Welcome!

Upper Room Ministries is pleased to announce Companions in Ministry® Two [CiM 2], a program for clergy funded by the Lilly Endowment. Thank you for your interest in this unique and important effort at resourcing pastors in today’s world.

This website prospectus provides you with important information about CiM 2 (including why we call it CiM 2!). If you have any questions not answered here, please feel free to contact me at the address below.

Included here:

Statement of purpose
Background information
Schedule
Selection criteria for applicants
Foundation principles
Additional material about CiM 2, its leaders and structure
Application section (includes essay questions, information sheet)
Expectations for those accepted into the program
Covenant of Mutual Learning – to be completed by members of your congregation after
you’ve been accepted

If you apply to CiM 2, your application will be processed once we have all of the following: your written responses to the essay questions, three letters of reference, the completed information sheet and a check for $10.00 to process the application.

The purpose of CiM 2 is to guide pastors in the development of the support systems they need as they adaptively lead congregations from a functional to a formational identity. Conceived as a two-year engagement, Companion Ministers will include a variety of learning modalities: books, websites, conversation, worship and prayer, small groups and spiritual guidance.

An outline of the program is as follows:

Phase One: Preparation. Those selected prepare themselves and their congregations for
involvement in CiM 2. [September – October, 2009]
Phase Two: Residential Session. “Companion Ministers” [or “CM’s”] gather in Nashville for a
five-day residential session at the Scarritt-Bennett Center. [Oct. 26-31, 2009]
Phase Three: Engagement and Reflection. Companion Ministers share what they have learned in Phase II with their congregations and begin working with a Companion Guide [or “CG”] to form a clergy support group in their area. Through periodic phone calls CG’s offer coaching and promote peer learning, as CM’s create a body of knowledge about clergy support groups and congregational transformation. [January, 2010 through September 2011]
Phase Four: Conferencing – A concluding three-day conference brings together CM’s, CG’s, colleagues and congregational representatives for collaborative learning and discernment [October 2011].

Thanks to the Lilly Endowment, tuition, transportation and books are provided for all participants. Participants will be responsible for the cost of lodging and meals at the Scarritt-Bennett Center, and some fees for ongoing consultation. A limited number of scholarships are available. See below for more information about costs and scholarships.

Send printed applications to:

Jerry Haas
Companions in Ministry
PO Box 340004
Nashville, TN 37203-0004

Telephone 877.899.2781, x 7232 (toll-free) or 615.340.7232. Fax: 615.340.7257. Email: jhaas@gbod.org