Journey Groups began in 2004 through a Sustaining Pastoral Excellence grant of the Lilly Foundation Inc. awarded to Journey, Western Theological Seminary's Center for the Church's Learning.  This first grant launched 6 Journey Groups who met from 2004 until the Fall of 2007. The program is founded on three fundamental convictions:

• Learning happens with peers around a common learning.
• Learning unfolds on a path over time.
• Congregations and pastors learn together.

Journey applied for a sustainability grant in 2008.  We were awarded the sustainability grant and currently two Journey Groups have begun to meet for a two year period.  The next round of Journey Groups will begin in June of 2011.
 
A Journey Group consists of six to eight pastors (or similar pastoral agents) who commit themselves to a two-year, shared learning path in some particular field of ministerial identity and practice.  They also covenant with a group from their local congregation who journeys alongside them.
 
View a grid showing the two-year plan of the Journey Group for 2011-2013.
Download an application for the 2011-2013 Journey Group.

 
 
THEME GROUPS