Education, Research Project to Benefit Young Lutheran Leaders
Lilly Endowment Inc., Indianapolis, awarded a $750,000 grant to the Vocation and Education unit of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), to enhance lifelong learning for young lay and ordained ministers in the church. The project, to be implemented over a five-year period, will also include a research component in which a variety of issues related to the transition from seminary to public ministry will be studied.

The project, "First Call Theological Education for the Twenty-Something Generation," is in its initial stages, said Dr. Constance L. Seraphine, project director, ELCA Vocation and Education unit. It is intended to enhance the ELCA's First Call Theological Education (FCTE) program that the church implemented in 1997, she said.

FCTE is a three-year structured program of theological education to assist leaders during the transition from seminary to their first place of service as an ordained or lay minister, commonly known as a "first call."

In the ELCA, nearly one-fourth of pastors in their first call leave in less than three years for another call. "For those in their first call, it is important to support all pastors, especially the younger pastors," Seraphine said.

The new Twenty-Something Generation project focuses on leaders under 32 years of age. It will enhance the existing FCTE program by:

• providing mentors who will support young leaders through online technology and other communication methods;

• encouraging participants to read and discuss specific books, and offer online posting of book reviews;

• working with the theological education network to produce online courses that can be part of required continuing education; and

• bringing FCTE synod and regional planners together at least twice during the five-year period for support and learning.

Focusing on younger leaders is important for the future of the ELCA as a whole, Seraphine said.

"There is a definite concern for sustaining the office of ministry and attracting creative people to a call to be ordained or to other public ministries," she said. "We believe that supporting younger leaders in public ministry will also result in attracting other young people to the church. They bring new life, new ideas and new energy."

The research component will focus on what factors enhance or impede a church leader's first call, Seraphine said. This is especially true for leaders called to serve in rural settings, she said. Researchers with the ELCA Department for Research and Evaluation will study issues such as a leader's ministry expectations, ministerial identity, stress factors, personal and family issues, and other issues related to congregational health and well being.

The project will be guided by an advisory committee, and seminary faculty and other theological education leaders will design course material and tools for theological reflection, Seraphine said.

Project coordinators hope the research results will help strengthen existing theological education programs and help support new lay and ordained ministers in their first calls, Seraphine said. The ELCA has eight seminaries, and they are very interested in the new project, she said.

The project is expected to include at least 300 church leaders, each of whom will have committed to three years of project activities, Seraphine said.

"What is exciting about this is that it gives us a chance to fine tune what is already happening in FCTE, which is quite strong in most of our synods," she said. "We will learn more about first-call experiences and the impact of the church’s support efforts."

Related to the Lilly-funded project is a $20,500 grant from Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL), a fraternal benefits organization based in Appleton, Wis. AAL provided the grant for a meeting of leaders and coordinators of present FCTE programs in the ELCA. AAL and Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal benefits organization based in Minneapolis, provided start-up funding for the FCTE program, Seraphine added.

Additional information at ELCA's First Call Theological Education program.