Center for Ministry Leadership

Sustaining Pastoral Excellence

Covenant Seminary is vitally concerned not only with finding the best ways to train pastors for future ministry, but also with how to sustain them for long-term service to the Church. In 2004, with the assistance of a generous Sustaining Pastoral Excellence grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., the Seminary began the Center for Ministry Leadership, an educational and research initiative focused on changing lives and transforming churches through engagement with effective ministry leaders.

The Center, under the direction of Dr. Bob Burns and in keeping with the Seminary's philosophy of pastors training pastors, explores issues related to pastoral ministry and seeks to develop principles and practices that will enhance the Seminary's ability to prepare church leaders who will remain rooted in grace for a lifetime of effective ministry. The center achieves its goals through four primary emphases: the Conferences for Pastors and Ministry Leaders, the Pastor in Residence program, the Pastors Summit, and the Intersect Forum.

Conferences for Pastors and Ministry Leaders

The Center for Ministry Leadership has an integral role in organizing annual conferences that offer pastors and ministry leaders (and their spouses!) from all over the country the opportunity to come together for a time of encouragement, fellowship, and renewal. The conferences provide a regular means for ministry leaders to sharpen their skills, reconnect with old friends or make new ones, and to recharge their spiritual batteries. In addition to Seminary faculty, the conferences feature guest speakers known for their ministry expertise, and offer breakout sessions focused on specific practical ministry concerns. Recent topics have included endurance in ministry, leading for change, church discipline, evangelism, and worship.

Learn more about the 2007 Conference for Pastors and Ministry Leaders.

Hear messages from previous conferences.

Find out about our Lifetime of Ministry continuing education opportunities.

Pastor in Residence Program

Through the Pastor in Residence program, experienced pastors are able to take some time away from their regular ministries to benefit from and contribute to life on the Covenant Seminary campus. Pastors stay for as little as two weeks or as long as a semester. During their time in residence, pastors may attend classes or do research, and share their ministry experience with the campus community by speaking in chapel, leading Covenant Group meetings, visiting local churches, and conversing with students and faculty.

Apply to Pastor in Residence Program (PDF format).

Pastors Summit

The Pastors Summit is an unprecedented joint effort between Covenant Seminary, Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando, Fla.), and Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia, Pa.). Each seminary hosts a cohort of ten selected pastors that meet six times over the course of two years. The cohorts meet separately each spring and fall, and come together for a joint meeting each summer.

Cohorts consist of pastors who share certain traits -- Reformed faith, expertise in ministry, and similar leadership positions -- but who also differ in important ways. For example, the pastors represent a variety of ethnic backgrounds, geographic settings, and church contexts. Because a pastor's spouse is an integral part of his ministry, the spouses of pastors involved in the Summit are invited to participate in many of the cohort activities as well.

Through the Pastors Summit, pastors who have proven to be especially successful in ministry come together to share their experiences and increase their own and the Seminary's understanding of what it means -- and what it takes -- to be an effective pastor. To learn more about the Pastors Summit program, log onto www.pastorssummit.org.

Intersect Forum

Religious life and business life are often regarded as separate spheres. However, leaders in both church and business face similar leadership challenges. Both churches and businesses exist as organizations and as relational organisms. Both must attend to management, financial, and structural issues, yet both must also attend to the relational climate and to interpersonal concerns.

Intersect is a forum created by the Center for Ministry Leadership in which selected pastors, along with ruling elders who are family business leaders, explore the dynamics of growth and change leadership, seeking the common ground between church and business structures with the goal of developing a leadership model built on God's common grace. The forum is currently led by Dr. Tim Habbershon, who holds the President's Term Chair in Family Enterprises at Babson College. Dr. Habbershon, a former teaching elder and church planter in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), is well-qualified to facilitate a forum on leading sustainable growth and change at the intersection of faith, family, and firm.

Topics under discussion at Intersect have included the responsible appropriation of entrepreneurial thinking by the church and investigation of the Biblical roots of growth and change strategies. One of Dr. Habbershon's intended outcomes for Intersect is that "both the pastor and the business leader would have a human capital philosophy that accentuates the dignity of persons."

Ongoing Research and Collaboration

The Center for Ministry Leadership is not only bearing fruit in the present, but also planting seeds for the future. Researchers from the Center gather insights from program participants concerning their preparation for ministry, the demands of ministry, and the best means of sustaining excellence in ministry. The Center anticipates the future release of publications on the realities of pastoral ministry and their implications for theological education. Staff from the Center also attend a peer-group gathering in Indianapolis, Indiana, each August in order to share findings with other recipients of Sustaining Pastoral Excellence grants from Lilly Endowment Inc.

The cross-pollination of ideas that occurs at these meetings facilitates interdenominational dialogue about what constitutes pastoral excellence and how to sustain it. The Center for Ministry Leadership is playing an integral role in serving pastors, their families, and tomorrow's seminary students. Covenant Seminary is grateful for Lilly Endowment Inc.'s support of this important initiative.

About Our Director

Dr. Robert W. Burns
Director, Center for Ministry Leadership
Associate Professor of Educational Ministries

Bob Burns has been a pastor and teacher for over 30 years. His experience in ministry ranges from church planting to family ministry, from worship and the arts to youth and singles ministry. His extensive service to the church is augmented by years of study; Bob holds both a DMin from Westminster Theological Seminary and a PhD in Adult Education from the University of Georgia. One of Bob's most important contributions to the Center is his educational philosophy. He recognizes the limitations of traditional educational settings for adult learners and strives to create programs that challenge all elements of the total person - the head, heart, and hands.

See a list of Practical Theology courses offered at Covenant Seminary.

Featured Ministry Resources by Dr. Burns.