Significant Grants Establish Two New Centers

Two grants totaling more than half a million dollars will allow CUI to streamline and broaden students’ preparation for church leadership, and promote a broader understanding of vocation by exploring connections between faith, 工作, 和经济学.

Both grants come from The Kern Family Foundation and were awarded in February. 更大的, $479,000 grant allows CUI to establish the Center for Church Leadership, a new program designed to train Christian ministers.

“For our entire history, we have 工作ed with students from a wide variety of backgrounds,Rev说。. Dr. Steve Mueller ’86, dean of Christ College. “This Center creates a clear pathway that supports and prepares more church leaders for service in an ever-changing world.”

The Center will offer a five-year bachelor’s-to-master’s program for academically qualified students who will take classes during their senior year toward their master’s degree. The path allows them to earn both degrees in five years, followed by a year in a full-time ministry residency at a local church.

CUI found a kindred partner in The Kern Family Foundation, which supports innovative initiatives to deliver the kind of theological and ministerial training CUI offers. Curriculum and course design are taking place now.

“This new program opens doors to train and equip entrepreneurial ministry leaders, to know the Word of God deeply, thinking through how it addresses all manner of human questions,” Mueller says. “The world is changing around us. How do we minister to people in the 21st century? An increasing number of people have no religious affiliation. How will we prepare people to meet these challenges? We see this as wonderful time for an innovative approach to ministry training.”

This Center creates a clear pathway that supports and prepares more church leaders for service in an ever-changing world.

The first cohort will begin in the fall of 2019—coincidentally, the same time the new Music, Worship and Theology building opens up on CUI’s campus.

第二个, $96,000 grant from The Kern Family Foundation will establish the 信仰Works Center, designed to help participants understand the economic, moral and spiritual significance of 工作 by showing how it contributes to flourishing of other people and society as a whole.

“The 工作 we go to is not just a job but a chance to serve our neighbor with what we produce and what we do,” Mueller says. “这很重要. It touches other people’s lives.”

The 信仰Works Center will produce seminars for off-campus groups, such as churches and 工作ing professionals, to encourage them to see the value and potential blessing for themselves and others in their vocations. The Center also will produce a book on the subject.

“These 工作shops and the book will address questions such as, How important is my 工作 to God? How is it an act of love toward my neighbor? How does it contribute to the economic well-being of other people?Rev说。. Dr. David Loy, associate dean of Christ College. Loy is directing the new 信仰 Works Center. “We want business professionals and employees to see that their 工作 is meaningful.”

The Center will also create one or more classes to be offered through Christ College at CUI.