GAMC0946
November 5, 2009

General Assembly Mission Council launches new residency program for first call pastors

Contact:
Emily Enders Odom, (336) 508-6394

Greensboro, N.C. (November 5, 2009) — In a  proactive response to both the changing landscape of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — in which half of the denomination’s nearly 11,000 congregations have 100 or fewer members — and the challenge of calling forth, equipping and supporting leaders who will be effective in growing the church deep and wide, the General Assembly Mission Council (GAMC) has launched For Such a Time as This, an innovative pastoral residency program designed to serve underserved congregations and develop missional pastors.

Named for a reference from the Book of Esther, For Such a Time as This is a new, pilot program which seeks to pair small, underserved rural or urban congregations with recent seminary graduates in a two-year pastoral residency relationship. The program’s name deliberately invokes Esther’s unexpected rise to leadership in her own day even as the PC(USA) is calling forth leaders to serve in a rapidly changing and challenging 21st century context.

“For a long time, the PC(USA) has recognized that going from seminary into ministry is not easy,” said the Rev. Marcia Clark Myers, director of the Office of Vocation, a shared ministry of the GAMC and the Office of the General Assembly (OGA), which will exercise oversight of the new program. “While some programs currently exist to ease the transition, For Such a Time as This will provide an opportunity for first call pastors to serve where they are most needed with support and mentoring by a network of experienced leaders within our Presbyterian ecosystem.”

For Such a Time a This will seek to equip new pastors to lead small churches to grow in evangelism, discipleship, servanthood and diversity in living out the denomination’s Grow Christ’s Church Deep & Wide initiative, a churchwide emphasis adopted by the 218th General Assembly (2008). The participating small membership congregations — ordinarily with an average worship attendance of less than 100 — will be selected for their capacity to be teaching churches and their willingness to partner with residents in mission.

“One of the highlight’s of the 2008 General Assembly was the resounding affirmation of the call to Grow Christ’s Church Deep & Wide,” said Linda Valentine, executive director of the General Assembly Mission Council. “Through groundbreaking new initiatives like For Such a Time as This, we have a unique opportunity to transform the PC(USA) by the power of the Holy Spirit.  This program will not only strengthen partnerships at all levels of the church, but will also give us new leadership models to shape the PC(USA)’s future mission.”

As the pilot phase of the new residency program (2010-2013) is currently envisioned, approximately 24 pastoral residents will be recruited and placed, half in the first cohort group in the summer of 2010 with the others to be placed the following summer. The first class of residents will be selected for participation in the spring of 2010. 

During their two-year tenure, pastoral residents will be supported and guided by a network of pastor-mentors, presbytery, seminary, and national church leaders. Residency presbyteries will be chosen based on their ability to provide and resource 3-4 small “teaching church” sites, which will form a cluster group for the pastoral residents’ monthly support and reflection on their ministry.

Interested presbyteries with a significant number of “hard to call” churches are invited to contact the Office of Vocation by e-mail or by calling the Rev. Marcia Clark Myers at (888) 728-7228, x5753. Potential applicants for the first class of pastoral residents are invited to visit the Office of Vocation Web site later this fall for further information and details on the application and selection process.