Symposium

The Church in a Changing World

The Andrews Pastoral Leadership Symposium

A Proposal from the Christian Leadership Center of Andrews University. Waiting for Funding.

What?	An annual gathering of selected clergy on the campus of Andrews University for critical thinking about leadership and leadership development.
Why?	Effective leadership is needed for the mission of the church. Religious faith shapes values, world vision, morals, relationships, and societal change. Faith communities are among the most powerful influences in human experience. Churches and other religious communities guide change, and have been the source of societal evolution or human oppression. Clergy, especially those who lead in local congregations where human thought is formed, experience the opportunity to bring about needed change in communities through their leadership. The symposium will provide pastors the opportunity to improve their leadership skills and engage in conversation around important community themes with others in similar leadership roles.
What More Specifically?	The symposium intends to provide conversation about the nature of church leadership and the initiative for ongoing leadership development strategy delivered to key faith leaders in the context of a sound biblical theology of leadership. The symposium will provide plenary speakers on current leadership issues, academic papers offering research to the practice of leadership, structured conversation on leadership challenges, and a network for ongoing dialogue among various faith communities and specific individuals. Modalities of review, critique, conversation, group interaction, and presentation will be employed in the design of the symposium. Participants will be asked to read specific academic work prior to the symposium, do written reflection, and produce a brief journal following the symposium. They will be asked to engage in ongoing conversation with a small group of peers in the interim months between symposiums. Participants will be encouraged to produce scholarly articles relating to applied leadership as a part of their contribution.
Who?	The Christian Leadership Center of Andrews University will plan and implement the symposium. Each year 80 pastors from no less than five different faith traditions will be invited. Attendance will be by reservation and 80 spots will be filled.
When?	The symposium will be an annual event.
Where?	The symposium will be on the campus of Andrews University in Southwest Michigan. The University provides a setting where academic research can support dialogue, and field practitioners and academicians can engage in development together. The University has staff prepared to care for such conferences, offers on campus and community hospitality venues, and provides various meeting space options.
Cost	Participants will receive a $300 honorarium and travel expense. Participants who serve in faith traditions with central organizational offices will be asked to seek matching funds for travel expense from their employing denominational organization. An average of $700 will be budgeted for each attendee. $9,000 will be budgeted for other expense. $65,000 is the annual expense for the first three years.
Sustaining the Symposium	After three years of sponsored attendance, participants will be invited to become contributing members of the “Society of Pastoral Leadership”, a functioning religious leadership society, contributing annual dues to reduce symposium expenses. The proposal projects that 50% of the original group will continue as members of the society. Funding of $60,000 is needed for 80 attendees in the fourth through sixth years. New attendees will also be invited to join the society after three years of sponsored attendance. New grant requests will be sought to enhance the program after four years of the strategy.
Grant Request	$375,000 is needed to launch the annual symposium and Society for Religious Leadership over a six year period.