Pastoral Excellence Grants Promote Peer Learning, Continuing Education

By Paul Delger

(Article first appeared in the September 2003 issue of The Banner) 

Six Sioux Falls, S.D., Christian Reformed Church pastors will challenge and encourage each other while participating in the life of a Catholic monastery for three days this fall thanks to a grant received through the CRC's Sustaining Pastoral Excellence program. 

"I think we want to come away with a broader appreciation for the ecumenical community and appreciation for each other as pastors," said Rev. Charles De Ridder, pastor of Shalom CRC in Sioux Falls. The pastors will take part in a cycle of classes, solitude, and group discussion. De Ridder said that the group wants to challenge each other spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally. 

The Sustaining Pastoral Excellence program is in its first year of distributing a five-year Lilly Foundation grant worth almost $2 million. The grant the Sioux Falls pastors received was one of 12 awarded in the peer-learning category. 

The program approved five more grants in the continuing-education category. In the Hamilton, Ontario area, pastors will gather monthly for one year to explore "Ministry in the Power of the Spirit." Sixteen pastors and one professor of theology will listen to speakers one month, then follow up with discussion the alternative month. "We would like to become more empowered as pastors," said Rev. Rich Grift, pastor of Hope CRC, Brantford, Ontario. "We want to be open to the working of the Spirit and understand it in the form of Reformed theology." 

A relationship seminar called "The Messiness of Marriage and the Knottiness of Divorce" will be presented in four different areas of the United States and Canada as continuing education. Rev. Ronald Nydam, professor of pastoral care at Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Mich., will lead the seminars. The first one is scheduled for Oct. 11 in Lynden, Wash. 

"We hope to help pastors and elders gain confidence in helping couples deal with issues of marriage and divorce," said Rev. Kathy Smith, director of continuing education for Calvin Seminary. She said the seminars would discuss what the Bible and Reformed theology have to say about the issues, as well as talk about practical considerations. 

The next application deadline for peer-learning grants in Nov. 1, and continuing-education grant applications are due Dec. 1. All pastors and congregations in the Christian Reformed Church of North America are eligible for assistance. 

For further information, visit www.crcna.org/crpx/index.htm or contact Pastoral Excellence project director Mike Bruinooge and/or project coordinator Lis Van Harten at 877-279-9994 (toll-free) or e-mail pastoralexcellence@crcna.org.