We all realize an increasingly small percentage of churches will be led by full time pastors with an M.Div. What does this mean from a missional standpoint? At Wesley, we’ve moved aggressively to offer a wide variety of other master’s degrees and non-degree programs.
In Washington D.C., we are also dealing with the effect of the Trump administration on so much of life. There is a sense of loss in the community. All of us know people who served in vital agencies who lost their jobs. We lead in an anxious time.
When the large federal workforce downsizing began, we offered scholarships for people leaving the federal workforce. Our message was: “We are grateful for your service. We know you see it as a calling. Maybe this is the next calling for you.”
Faculty take us to tremendous depths. It can be a hard adjustment for faculty trained in a discipline for half their lives, to be asked to teach students in a certificate program. A lot of us are trying to find ways to help our wonderful faculty pivot and adapt to this new environment. We are all on a journey to a different view of the future of our service to the Church, including our boards. Betty Beene, a board member, once told me: “What’s the one most important thing about leadership? People support what they help to create.”
