Sarah Linder |
April 3, 2019 |
Blog Education & Clergy Development
“Church in prison is my favorite church anywhere,” said Judy Adams, a correctional institutional chaplain in Canada. Adams was a teacher at the institution for 13 years and has served as its chaplain for the past four years. Adams’ draw toward organizing and taking...
Russ Gunsalus |
March 29, 2019 |
News
Education and Clergy Development (ECD) has announced that Rev. Johanna C. Rugh has moved from a part-time position to that of a full-time one within the division. Rugh serves as the director of Spanish Ministry Education and Clergy Care. She previously served as...
Janelle Vernon |
January 21, 2019 |
Featured News News
Five words summarized the message given to nearly 2,000 Wesleyan pastors and spouses attending The Gathering, January 9-12, in Orlando, Florida – Stop, Rest, Pray, Play, Thrive. The event’s goal, said Executive Director of Education and Clergy Development Russ...
Michelle Wood |
December 21, 2018 |
ECD Home Thriving Clergy The Gathering Ministerial Preparation Wesleyan Higher Education Thrive Financial Initiative Women in Ministry Education & Clergy Development offers a variety of resources to help clergy and spouses to be healthy, fit and effective...
Dave Higle |
December 17, 2018 |
Blog Education & Clergy Development Reclaim Sabbath
Throughout 2018, Wesleyan clergy encouraged each other to “Reclaim Sabbath” by coming to a full stop every seven days in order to recognize that our ultimate center is God. Not our work, or our pedigree, or our ministry, but God himself. Henri Nouwen encourages us to...
Jessica White |
November 14, 2018 |
News
Steve Dunmire was a young pastor and father of three children under age three when the first Gathering was held in 2007. Financial restraints would have prevented him and his wife, Tammy, from attending, but their church and district came together to provide the...
Ethan Linder |
November 5, 2018 |
Featured News News
With 33 years of ministry experience, Rev. Phil Lewis views The Gathering as a time for ministers to be encouraged and sharpened by finding their place in a ministerial community. Lewis’ previous experiences at The Gathering have left him refreshed from fellowship...
Dave Higle |
September 17, 2018 |
Featured News News
Being a pastor is widely recognized as one of the most difficult vocations in society. Every October, churches across North America pay tribute to pastors and their ministry with “Pastor Appreciation Month.” The research partnership on clergy well-being between...
Jessica White |
September 13, 2018 |
Featured News News
Rev. Keith Carroll, associate pastor at Mt. Zion Wesleyan Church in Thomasville, North Carolina, has been a minster for 38 years. In almost three decades, he has only missed one year of The Gathering, because he sees it as a time of encouragement, insight and...
Tricia Rife |
August 6, 2018 |
News
United by God’s call, a ministry vocation and gender, a group of nearly 40 Pacific Southwest District women clergy gathered to celebrate and strengthen their sacred alliance. Rev. Sharon Westfall led the meeting called the Pacific Southwest Women Clergy Gathering,...
Dave Higle |
April 16, 2018 |
Featured News News
After six years of bi-vocational ministry in North Carolina, Dustin and Hannah Wilson sensed God moving their family to live differently. “God called us into a new season, a season where we felt the need to focus on family Sabbath,” Dustin said. Overworked and not...
Dave Higle |
March 15, 2018 |
News
This year, Education and Clergy Development encourages pastors and clergy leaders to Reclaim Sabbath like never before. “Sabbath practices often involve times of solitude for recharging and regaining perspective,” said Rev. Dave Higle, Clergy Care director and Reclaim...
Communication Team |
January 22, 2018 |
Featured News News
In less than a year, hundreds of Wesleyan church pastors and their spouses will come together at The Gathering 2019 to reconnect, celebrate God’s faithfulness and leave renewed. Plans are progressing for the quadrennial event set to take place at the Caribe Royale in...
Dave Higle |
November 6, 2017 |
News
Did you know that: research shows pastors are typically use 65 distinct skills, forms of knowledge and character traits in their ministry? on any given day, pastors shift their focus from doing sermon research with the biblical text to crisis counseling; from...
Tricia Rife |
October 26, 2017 |
News Wesleyans in the News
Each week, Wesleyans and Wesleyan churches are featured in online news publications. If you see a news item that relates to Wesleyans, please forward the link to communications@wesleyan.org. New Canadian church bringing people together Transformation Church in Thunder...
TWC |
May 27, 2017 |
Blog Discipleship Thriving Clergy
As we all know by now, studies show that being a pastor (of any sort) is one of the most gratifying, fulfilling vocations around AND AT THE SAME TIME one of the most challenging and stressful. What we don’t know is just how pastors in The Wesleyan Church fit into that...
Dave Higle |
May 25, 2017 |
Thriving Clergy
Sustaining Pastoral Excellence The most fundamental level of self-care is the pastor’s personal relationship with God in Christ through the Spirit. Everything in the pastor’s life flows from and is dependent upon the spiritual condition of the heart:...
Erin Crisp |
April 25, 2016 |
News
More than 120 participants traveled from as far away as North Carolina, Texas, and North Dakota to attend Breakaway, a gathering for pastors’ spouses, April 15 and 16, 2016. The event was held at The Wesleyan Church Headquarters in Fishers, Indiana....
Russ Gunsalus |
February 25, 2016 |
Blog Culture Thriving Clergy
Please forgive me for the sensational title but the news about Wesleyan pastoral retention is indeed shocking. If I asked you, “How many pastors washout of ministry in their first five years?”, what would you say, 30…40…50…even 60...
Ed Stetzer |
December 10, 2015 |
Blog
The Wesleyan Church did a study to see what their clergy retention was like from 2005-2008. Between 2005 and 2008, 483 ministers were ordained in The Wesleyan Church, and 415 stayed that way. Only 14 percent of ordained clergy left, and six percent of those left in...
David Higle |
December 2, 2013 |
News
New Pastors Orientation and Seminary Days met for the two events’ annual gathering at The Wesleyan Church World Headquarters in Fishers, Ind., prior to Thanksgiving. The two events, normally held separately, celebrated 65 newly ordained or first appointment pastors,...
David Higle |
November 4, 2013 |
News
Education and Clergy Development partnered with Indiana Wesleyan University to hold the inaugural conference on clergy care. The Flourishing in Pastoral Ministry Conference, held on October 11, 2013, in Marion, Ind., explored “best theories and practices for fostering...
Dave Higle |
October 17, 2013 |
Blog Discipleship Thriving Clergy
Education and Clergy Development in the new quadrennium was to start a conference for clergy care givers—the counselors and others who offer front line assistance to pastors dealing with personal issues. The published focus of the conference is to “investigate best...
