Applications Available for Called to Lives of Meaning & Purpose–Cohort II.

Applications for Cohort II of the Called to Lives of Meaning & Purpose Initiative available. Pastors and Ministers are eligible to apply to participate in the next Cohort of this initiative.

“The American Baptist College-Called to Lives of Meaning & Purpose Initiative is a ground breaking process and commitment which engages design thinking to discern what it means to be called in these times,” said ABC President Forrest E. Harris.

During a two-year cohort-intensive process, as well as, an additional third year of real-world engagement, congregations will discern and develop initiatives for engaging with the community as they decipher what it means to be called to justice and belovedness.

Applications will be accepted now through close of business on August 15. The announcement of participants in Cohort II will be made on August 20. The first session begins in September.

The program is a three-year endeavor, and focuses on areas that include cultivating leaders, proclaiming justice and design thinking, engaging and healing communities, and ongoing peer support.

The Called to Lives of Meaning & Purpose Initiative is funded by the Lilly Foundation and offers substantive guidance to the faith based community.

“This is just another opportunity to reach into the community of faith-based leaders and better understand why one is called to be a minister and discern opportunities to speak to the issues of today’s world,” said Dr. Phyllis D.K. Hildreth, director of the program and vice president of Strategy and Institutional Advancement.

For more information about application and other concerns, please contact Joy Bronson at jbronson@abcnash.edu. or visit the website at ABCNash.edu.

American Baptist College Called to Lives of Meaning & Purpose Initiative
2019 Application & Year 1 Timeline

Preparation & Application
May 21, 2019: Open Application Process for ABC|CLMPI Cohort 2

May 21-August 15, 2019: Congregational pastors engage in prayerful discernment with church leadership and/or congregations regarding participation in ABC|CLMPI for at least 2 weeks.

August 15, 2019: Deadline for Applications

August 20, 2019: Announcement of Cohort

August 22, 2019 Cohort Welcome Call
➢ Initial introductions and relationship-building
➢ Orientation
➢ Set group agreements (model this and talk about how we do it)

September 12-14, 2019: Cohort 2 | Innovation Hub 1, Nashville, TN

Year One Overview | Cultivating Leaders
Congregational Pastors will attend the following: 
Innovation Hub #1 | Leadership Innovation
Thursday, September 12 – Saturday, September 14, 2019

Innovation Hub #2 | Design Thinking & Beloved Community
Thursday, December 5 – Saturday, December 7, 2019

Innovation Hub #3 | Building & Coaching Collaborative Community
February/March 2020
Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference

Summer Institute | Ministry Visioning & Design Institute
Monday, June 15 – Friday, June 19, 2020

For questions or more information, please contact Grant Coordinator | Design Implementation Specialist Joy E. Bronson at jbronson@abcnash.edu.

“ABC|CLMPI is a groundbreaking process and commitment which engages design-thinking to discern what it means to be called in these times.” ~ President Forrest. E. Harris.

Over a two-year cohort-intensive process, as well as an additional third year of real-world engagement, congregations will discern and develop initiatives for engaging with the community as called to justice and belovedness.

 Features & Advantages of The CLMPI Hub on the Hill Process

• Year 1, Cultivating Leaders | Expertly guided learning and coaching to support pastors and their congregations transitioning towards collaborative community, leadership, and ministry, while also teaching and learning from your peers.
• Year 2, Proclaiming Justice & Design Thinking | Expertly guided learning and coaching with the pastor and a small congregational team to discern, develop, and implement community-centered ministry through and out of your congregation.
• Year 3, Engaging & Healing Communities | Expertly guided coaching support for congregational and community engagement.
• Ongoing Peer Support via the Cohort Process
  • Quarterly Innovation Hubs
  • Monthly/Bimonthly Calls
• 1:1 Congregational Coaching
• Apply for up to $10,000 Ministry Grant | Each Nashville congregation completing the process will have the opportunity to apply to be a part of the consortium ministry-in-community grant. Non-Nashville-based churches will have the opportunity to apply for up to $10,000 in grant funds for a community-based ministry project.
• Accommodations will be provided for non-Nashville pastors and congregants.

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 Through This Process, The ABC|CLMPI Hub on the Hill is Prayerful & Committed to Supporting Your Congregation in Experiencing & Achieving:

• Ministry with deeper impact, as a result of a discerning and focused congregation alive to and at work in ministry centered in balanced, collaborative leadership.
• Leadership and congregants empowered to spiritually discern and manifest their unique gifts and callings for stronger congregational development.
• A thriving congregation and relationship with greater community beyond the church, rooted in a spirit and life of beloved community.
• Guiding congregations through and leaving you with a design-thinking process which you can implement to continually nurture the vision, life, and engagement of your congregation and communities.

Congregational Commitments to the CLMPI Hub on the Hill

• To attend each of the quarterly Innovation Hubs in Nashville for two years. The process is emergent and builds upon itself. A missed Hubs means a significant knowledge and experiential gap in the process.
• To commit to faithfully discerning, developing, and implementing collaborative leadership, community, and ministry at your church and through your congregation.

