MINISTERS COUNCIL RECEIVES $979,800 LILLY GRANT

 

The Ministers Council Together in Ministry project has received a grant of $979,800 from the Lilly Endowment Inc Sustaining Pastoral Excellence program. The grant, for 2008-2012, will further the work initiated by a Lilly grant of $1,959,600 from 2002-2007.

 

Together in Ministry has emphasized the generation of holy friendships among pastoral leaders as professionals, primarily through the formation of collegial covenant groups.   Evaluation results for 2006 reveal that ninety-seven percent of current covenant group participants plan to continue the practice but three key requirements for sustainability remain: further embedding the covenant group practice for solid and enduring systemic change and future participation; enhancing relationships among pastoral and lay leaders of congregations for mutuality in ministry and support for all aspects of the well-lived pastoral life, including congregational funding for covenant group participation; and capacity building of constituent Councils for bearing the ethos of covenant group practice and other dynamics of covenant essential to profession and call.

 

A DVD on Together in Ministry collegial covenant groups and a new Learning Guide for the Covenant and Code of Ethics are available from the Ministers Council.

 

The new grant will fund three initiatives:

 

1. Broad systemic change requires time and perseverance. Continued partial funding will be made available on a competitive basis to groups funded in the first stage of Together in Ministry that continue into 2008 and beyond. At the same time, excellent groups will be showcased to leverage their experience in the development of new collegial covenant groups, and further studied to ascertain both what dynamics maintain the life of a group over time and how participation contributes to sustaining excellence over the long haul.

 

2. Pastoral excellence and the well-lived pastoral life as well as congregational vitality require strong mutuality in Christ among pastoral and lay leaders of congregations. A new model for covenant group continuation or formation will include both pastoral and lay leaders, focused specifically on Christian Practices.

 

3. Effective preparation of constituent Councils to continue the practice of collegial covenant groups beyond current participants requires capacity building of constituent Ministers Councils to strengthen those local professional associations as bearers of the covenant group ethos. Together in Ministry will convene gatherings of constituent Ministers Council-Together in Ministry local leadership for resourcing constituent Councils for their effective work as leaders of the Body of Christ.

 

Together in Ministry seeks to transform disciplines, habits, ways or practices of pastoral leaders to enhance pastoral excellence by establishing the model of relational ministry and the norm of holy friendships.

 

The following goals have guided the project since its inception:

• Overcome pastoral leaders’ sense of personal and professional isolation
• Enrich pastoral leaders’ perspectives of themselves and their congregations
• Provide a supportive network of peers who will pray for one another
• Offer opportunities for disciplined focus through specific study
• Create a climate for checking in and mutual accountability
• Enhance the current network of Ministers Councils to become more supportive

 

 

Kate Harvey

Executive Director

Ministers Council

March 16, 2007