Pastor Peer Groups to Continue

Chris Meehan

(Article first appeared on the CRCNA website on August 5, 2011).

Although Lilly Endowment Inc. funding for the Christian Reformed Church’s Sustaining Pastoral Excellence program runs out in December, key parts of the popular program will continue.

After hearing about the many success stories coming out of the program, the CRC Board of Trustees made the decision to seek funding for the program. In June, Synod 2011 commended the BOT for its commitment to continue important parts of the SPE program.

Because of funding placed in the CRCNA budget for 2011-12, peer groups for pastors, conferences for spouses of pastors, and pastor-spouse learning events will be able to continue following the end of the $3 million Lilly grant. The denomination was awarded $2 million in 2002 and $1 million in 2007.
 
Proposals will continue to be accepted by November 1 and May 1 for the peer learning groups for pastors. More information on the peer groups is available here.

"Much positive feedback from participants had been received since the birth of SPE in 2003, telling us that the various aspects of the project were appreciated, valued, and desired," according to an overview of activities and events for 2010 that SPE sent earlier this year to the Lilly Endowment Inc. To view the Lilly report, click here.

"What we learned during the past year is just how necessary, and needed, SPE is in fostering excellence in ministry in the majority of our pastors and many of our pastors" spouses."

In the same report to Lilly, pastors commented on the significance of maintaining the program.

For instance, SPE supported a group of five pastors who all lived within 30 minutes of one another and they met on a regular basis. The focus of their group was to create "a safe place for encouragement and prayer for pastors who are, have been, or might be in difficult situations."
 
During the regular gatherings, pastors prayed, discussed tough questions and shared challenging experiences in their ministries. The impact on the pastors was significant, says the Lilly report.
 
"The group helped me process a painful separation from one church such that I could enter a new one. They [the group members] gave me space to process and grieve and find joy again," said one pastor.

"It has become an essential part of my life, as a leader, to find peers to travel the journey with," said another.

Another group of pastors who met in a peer group did not foresee how their experience in the group would, in part, help changes occur in their local classis.

"Because we [the peer group pastors] began seeing each other more often and working together better, we started having extensive discussions with regard to how to cause renewal and growth in our classis," says a pastor.

Now, almost two years later, the pastor said, the classis is “working specifically on planting 20 new churches in the next 10 years and rising up 40 leaders in that same time frame. Over 12 future leaders have already been licensed to preach or ordained.”

The pastors' congregations were impacted as well. As the pastors got healthier by sharing difficulties, praying together and talking about solutions, their congregations also grew healthier as they responded to the renewed spirit in their pastors.

"Our congregations are well aware of the fact that we are part of a peer learning group," says a pastor. "The leadership at our churches is excited about the fact that their pastor is part of a group of pastors that pray for each other, encourage one another, and learn from one another. They believe this kind of group will prevent burnout and spur on innovative thinking."

The SPE program has become more flexible over time and learned what types of approaches for peer groups tend to work best.

"I believe that SPE is one of the best programs that the CRC has designed in years, perhaps decades. Meeting with my peers has been invaluable," says another pastor.