 

Year 1 Overview | Cultivating Leaders

Event & Focus	Dates	Who Attends?
Innovation Hub #1 | Leadership Innovation	Thursday, September 12 – Saturday, September 14, 2019	Congregational Pastors
Innovation Hub #2 |  Design Thinking & Beloved Community	Thursday, December 5- Saturday, December 7, 2019	Congregational Pastors
Innovation Hub #3 | Building & Coaching Collaborative Community	February/March 2020 Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference	Congregational Pastors
Summer Institute | Ministry Visioning & Design Institute	Monday, June 15-Friday, June 19, 2020	Congregational Pastors

The CLMPI Hub on the Hill ethos is unapologetically centered in Black Church theology, tradition, culture, and futuristic imagination. While our model fosters radical hospitality of thought in receiving and citing sources from other traditions, we will do so while holding space and honor for our ancestral and native narratives.
About the Lilly Endowment, Inc.

Lilly Endowment, Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by members of the Lilly family (J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons J.K. Jr. and Eli) through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Gifts of stock in Eli Lilly and Company remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment. Lilly Endowment, Inc. is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff, and location. In keeping with the wishes of the three founders, Lilly Endowment exists to support the causes of religion, education, and community development. Lilly Endowment’s religion grant-making is designed to deepen and enrich the religious lives of American Christians. It does this largely through initiatives to enhance and sustain the quality of ministry in American congregations and parishes.

American Baptist College (ABC) is a co-educational, liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees and 2-year associate degrees. Located on a historic 53-acre campus overlooking the Cumberland River, a few miles north of downtown Nashville, ABC provides global, 21st-century leadership as one of the nation’s 100+ Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). ABC was established in 1924as American Baptist Theological Seminary in an unprecedented collaboration between the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. and the Southern Baptist Convention. The first building, Griggs Hall, erected in 1923, was recently added as one of 10 Tennessee stops on the U. S. Civil Rights Trail. The College offers educational and programming opportunities which train predominantly diverse, first-generation students for impactful social justice leadership. While embracing the courageous spirit of our heritage, ABC’s focus today is on preparing students who will create a lasting impact at the community level and on an international scale.

ABC LAUNCHES NEW INITIATIVE WITH LILLY ENDOWMENT, INC. GRANT
Phyllis Hildreth Leads Innovative Project at American Baptist College

NASHVILLE, TN— February 28, 2018 —Dr. Forrest E. Harris, President, American Baptist College, announces that experienced, highly-respected Nashville leader, Phyllis D. K. Hildreth, now heads the College’s new “Called to Lives of Meaning and Purpose” (CLMPI) Initiative as the recently-appointed Director of Grants Management and Strategic Partnerships. “Phyllis Hildreth brings to this distinctive project her rich background, a unique set of skills, spiritual fervor, and passion for social justice leadership,” said Harris.

American Baptist College (ABC) received a five-year, $1.5 million implementation grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., enabling ABC to create an Innovation Hub engaging two cohorts of diverse congregations from across the Southeast. Under Hildreth’s direction, the initiative launches when 70 congregational representatives gather to participate in an introductory session during ABC’s annual Garnett-Nabrit Lecture Series, March 19-21, 2018. Congregations will later be invited to apply for participation in the Innovation Hub.

“American Baptist College continues to be a global source of training for leaders who aspire to have an impact. The result will be increased vitality within diverse congregations, the development of new models for ministry, and an extension of congregational outreach,” said President Harris.

“ABC’s ‘Hub On The Hill’ allows up to 24 congregations to journey together in a five-year process of discerning, defining, and deploying works of calling, living, meaning, and purposefully engaging in ministry. Our cohort-driven, narrative learning-based model takes a three-pronged approach, focusing on (1) leadership; (2) systems design thinking, and (3) the engagement,” said Hildreth.

“Christians will discover and claim God’s calling to lead lives of meaning and purpose. We will help congregations draw on the wisdom of scripture, theological traditions, and particular opportunities for relevant ministry. Cohorts will examine and engage notions of ‘the call’ and its meaning for the individual, the Church, and for doing justice, loving mercy and serving humbly in community together,” Hildreth added.

Phyllis Hildreth served as associate professor at Lipscomb University, College of Leadership and Public Service.  Other prior experience includes roles as Chief Counsel for Administration, Maryland State Office of the Public Defender; Deputy Secretary, Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice; and first Managing Director, Baltimore Juvenile Justice Center.  She earned a B.A.in biology from Harvard University, a J. D. degree from the University of Maryland, and an M.A. in conflict management from Lipscomb University.  She was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Baltimore School of Law.  During inauguration week activities for her husband, Dr. James E. K. Hildreth (President/CEO, Meharry Medical College) Ms. Hildreth launched the “Falcon Fund,” calling for civic engagement in justice, service, and health.

“We appreciate the continued positive, ongoing relationship between Lilly Endowment, and ABC, a Historically Black College,” Harris concluded. ABC received a $50,000 CLMPI planning grant from the Endowment in early 2017. Prior grants from Lilly Endowment include a $2 million “Vibrant Ministries: Tools for Sustaining Excellence in Pastoral Ministry” award in 2003 plus a $1 million renewal grant. Both led to the design of a unique project engaging ministry students and ABC’s constituency of working pastors.  A $1 million Lilly grant and a $200,000 renewal grant (2007-2012) supported the creation of the African American Lectionary.  Lectionary resources remain available at http://bit.ly/AfAmLec