Pastoral Excellence Network

Pastoral Excellence Network

A Christian Theology Seminary Our mission is to encourage and support congregations and church-related organizations in a network that can strengthen and sustain excellent pastoral leadership for creative and effective service to the church.

• We work with congregations and church-related organizations to help new pastors get the best possible start in ministry.
• We help organizations learn to equip more experienced pastors in building peer communities of support and learning.
• We gather and share practices and resources about the transition from seminary into ministry and clergy peer learning models; offer consultations for denominational and organizational leaders hoping to initiate or expand programs; host events about starting and enhancing programs; train facilitators to lead clergy peer learning and new clergy programs; and create clergy peer learning experiences that introduce new constituencies to the insights of peer learning for pastoral excellence.
• We network together pastors and church-related organizations that are committed to pastoral excellence so that they might learn from each other's experience and wisdom and work collaboratively to strengthen efforts.
• We gather church leaders from across the country with particular wisdom, expertise, and imagination to explore key challenges facing pastoral leaders today.
• We offer modest grants as seed money to help organizations launch new or enhance existing pastoral excellence programs.

Drawing on more than ten years of faithful and inspired work to foster and sustain excellence in pastoral leadership involving congregations, seminaries, retreat centers, judicatories and regional organizations in 28 states and 25 denominations, we seek to harvest and share the learning and practices of the Lilly Endowment's Transition into Ministry (TiM) and Sustaining Pastoral Excellence (SPE) initiatives. We seek to strengthen and enhance current efforts and to encourage additional organizations to launch new projects committed to pastoral excellence. The Pastoral Excellence Network is funded by a major grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. and is one of five programs at the Center for Pastoral Excellence at Christian Theological Seminary. See more at: http://www.cpx.cts.edu/network/home/about#sthash.a5Sz2FQt.dpuf