The Center for Ministry at Millsaps College is a partnership program between Millsaps College and the Mississippi Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. The Center for Ministry’s mission is to develop Christian leaders through lifelong learning. The Center’s Thriving in Ministry program will support, resource, and empower clergywomen toward thriving during key season of their professional lives. The program will include small cohorts for personal connection, retreats for spiritual renewal and leadership development, group and individual coaching as well as Coach Approach Skill Training.
Why Clergywomen?
Women remain less likely than men to lead the largest churches or to be senior pastors of mid-sized congregations; they are more likely to be associates; and they also receive less on average in compensation. The specific challenges clergywomen in leadership face are particularly concerning because they include a lack of opportunity for authenticity and membership in the larger clergy community, struggles in their relationships with significant others, challenges in attending to personal care and renewal, and difficulty in identifying role models and mentors, all of which the Flourishing in Ministry study (Notre Dame) identifies as extremely important for cultivating pastoral well-being. This makes the challenges women face as they prepare for or transition into leadership all the more urgent, and all the more important, to address.
The program is structured in 12-month cohorts, made up of diverse participants. Each activity in the program builds specifically on research around pastoral well-being, especially that put forth by the Flourishing in Ministry Project and the Duke Clergy Health Initiative.
The program will include the following components for each cohort:
Diverse Cohorts: We will support designed clergy cohorts for clergywomen who are serving in pastoral ministry. The Center for Ministry’s program will resource these groups to meet regularly, in person or virtually, over the 12-month cohort period, to pursue wellbeing and thriving. Grant funding will be used to resource the group to participate in two retreats planned and facilitated through the Center for Ministry. These Cohort groups will create an opportunity for pastors to nurture strong, positive relationships with other pastors, which are key to pastoral thriving. The composition of groups will include experienced clergywomen already effectively serving in ministry settings. These clergywomen will gain the opportunity to cultivate their own lifelong learning, to receive continuing education credit, to spend time away on retreat and education, and resources to nurture their own thriving. They will also gain the rewarding experience of sharing their insight and wisdom with the other women in the group.
Large-group retreats: In addition to cohort learning sessions and individual and group coaching, the Center’s Thriving in Ministry programming includes two retreats attended by all group members at the beginning and at the end of their 12 months together. These retreats ensure that participants will encounter important role models and mentors beyond the composition of their own cohort. These role models and mentors will be experienced pastors, scholars, coaches, or consultants brought in as facilitators, preachers, teachers, panelists, and guest participants. These retreats are also where cohort members will connect with one another, expanding the sense of belongingness, and the opportunities to develop authentic friendships across both geographic and experiential lines. Finally, the retreat will include education and opportunities for reflection around personal and communal well-being, as well as 18 hours of Coach Approach Skill Training.
Coaching: During the 12-month participation period, we will provide clergywomen with seven 90-minute peer group coaching sessions. Each participant will also receive 3 individual coaching calls. This coach approach is part of The Art of Well Being Coaching Course which invites clergy leaders to commit to simple, practical ways to cultivate positive energy, resilience, and creativity for adaptive and innovative leadership. This will support continued growth and learning, as well as the continuation of disciplines developed through participation in the Thriving in Ministry program.
Coach Appraoch Training Skills: We believe every clergywoman will benefit by learning and using the coach approach skills in life and ministry. These skills are tools that can lead to living lives that are more Christ centered and having a greater impact on the world. The cost of the first two sections of the CAST training will be covered by the grant with an option to pay a reduced fee of $700 for the final training segmet and certification.
