The Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership, a ministry training partnership of the Church of the Brethren General Board and Bethany Theological Seminary, has received a grant of $2 million from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. to participate in a national program called "Sustaining Pastoral Excellence.' The program is an effort of the Endowment to focus attention and energy on maintaining the high caliber of many of the country's pastoral leaders.

The Sustaining Pastoral Excellence programs of the Academy will engage excellent pastors in processes which will empower them to exercise their creativity and imagination in designing experiences that will nurture ongoing accountable relationships of support shared learning, and deepening spiritual formation of self and others.

The programs will feature two long-term professional growth experiences for pastors, designed to enrich their spiritual, emotional, intellectual, relational and physical health.

The Vital Pastor program will invite small cohorts of excellent pastors to design and implement their own learning plans to enhance and sustain self-identified competency areas such as biblical study, preaching and pastoral care.

The Advanced Foundations of Church Leadership program will engage cohorts of 10 to 12 pastors in learning experiences to improve their leadership capacities.

To find out more about the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence opportunities for Church of the Brethren pastors, follow these links:

Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Project Summary

Continuing Education Guidelines for Church of the Brethren Pastors

Or contact Jonathan Shively, Director, Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership at pastoralexcellencebethanyseminary.edu

Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Project Summary

The Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership, a ministry training partnership of the Church of the Brethren General Board and Bethany Theological Seminary, has received a grant of $2 million from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. to participate in a national program called "Sustaining Pastoral Excellence" The program is an effort of the Endowment to focus attention and energy on maintaining the high caliber of many of the country's pastoral leaders.

The Sustaining Pastoral Excellence project of the Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership supports pastors through two program tracks, Advanced Foundations of Church Leadership and the Vital Pastor program. Both tracks are two year cohort-based experiences designed to engage excellent pastors in a process which will empower them to exercise their creativity, imagination, and gifts toward effective, sustained ministry. They will design and participate in experiences to nurture ongoing relationships of support, shared learning, and spiritual formation.

The Vital Pastor track invites pastors to form learning groups of four to ten members with ministerial peers. Each learning group will construct a three-fold learning experience around a focus area they will identify. Once the focus areas has been identified and a course of study outlined, learning groups will begin by participating in an alternate context immersion experience, essentially consisting of ten days of travel together. Next, the learning groups will meet for study, support, accountability and spiritual formation on a regular basis for 18 months to two years. Finally, at the end of the two year time period, participants from all learning groups on the same two year cycle will meet in retreat for five days to share their learning and group experiences with one another.

The Advanced Foundations of Church Leadership track is designed to increase the leadership capacity and skills of pastors. Eight four-day retreats over two years provide an opportunity for groups of 10-15 pastors to deeply engage practical questions of ministry by immersion in theoretical learning, self-assessment, spiritual formation, case study, shared learning, and a supportive network of peers and instructors. The program equips pastors to provide sustained quality leadership in a wide variety of contexts and situations by deepening spiritual formation, strengthening critical thinking and analytical skills, exposing them to a wide body of both church and secular leadership models, and empowering the ministerial leadership of each individual.

This project is designed primarily to serve Church of the Brethren pastors. Some cohort groups may be ecumenical in their makeup. Both the Vital Pastor program and Advanced Foundations of Church Leadership will begin cohort work in 2005. Lilly Endowment Inc. support continues through 2008.

Contact Information

Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Programs
Jonathan Shively, Director
Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership
Bethany Theological Seminary
615 National Road West
Richmond, Indiana 47374
Phone: 765-983-1824
Fax: 765-983-1840
E-mail: pastoralexcellencebethanyseminary.edu