Our Cohort Program

Why The Ministry Collaborative?

Because what got us to today will not necessarily get us to tomorrow, and within that complexity there is joy and hope.  God’s disruption of many conventional ministry models is in many ways God’s creation of new opportunities for imagination, connection, joy, and faithfulness. Ministry leaders who are ready to forge ahead into this uncharted territory need others to join them along the way.  When you join a cohort, you’re joining a sustained community of support, resourcing, and relationship that can last a lifetime. We truly believe that.

A COHORT IS NOT JUST ABOUT SUPPORT OR “SKILLING UP.” IT’S FOR…

  • Sharing, supporting, and collaborating with others in the face of your greatest challenges.
  • Broadening perspectives, insights, and resources though your cohort and through your access to the TMC network nationwide.
  • Insisting on rich theological engagement for framing ministry for today.
  • Expanding your capacity to lead with joy for the long-term.
  • Facing head-on the mounting challenges around ministry economics, fading models of ministry, and what God might be calling you toward.
  • Digging a deeper spiritual well for you your ministry board and other leaders you serve with. Internalizing a resilient, sustained joy for navigating…everything.

Right now, we’re offering several different types of peer-learning cohort opportunities that include clergy as well as lay leaders. Most of these cohorts commit to an 18 month or 2-year program. To learn more about any of these cohort opportunities, please email our Program Director, Adam Borneman at, aborneman@mministry.org

Our Cohort Network

Choose a state to see their cohort locations.

Georgia

Atlanta, GA 1
Facilitator: Tom Tewell

Atlanta, GA 2
Facilitators: Tom Tewell & Joanna Adams

Atlanta, GA 3
Facilitator: Megan Johnson

Atlanta, GA 4
Facilitator: Marthame Sanders

Atlanta, GA 5
Facilitators: Maisha Handy & Kanisha Billingsley

Atlanta, GA 6
Facilitator: Brady Radford

Candler Divinity School
Facilitators: Bob Winstead & Anne Burkholder

Columbia Theological Seminary
Facilitators: Marthame Sanders & Amina McIntyre

Presbytery of NE GA 1
Facilitator: Glenn Doak

Presbytery of NE GA 2
Facilitator: Jeanne Thiele Reynolds & Matt Henderson

Arizona

Tucson, AZ
Facilitator: Brad Munroe & Andrew Ross

Alabama

Tuscaloosa, AL
Facilitator: Joseph F. Scrivner

Birmingham, AL 2
Facilitator: Adam Mixon

McAfee Divinity School
Facilitator: Loyd Allen

Birmingham, AL
Facilitators: Ed Hurley & John Cantelow

Colorado

Denver, CO
Facilitators: Gretchen Wilson

Illinois

Chicago, IL
Facilitators: Emily McGinley

North Carolina

Charlotte, NC
Facilitator: Joe Clifford

Warsaw, NC
Facilitator: Ted Thomas

Oxford, NC
Facilitator: Willie Darby

Clinton/Warsaw, NC
Facilitator: Ted Thomas
Participants: 12

South Central, NC
Facilitator: Latonya L. Agrad

Asheville, NC
Facilitator: Denise Thorpe

Wake Forest Divinity School
Facilitators: Neal Walls & Bill Leonard

California

Stadia LA
Facilitator: Kevin Haah

Montana

Glacier Presbytery
Facilitator: Ed Albright & Allen Foster

North Dakota

Williston, ND
Facilitator: Jon Wellumson

Watford City, ND
Facilitators: Sheldon McGorman & Father Brian Gross

Minnesota

Twin Cities, MN
Facilitator: Jack Fortin & Kelly Chatman

Iowa

Northern Iowa Presbytery East
Facilitator: Dave Feltman

Northern Iowa Presbytery West
Facilitator: Dave Feltman

Northern Central Iowa
Facilitator: Ian McMullen

Michigan

Detroit, MI
Facilitator: Leon Stevenson

Kentucky

Louisville Theological Seminary
Facilitator: Patricia Tull & Jane Larsen-Wigger

Virginia

Presbytery of the James
Facilitator: George Conway

Texas

Austin, TX
Facilitator: Carrie Graham

Fort Worth, TX
Facilitator: Charles Johnson

Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX
Facilitator: Charles Johnson

Florida

Jacksonville, FL
Facilitator: Neely Towe

Jacksonville, FL 2
Facilitator: Susan Rogers

Delray Beach, FL
Facilitator: Doug Hood

New Jersey

Princeton, NJ
Facilitator: Shane Berg

New York

New York, New York
Facilitator: J.C. Austin

New York, NY 2
Facilitator: Kate Flexer

Ohio

Columbus, OH All Female Cohort
Facilitator: Amy Miracle

Stadia OH
Facilitator: Tom Jones & David Cauble

110

Cohorts

1600

Participants

90

Facilitators

1600

Congregations

Who and What is a Cohort?

Cohorts are highly committed, supportive, and collaborative learning communities of 10-15 ministry leaders who make a three-year commitment to one another and to the process of learning and growing together. In order to increase the probability of generative learning and impact on the lives of participants and their communities, cohorts are designed to represent the diversity of their local community. Combining high levels of diversity with high levels of commitment for a duration of three years results in an experience that is deeply transformative and, for many, life-changing.

Cohort participants develop lasting relationships and discover new ideas and innovative ways of reaching and leading their communities and equipping the church. These groups promote long-lasting community outreach and engagement. Each cohort includes:

  • High Level of Shared Commitment
  • Trained Facilitators
  • Contextualized Peer Learning
  • Access to Leading Voices
  • Formative Immersion Experiences
  • Community Engaged Congregations

Cohorts Gallery

Deeper Learning for Sustaining Ministry

The Ministry Collaborative’s focus isn’t on “skilling up” ministry leaders. Yes, skills like fundraising, conflict management, and preaching better sermons are important, but if pastors are to effectively deploy these skills for the long term, they require growth at a much deeper level where things like sustainability, adaptivity, and intuition are developed. Here are some areas we’re currently focused on:

  • Capacity Building
  • Developing Adaptivity
  • Nurturing Healthy Leadership
  • Stewarding Change
  • Creating Cultures
  • Sustainable Ministry Economics
  • Recovering and Deploying Joy
  • Digging a Deeper Well
  • Creativity, Risk Taking & Innovation
  • Congregational Witness & Vocation
  • Dec-entering Ministry & Mission

Our Network

The Ministry Collaborative continues to expand both regionally and strategically with cohorts all across the United States and abroad. We remain committed to serving pastors and equipping ministry in a variety of settings, especially the “hard” places, meaning places that don’t have as many available resources, places where the presence of Christian faith is rapidly vanishing, and places where there are acute social, racial, and economic divides, and so forth. This trust-building and resource sharing across these barriers serve as a model for what we hope to see in congregations and communities everywhere. If you’re interested in learning more about where our cohorts are located, or the other ways that we might be able to come alongside you in ministry, click the link below.