Foreword

During the past 10 years, Lilly Endowment has funded multiple, interlocking initiatives aimed at sustaining and enhancing the quality of ministry in American congregations and parishes. We launched the Transition into Ministry initiative in 1999 as part of this effort. Through it the Endowment has supported more than 30 experimental projects aimed at assisting new pastors in making the transition from seminary student to full-time pastoral leader.

Why concentrate on this transition? Most ministers develop their leadership practices and form their
pastoral habits in the critical first years of ministry. During this period, especially, pastors need mentors and peers who help them work through difficult situations and flourish in parish life. Unfortunately, new pastors often experience professional and geographic isolation. Too many lack the kinds of mentoring and support that can help them negotiate the challenges they face in the earliest stages of their careers. As a result, some talented young pastors become disillusioned and consider dropping out of the ministry.

To address these challenges, the Endowment invited a number of congregations as well as regional and national church organizations to create experimental programs to help new pastors make a good transition into ministry. Each group responded imaginatively, designing a program that fit well within its particular theological tradition and utilized its specific strengths and resources. The Endowment provided grants to enable these organizations to launch their programs.

We have enjoyed watching these programs take root and begin to flourish. Scores of new pastors have participated in these efforts, and many credit their experiences with helping them to develop life-giving leadership practices and spiritual habits and to build lasting friendships with wise mentors and attentive peer colleagues. The programs are providing new pastors with support they need to deal with the initial challenges of ministry, and the participating congregations and religious organizations are now attempting to raise the funds needed to sustain them.

Two years ago, we asked the Alban Institute to take a close and careful look at the Transition into Ministry initiative. The Institute is a trusted observer of trends in pastoral and congregational leadership, and it has a long and distinguished record of providing resources for American congregations. It seemed to us that Alban was well positioned to identify important insights emerging from the transition programs and to place them within the context of leadership challenges faced by pastors and congregations today. We are delighted that Dr. James Wind, Alban’s president, accepted our invitation.

When we created the Transition into Ministry initiative, we asked the Fund for Theological Education to host a coordination program to assist the Endowment in providing support for the congregations and religious organizations involved in this initiative. The coordination program convenes pastors and project directors regularly to share insights and discuss common challenges with one another and to reflect on the significance of these efforts. The Reverend David Wood, who is the co-author of the special report, directs this coordination program.

As you will see in the following pages, James Wind and David Wood provide a thorough description of the challenges faced by new pastors today, give a rich description of the central characteristics of the experimental programs, and, most importantly, offer insightful reflections regarding ways that all of us—congregations, denominational judicatories, seminaries, and other religious organizations—can work collaboratively to help new pastors (and congregations) thrive.

We hope you will find fresh perspectives and encouragement in this special report. We believe collaborative efforts among many organizations can make a big difference in helping a new generation of young people become excellent pastoral leaders who find deep satisfaction and fulfillment in their ministries.