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Companions in Ministry^® 2 to Help Young Pastors Develop Support Systems

(NASHVILLE, Tenn., August 21, 2009/GBOD) — A new initiative to sustain and inspire younger clergy by helping them develop the personal support systems they need to adaptively lead their congregations is being launched by The Upper Room Ministries.

The Rev. Jerry Haas

"We'll be working directly with pastors who are seeking to lead congregations into a new paradigm of what it means to be 'church,'" says Haas. "It's just a great opportunity."

The program will focus on pastors serving local churches and is supported by a grant from the Lilly Endowment to Upper Room Ministries, a Division of the General Board of Discipleship. The Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment initiated the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence grant program several years ago because of its concern for excellence in pastoral leadership.

The clergy participating in CiM 2 will gather in Nashville for a five-day residential session, Oct. 26-31, 2009, where they will experience spiritual practices in community. The Rev. Trevor Hudson, a Methodist pastor in Benoni, South Africa, will be the primary presenter.

After returning to their homes, the pastors will continue to work with a group of Companion Guides, who will use periodic phone calls to encourage them in their ministry and in creating a support system with other clergy in their area.

A concluding conference in October 2011, at the end of the grant period, will include a time to reflect on raising the spiritual vitality of the church through pastoral leadership.

An earlier Lilly grant to Upper Room Ministries funded an initial Companions in Ministry project, which proved to be too costly to continue, Haas says. CiM 2 was created with input from Lilly staff and others as a more sustainable model.

"It's not easy to put together a healthy, well-functioning clergy group," says Deborah Suess, a North Carolina pastor who served as part of the design team for CiM 2, "I'm excited about CiM 2 because I believe it will offer both practical information and continuing guidance on how to do just that."

By working directly with pastors, CiM 2 adds another dimension to The Upper Room's long-standing mission to support the spiritual formation of Christians, says Haas, a clergy member of the Desert Southwest Conference who served as a pastor for 25 years before coming to the Upper Room.

"The Upper Room has so much to offer the local church in discovering its spiritual vitality," he says. "For years we've published The Upper Room Devotional, shaped leaders through the Walk to Emmaus and the Academy for Spiritual Formation and more recently offered Companions in Christ as a small-group resource."

Deadline for applications to attend CiM 2 is Sept. 15. More information is available on the web at www.upperroom.org/cim2, or by contacting Donna Bryant at The Upper Room at 1-877-899-2781, ext. 7233 or dbryant@gbod.org.

The General Board of Discipleship's mission is to support annual conference and local church leaders for their task of equipping world-changing disciples. An agency of The United Methodist Church, GBOD (www.gbod.org) is located at 1908 Grand Ave. in Nashville, Tenn. For more information, call the Media Relations Office toll free at 877-899-2780, ext. 7017.

News Media Contact: Steve Horswill-Johnston, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 340-1726 or shorswill-johnston@gbod.org.