wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] PC(USA) programs for pastors receive $2.9 million

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Note #8036 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

PC(USA) programs for pastors receive $2.9 million
03523
December 3, 2003

PC(USA) programs for pastors receive $2.9 million

Office of Theology and Worship receives Lilly grants

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - Two programs designed to strengthen pastoral ministry in the
Presbyterian Church (USA) have been awarded grants from the Lilly Endowment
totaling more than $2.9 million

The PC(USA)'s Office of Theology and Worship (TAW) was notified this week
that Lilly has funded its "Re-Forming Ministry" and "Company of New Pastors"
programs, which will guarantee their growth and development over the next
three to five years.

The Rev. Joseph Small, Congregational Ministries Division Associate Director
for TAW/Spiritual Formation, said, "The (Lilly) Endowment's support will
enable the Office of Theology and Worship to expand and deepen its efforts to
encourage the recovery of pastors' deeply theological vocational identity."

"Re-Forming Ministry" is a new TAW initiative that joins pastors, seminary
faculty, and church officials in sustained, shared, collaborative theological
work. It will receive $1,966, 683 as part of the Endowment's national program
called "Sustaining Pastoral Excellence."  The grant will make possible five
years of intensive theological work by several groups, each consisting of
pastors, professors, and church officials.

"'Re-Forming Ministry'" will encourage pastoral excellence by fostering
collaborative theological work among church leaders who serve in the three
traditional roles of the teaching office in the Reformed tradition: pastors,
theological teachers, and church officials," Small explained.  "Participants
will forge new patterns of sustained theological work, focusing on issues of
ecclesiology, and share their work through publications, conferences,
consultations, and presentations."

The "Company of New Pastors" - which will receive $940,481 as part of Lilly's
national "Transition-into-Ministry" program - involves creation of a
churchwide system of vocational mentoring groups, beginning during seminary
and carrying through the first three years of pastoral ministry.

"It engages new pastors in a sustained commitment to disciplines of study and
prayer that promote pastoral fruitfulness, faithfulness, and fulfillment,"
Small said.  Seminary faculty and veteran pastors will convene groups of
participants to maintain a shared covenant of prayer, study, and mutual
encouragement over a five year period.

Through this initiative, new pastors will be incorporated into TAW's ongoing
"Company of Pastors," which currently engages more than 600 pastors in
spiritual, intellectual, and vocational disciplines.

"Both 'Re-Forming Ministry' and the 'Company of New Pastors' endeavor to
overcome the fragmentation of ministry and to bring intellectual, spiritual,
and vocational inquiry together in new patterns of collegiality," Small said.

Craig Dykstra, Lilly's vice president for religion, said, "The Endowment's
current religion grantmaking revolves around two major and interlocking
considerations: identifying, nurturing, and educating a talented new
generation of pastors and, second, recognizing and supporting the excellent
pastors we have.  Not surprisingly, we know that helthy, engaged, thoughtful,
dedicated ministers go hand in hand with healthy, vibrant, and effective
congregations."

Both the "Company of New Pastors" and "Re-Forming Ministry" will begin
intensive five-year efforts in 2004.  They join other TAW programs designed
to encourage and enhance pastoral excellence: the "Pastor-Theologian
Program," "Liturgical Theology Seminars," the "Company of Pastors," "A
Reformed Catechumenate," and "Emerging Worship."

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