The Office of Ministry has begun work on a new Thriving in Ministry program, a grant-funded initiative offering support for multivocational Church of the Brethren pastors. Dana Cassell, pastor of Peace Covenant Church of the Brethren in Durham, N.C., has been hired as manager. She started in this half-time position on Jan. 7 while continuing in her pastoral role.
Three-fourths of congregational pastors in the Church of the Brethren are multivocational, working in either part-time or less-than-fully-compensated roles. Recognizing that one challenge for these pastors is less time and availability to travel for education, conferences, and fellowship with other pastors, Thriving in Ministry aims to offer resources and support for multivocational pastors in their own context.
The first step in the new initiative is conducting a large-scale survey so that the resources and content of the program are focused specifically on needs as named by multivocational pastors themselves. CRANE, Atlanta, the same marketing firm that aided the Church of the Brethren in creating the tagline “Continuing the Work of Jesus: Peacefully, Simply, Together,” is conducting this survey over the next two months. Every multivocational minister in the denomination will be contacted through phone calls and emails.
For more about Thriving in Ministry go to www.brethren.org/news/2018/thriving-in-ministry or contact dcassell@brethren.org .