By Kathy Smith,
(First appeared in the Fall 2004 issue of the Forum)
As an institution dedicated to forming men and women for ministry, CTS has been excited to be involved in new efforts toward this end in our denomination. In 2002, the Christian Reformed Church in North America received a grant from the Lilly Endowment’s Sustaining Pastoral Excellence (SPE) program to encourage and sustain excellent pastoral ministry through mentoring programs, peer learning groups, and continuing education events, all of which have made connections with CTS. CTS staff are working closely with the SPE mentoring program, which sponsors informational dinners for candidates to ministry. The seminary also hosted attendees at the first mentoring conference held in May 2004. For many, the reception was a “homecoming” to their alma mater; for others, an introduction to the seminary of their denomination.
Several SPE peer learning groups have been supported by the seminary’s Center for Excellence in Preaching, including pastors in Alberta, Michigan, New York, and Washington. These groups especially focused on improving their preaching. CTS has received four grants from SPE for continuing education events, including
- a CRC Leadership Conference in Los Angeles, California.
- a series of workshops on the “Messiness of Marriage and the Knottiness of Divorce,” in Washington, Florida, and Minnesota.
- a conference on “Leadership in Anxious Times,” at the Prince Conference Center on campus.
- an “Intergenerational Ministry Conference” in Los Angeles, with Anglo, Hispanic and Korean presenters, coming up on October 22-23, 2004.
CTS also provides leaders for SPE events organized by other churches and groups, such as the May 2004 conference in Sioux Center, Iowa, led by Professors Weima and Nydam that helped 25 pastors to develop sermons from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, and to address the theological and pastoral issues surrounding marriage and divorce. The event “gave us all an opportunity to ‘return to seminary’ for two days and learn from experts,” reported Duane Tinklenberg. The pastors plan to gather in small groups in September to evaluate the sermons they’ve written on 1 Corinthians over the summer.
Finally, CTS now offers a course in “The Theology and Practice of Pastoral Ministry” that has enriched pastors in all stages of their ministries. SPE funds make it possible to offer this one-week course twice a year—once at CTS, and once in another location. This year the course was held near Ottawa, Ontario, and next year is planned for Orlando, Florida (Feb. 28-Mar. 4, 2005).
Through these programs, CTS has connected with hundreds of pastors and alumni.
