1 . Who They Are:
WMDL stands for “Wesleyan Ministerial Development Leaders.” The WMDL includes district superintendents, DBMD members, collegiate religion faculty, and FLAME professors. This group works most directly with people seeking ministry credentials in The Wesleyan Church. The WMDL helps guide the formation and education of future Wesleyan pastors for a lifetime of healthy, fit, and effective ministry. In October 2015, Education and Clergy Development will host the WMDL Institute at all five Wesleyan higher-education institutions.
2. What They Do:
The WMDL Institute helps educate and form ministers for a lifetime of healthy, fit and effective ministry. To do so, upcoming meetings will focus on the following areas:
- Working together to implement best practices and wisdom for cultivating healthy, fit, and effective clergy to flourish for a lifetime of fruitful ministry.
- Implementing the new educational and formational outcomes and processes for all ordinands in both DBMD and educational contexts.
- Revealing the Greater Ohio District’s new cohort strategy for ministerial development and formation.
- Early Ministry Initiatives (including residency programs): What we have learned and where it is going.
- Review of Ministerial Preparation Manual for re-write.
- Update and implications for significant clergy care and development grants (Lilly Endowment, Brotherhood Mutual and more).
- Review and Revision of the Annual Service Report: Making it more formational.
- Continuing Educational Units.
As they learn and collaborate together, the WMDL will help The Wesleyan Church ensure a successful launch into ministry.
3. How They Affect You:
Whether you’re a pastor, member, or attender of the Wesleyan Church, the WMDL affects you. Great leadership produces great churches. To provide quality leadership, we need to invest in emerging pastors. This investment will yield better trained, more effective, and more thoroughly prepared clergy. Better clergy preparation helps churches flourish and helps pastors thrive in their particular roles. Better pastors + better resources = better Wesleyan Churches.
4. When They Meet:
The dates for the October WMDL Institute vary by institution. Here’s the complete list:
- Saturday Oct. 3, 2015: Indiana Wesleyan
- Saturday Oct. 10, 2015: Oklahoma Wesleyan
- Wednesday Oct. 21, 2015: Houghton College
- Saturday Oct. 17, 2015: Kingswood University
- Friday, Oct. 30, 2015: Southern Wesleyan
*Photo background credit: SuperFamous*
July 9, 2015 | Ethan Linder is a staff writer for Education and Clergy Development. Hailing from Seaford, Delaware, Ethan and his wife Sarah currently live in Marion, Indiana–where Ethan is pursuing a Masters’ Degree in Christian Ministries from Indiana Wesleyan University, and Sarah is a teacher. When he’s not writing, Ethan enjoys reading, listening to music, studying cultures, running, and following the Philadelphia Phillies.
