Paul Miller ‘18 M. Div. attended his first Faith+Lead workshop by being a part of a Funding Forward grant. Faith+Lead is Luther Seminary’s learning hub for Christian leaders. The Funding Forward grant was a year-long opportunity provided by Faith+Lead for twelve church communities to look at ministry funding challenges and experiment in developing a new funding model. It required participants to engage in deep listening outside of the church, to be open to creativity, innovation, and change at the congregational level, and to experiment and take risks to shape a new funding model.
The church he served was a part of the pilot program for this grant. He has found Faith+Lead workshops and other resources to be incredibly helpful and a great way to connect with others in different parts of the country. Being a part of the Funding Forward grant opportunity helped him think about the different ways in which the wider church’s mission and God’s mission connect to his congregation’s mission. This helped his congregation to “listen in a new way and let go of some things that may have worked in the past [but don’t work now], to listen to our community better and trust that we are exactly where we need to be right now.”
Miller says that Faith+Lead “courses … and the other resources and access points provided by Luther Seminary like Enter the Bible, Working Preacher, etc. help those who have graduated or lay leaders in congregations with continuing and on-demand education. These types of adult education are invaluable resources for us in the field. It helps keep life-long learning going.”
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