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Information for presbyteries and congregations
Presbyteries
To qualify as a residency partner, a presbytery must
- identify churches in your presbytery that meet the criteria
- consult with the congregation to ensure financial and other support for the call, and
- nominate potential pastor-mentors and provide for a cluster group of first-call pastors and mentors from one presbytery or by partnering with a neighboring presbytery.
Congregations
To qualify as a residency site, a church must
- have 100 members or fewer;
- have been without a pastor for an extended period;
- be located in an urban, rural, or small town setting;
- be challenged in attracting pastoral candidates;
- be open to growth and transformation; and
- provide most of the funding for the pastoral call at presbytery minimum salaries.
This program is something that we need to support or we need to quit complaining about the decline in membership, because this is something we can actually do to change that.
—The Rev. Michaele Wood, pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Pontotoc, Miss.
Participating churches can expect
- selected pastoral candidates from a field of gifted applicants,
- small assistance grants for salary support, and
- educational resourcing.
Interested churches apply to the program through their respective presbyteries of membership.
Questions? Contact us by email or see a list of frequently-asked questions.
