentorship cohort, specifically designed for 26 Black women Senior pastors to mentor 26 Black women in ministry who are newer to ministry, but who have the desire to serve in parish ministries, for enhancement, advancement and placement in parish ministry. Through sharing resources, opportunities and networking, intentional attention is placed on strengthening current senior pastors, planting new pastors, and creating a succession of next-generation Black female leaders, equipped, exposed, and ready to be 21st-century leaders, both in person and virtually.
Union Baptist Church is also the home of the Grant program Director, Rev. Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook, who was the first woman licensed and ordained in the Christian ministry there, and who later went on to direct the first Black women in ministry program of the Lilly Endowment, and also become the first Black woman pastor in the 200-year history of the American Baptist Churches, USA.
In cohort format, through prayer, personal and group interaction, video recordings, journaling, presentations, social media instruction, mentoring, guest speakers, retreats and monthly Sister Sessions, this initiative allows participants to enjoy their creativity and their journeys, as whole and healthy leaders.
Representing 11 different denominations and from 11 different cities, we have already seen growth, reduction of stress and a hunger for interaction and learning. Most of all, a new sisterhood has developed for pastors who had been in isolation, serving congregations of color in America’s urban cities. They know they are not alone and thank the Lilly Endowment for this amazing opportunity.
The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) seeks a five-year grant for partial support of its Thriving Together program, an effort to create a stronger, more vital culture of clergy mentoring across the CRCNA denomination that helps pastors negotiate key transitional challenges in their careers. The program will focus on pastors when their sense of vocation might be challenged or disrupted; in particular when pastors move from their first to their second congregational call, when they are nearing the end of their ministry careers, and when they are privately wrestling with their vocational future. Through regular gatherings of pastors, the development of leadership resources, the use of ministry assessment tools, and the fostering of mentoring relationships among clergy, the program seeks to foster peer relationships that promote mutuality and accountability among clergy. To sustain this program, the CRCNA will work closely with its regional assemblies and seek financial support from the denomination’s fund to support the professional development of clergy.
The Center for Faith and Imagination (CFI) at Memphis Theological Seminary offers resources and opportunities for faith leaders to live fully and healthily into their calls to ministry. Building on the importance of Christian community and grounded in the understanding that clergy are called to be both pastors and prophets, CFI programs include: Faith Formation Groups: small groups of clergy who covenant to meet face-to-face twice monthly for two years for theological reflection, collegial encouragement, and mutual accountability in a setting to form and deepen relationships, knowledge, spiritual practices, and ministerial vision; Scholarships: in partnership with Clergy Coaching Network, will provide funding for clergy coaching and spiritual direction for ministers whose budgets do not include this support; Immersive Retreats: opportunities for clergy to learn from and with partner individuals and organizations who are effectively engaged in imaginative ministries addressing both the inward and outward journeys of faith leaders and laity; Renewal in Nature: outdoor experiences to provide rest, renewal, and recreation for faith leaders by connecting with God’s creation and with fellow participants through hiking, fishing, gardening, canoeing, and wandering in the woods led by naturalists and spiritual guides; Fellowships: selected recent MTS graduates serving in in under-paid or unpaid settings receive a year’s stipend and are partnered with a faculty mentor to help them develop innovative ministries.