Academy to be held for young clergy in ministry

The Rocky Mountain Conference and the Mountain Sky Area of the United Methodist Church are going to offer the Academy for the Clergy Young in Ministry (Academy), whose purpose is to nurture, cultivate, and develop leadership of young clergy in ministry. The Rocky Mountain Conference was recently awarded a $50,000 grant through the Young Clergy Initiative (YCI) of General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church.

Academy will adopt an experiential model for learning around a set of core leadership values including Theology of Ministry, Pastor’s Spiritual Formation, Missional Identity in the Community, Creativity and Imagination and Visioning, and Transformational Discipleship (making these learnings manifest in the church community). Academy will be comprised of retreats, immersion experiences in and out of the conferences, coaching, and online community.

In January 2015, an invitation will be extended to prospective clergy by their district superintendents and Director of Mission and Ministry. The Design Team of the Academy seeks your prayers as they work together on planning this unique opportunity to cultivate the leadership of young clergy for transformational ministry. Design Team members are Steve Burnett, Mark Feldmeir, Margaret Gillikin, Randy Jessen, Jessica Rooks, Jeremy Scott, and Youngsook Kang.