Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond has received a $2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to work with churches to promote “ministerial excellence.”
BTSR will use the funds to build a job-placement system, to assist churches considering female pastors, to coach ministers in transition, and to fund seminary staff positions to relate to congregations and alumni.
The grants are part of Lilly's “Making Connections Initiative,” which is funding similar programs in 20 theology schools. BTSR and Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta are the only Baptist-affiliated schools receiving the grants, according to a Lilly spokeswoman.
The initiative addresses the problems of the declining number of young people entering the ministry, the dropout rate among young ministers, and the oft-felt isolation of pastors, the organization said. The initiative emphasizes collaborations between congregations, schools and other institutions dealing with ministerial issues.
The BTSR program will establish a “Network for Ministerial Excellence” in partnership with the Baptist General Association of Virginia, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Virginia Baptist Women in Ministry, and the Center for Congregational Health, based in North Carolina. The program will focus on issues of gender, job transitions and generational differences in congregations and among ministers.
“The Network for Ministerial Excellence will enable us to provide our graduates with tools for more effective transitions from seminary to their first congregations, and in subsequent transitions,” said Thomas Graves, president of BTSR. “Positive first experiences in ministry have proven to be a major factor in lengthening the tenure of our most talented ministers.”
The McAfee School plans to fund 30 graduates in two-year residency programs, working with experienced pastors in churches throughout the Southeast.
Craig Dykstra, Lilly's vice president for religion, said there are encouraging signs of change in pastoral ministry. The number of young people under the age of 30 entering seminary is rising sharply, and many theological school leaders are reporting that their new classes are the largest and brightest they have had in 20 or 30 years, he said.
“This new initiative aims to keep the momentum going and help these institutions take the next steps to continue improving the quality of ministry,” Dykstra said.
Associated Baptist Press