The relationships that I have developed in the Bethany Fellowships, both with my peers and also with the leadership team, have been an absolutely crucial part of adapting to life in full time ministry.  With them I have found insight, support,  encouragement, guidance and prayer to help navigate through some pretty challenging seasons. 

Matt Broxterman     

North Kansas City, MO

"My experience of the Bethany Fellowships helps me... pause for solitude and prayer, reflect on past and present moments in my life as a minister, reconnect with God, colleagues and prayer partners, and sends me forth into my congregation with a renewed spirit and greater sense of calling."

 

Amy Cates   

Tullahoma, TN

Ministry is a lonely profession.  Without my participation in the Bethany Fellowships, I would have few chances to maintain an intimate network of friendship and support with my peers. This time with my friends is invaluable.  It feeds my soul, and it helps remind me on a regular basis that I am not alone in my call.

 

Amy Piatt  

Pueblo, CO.

Our History

The Beginning

The history of the Bethany fellowships is linked to the Bethany Project, to the work of Gay Reese, and to Dick Hamm’s 2020 Vision for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The question is this: if we want to revitalize 1000 congregations and start 1000 new ones, what do we need to do?

While there are many answers to this question, and, in all likelihood, it will take many different answers to create true renewal, one answer certainly includes the place of pastors in revitalizing congregations and creating new church starts.

 

The Bethany Project

In 1996 the Lilly Endowment gave a grant for a pilot project in congregational revitalization through renewed spiritual leadership, the Bethany Project. Small groups of pastors, regional ministers, and denominational executives met for retreat twice a year for three or four days.  

In those groups, pastors worked together to strengthen their own spiritual disciplines, to develop systems for accountability, and to pray for one another while they pursued new ideas for congregational growth and organization. More than 150 pastors participated in the Bethany Project over the years, and the discussion expanded to finding better ways to make the transition from seminary to the first pastorate.

The Bethany Fellowships

The Lilly Endowment agreed with the need and in 2000 awarded the first Transition-to-Ministry Grant establishing a new pilot program: the Bethany Fellowships. Under the leadership of Don Schutt, The Bethany Fellowships provide guidance for transitioning from the role of seminarian to vital congregational leader.

Based on the lessons learned from the Bethany Project, the retreat time includes a look at best practices in vital congregations, small group and one-on-one mentoring, but most of all, development of spiritual disciplines and prayer. Participants report finding solace, ideas, perspective, and a deepened sense of call. Indeed, in a world where 38% of new pastors leave congregational ministry, the Bethany Fellows report only a 10% loss. More than one participant credits the support of the program as essential to ongoing ministry.

In 2004, the Lilly Endowment responded to the phenomenal success of this program with a transition grant of $900,000 to assist the Fellowship in moving to a self-sustaining program for pastoral development in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). This grant allows the Bethany Fellowships to continue to offer transition mentoring and retreats while an endowment is developed to maintain the program. Find out how you can help continue this program.

Oversight for this program and for the endowment is provided by Higher Education and Leadership Ministries (HELM) of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ.)