The Pastoral Leadership program at Marquette seeks to address equally the personal faith formation and support of the ministers and their vocations as leaders of leaders in the wider community where faith and culture often collide. Religious leaders can have a powerful influence on their communities and in congregational life especially in living the Social Gospel. People in Wisconsin face a variety of serious concerns ranging from poverty and economic disparity to education and segregation. These pressing concerns will be addressed by the following components of the Pastoral Leadership program:
- Quarterly “Summits” (over two years) bringing the cohort together in dialogue with community and business leaders and with small teams of Marquette University faculty.
- Rural and urban immersion experiences.
- Training in Ignatian Spirituality practices for personal and vocational enrichment.
Expected Outcomes
- Developing a support network of early career pastors across Christian denominations.
- Deepening the faith and discernment skills of the cohort members through Ignatian spirituality.
- Facilitating an intersection between faith and culture by bringing together pastors with community and business leaders in dialogue over key issues.
- Providing a setting for theological reflection on the life of the pastor in contemporary society as a leader of leaders.
Program Goals
By the end of their experience, cohort members will be able to:
- Articulate nuanced understandings of complex social issues and concerns.
- Demonstrate a comfort level in interacting with civic and business leaders.
- Dialogue on a variety of key issues with civic and business leaders.
- Identify key pastoral leadership traits in themselves.
- Identify leadership skills modeled by presenters.
- Reflect theologically on the intersection of faith and culture.
- Describe new connections between sacred and secular worlds.
- Explain and practice fundamental aspects of Ignatian spirituality and discernment.
- Value cohort members as a support system.
"Many churches today are becoming more and more distracted within the church than participating in their community growth. As we walked through zip code 53206, I could see the danger that a disconnected church has over their community. I could see what happens over time when a congregation has nothing in common with its most reachable audience."