Theology of Work Project, Inc. will train Hispanic pastors to help their congregations understand their lives and work through the lens of the gospel. The program will offer bimonthly online trainings for preachers focused on making connections between faith and work, bimonthly sermon preparation sessions to help pastors connect their lived experiences with their preaching, annual in-person gatherings to share compelling preaching stories, and an online resource library for preaching in Spanish. Grant awarded in 2023.
Trevecca Nazarene University aims to help young and emerging preachers from diverse backgrounds who live in the southeastern region of the United States to develop their preaching voices and learn basic preaching skills. The program will offer youth preaching showcases and other activities to help students explore vocations in ministry, provide mentoring for young preachers, expand the diversity of perspectives in the university’s preaching courses, train preaching coaches to work with preachers in different Nazarene regions, and offer preaching workshops and conferences for current preachers. Grant awarded in 2023.
Union Presbyterian Seminary will gather a cohort group of 24 early career preachers from diverse backgrounds to address major preaching themes, develop supportive relationships with peers, and receive individual and peer coaching. In addition, the program will organize a consultation on digital technology, host annual conferences, create a preaching blog, and present public webinars with panelists who will speak to issues of concern for early career preachers. Grant awarded in 2022.
Union Theological Seminary seeks to help pastors understand and address complex issues about climate change in their sermons. Programming will include a high-quality online certificate program for preachers that explores issues related to preaching about climate change, engagement with climate experts and policymakers at the seminary’s Immersive Eco-Justice Conferences, support for preachers to develop and implement community engagement projects in their home communities, and digital resources on preaching about climate change for a wider audience of preachers. Grant awarded in 2023.
The United Methodist Foundation for Arkansas will form peer learning cohorts of 12 pastors each that will meet for two years to strengthen the pastors’ preaching practices. Participants will engage in multiple retreats focused on enhancing communication skills, learning innovative methods of preaching and using digital and other emerging communication technologies, participate in pilgrimage experiences to nourish their spiritual lives, exchange pulpits with other participants to learn how to preach in different settings, work with preaching exemplars, and meet regularly with each other through online gatherings. Grant awarded in 2023.
Universidad Teológica del Caribe’s (UTC) program will include conferences, camps, workshops, group sessions, internships, online gatherings and the production of preaching resources designed to support current and aspiring preachers and those who lead specific ministries with youth, men, women, etc. UTC plans to focus on the development of communication skills, theological knowledge and spiritual formation for program participants. Grant awarded in 2024.
The University of Chicago will form peer learning cohorts comprising preachers from the greater Chicago region who will meet regularly for two years. In the first year, participants will identify major challenges facing their congregations and communities, develop sermons addressing them, and receive feedback about their sermons from their peers. In the second year, congregants will join their pastors to provide feedback and explore how preaching helps them engage and sustain their community outreach endeavors. The program also will host festivals of preaching for participants and the wider community. Grant awarded in 2023.
The University of Dallas' Institute of Homiletics will assess and strengthen its existing Preaching for Encounter program (currently in its first year with 48 preachers), develop curriculum for a second year of this program focused on preaching for younger generations, build awareness among bishops and clergy that liturgical preaching matters for the renewal and future of the Catholic Church, and provide online and in-person resources for priests to meet the need for more compelling preaching for younger Catholics. Grant awarded in 2022.
The University of Indianapolis, through its Lantz Center for Christian Vocation, will gather pastors into cohorts designed to help them strengthen each other’s preaching skills, convene an innovative proclamation research group to examine changing communication practices for preachers, and host citywide events for preachers to share the themes and findings from both the compelling preaching cohorts. Grant awarded in 2022.
The University of Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life will invite ten clergy-lay teams from a diverse range of parishes to develop and implement a project intended to renew Catholic preaching in its setting. As the individual projects conclude, Notre Dame will work with the teams to develop resources that the McGrath Institute will make available to other parishes and dioceses so that they can implement similar projects in their own contexts. Grant awarded in 2022.
The University of Redlands and its San Francisco School of Theology will work collaboratively with the Center for Faith and Justice to help preachers address complex challenges facing their communities. Program offerings will include online educational opportunities on effective preaching practices, seminary courses focused on preaching on justice-oriented challenges, peer cohorts for pastors to learn from one another about best preaching practices, in-person preaching-focused educational events, workshops and conferences, and new resources to support preachers in their ongoing professional development. Grant awarded in 2023.
The University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC) will recruit 15 to 20 preachers from diverse backgrounds and different areas of greater Los Angeles to form a learning cohort focused on self-assessment, congregational needs, technology and media production for preaching, and preaching for impact. The pastors also will receive training and funding to develop and lead cohorts in their own geographic areas of southern California. CRCC will also host a series of public conversations on the “Craft of Preaching.” Grant awarded in 2022.
The Upper New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church will offer peer learning cohorts for preachers, in which participants will take part in a series of renewal experiences to foster greater imagination among preachers, engage in workshops for peer-to-peer learning and feedback on preaching, and attend a culminating storytelling training retreat that will help equip them to enliven sermons through stories and reach new audiences. Grant awarded in 2023.
Virginia Theological Seminary will organize congregational preaching seminars in which lay leaders will provide sermon feedback to clergy and also work collaboratively with them to develop sermons, help congregational lay leaders discern their own gifts for preaching, and assist preachers and congregations in using the arts to energize preaching. Programming will also include peer groups for preachers as well as local preaching festivals to showcase innovative and spiritually enriching approaches to preaching. Grant awarded in 2023.
Virginia Union University will equip up to 375 working preachers from Black congregations with basic training in preaching through a 12-month series of workshops offered to cohorts. A series of higher-level workshops aims to equip an additional 500 preachers. In addition, a group of up to 25 working preachers with exceptional promise will be offered intensive mentoring for preaching in prominent national contexts. Grant awarded in 2024.