Lilly Endowment Project
Walking In The Spirit:
A Program of Spiritual Formation and Pastoral Renewal
Executive Summary
Pastors in the Church of God find themselves a catalytic spark away from
experiencing a ministerial and structural reformation of historic proportions.
In "Walking In The Spirit: A Program of Spiritual Formation and Pastoral
Renewal," the Church of God Theological Seminary is attempting to forge
a creative partnership between pastors, congregations, the Church of God
denomination, and the Seminary that can revolutionize pastoral functioning and
greatly enhance congregational health. A bold initiative put forth by the Presiding
Bishop of the Church of God, a graduate of the Church of God Theological
Seminary, to push decision making authority, and power down to the grassroots
level has opened the door for the Seminary to respond to the challenges and needs
of pastors in a creative program for pastoral excellence that can also move forward
a needed leadership transformation in the Church of God.
The proposed project is a pilot program to bring 100 pastors together in ten
Pastoral Covenant Groups in major cities in the USA to support one another in
attaining personal goals of pastoral development. Through the Pastoral Covenant
Groups, pastors will be able to access Pastoral Ministry Coaches, Spiritual Mentors,
Individual/Group Retreat opportunities, and Pastoral Support Resources previously
unavailable to many Pentecostal pastors. The Church of God Theological Seminary
in partnership with administrative bishops, congregations, denominational leaders,
and pastors will facilitate the delivery of these resources to assist pastors in achieving
their goals of pastoral excellence. A partnership between Lilly Endowment and the
Chuch of God Theological Seminary can move forward an intiative in this program
that will not only assist pastors in realizing ministerial excellence while bringing
change to the Church of God, but also has the potential of transforming the larger
Pentecostal-Charismatic movement and making a significant impact on the entire
Christian community.
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