Grantee Directory

The last few years have brought new challenges to congregations. In many places, participation is down, fatigue is up and a unified sense of mission is lost. When a pastor decides to leave, whether for retirement, another call, or at the request of the congregation, the congregation is faced with an opportunity to regain that sense of mission. However, more often, the anxiety and lack of resources has led more and more congregations to choose to close or consider part-time or lay pastoral leadership. Through this project, we aim to greatly expand the support that the Illinois Conference already provides congregations during the season of pastoral transition. This program will add a facilitated congregational retreat early in the transition process, retreat opportunities for transitional leadership, learning opportunities that bring together leaders from several congregations to learn together, additional support for profile development (which includes visioning work) which helps congregations find their next pastor, assessment and visioning support that matches the particular need of the congregation and more. This program utilizes learning communities and spiritual practices to transform this potentially fragile time for a congregation into a rich opportunity for clarity and growth.