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Two Covenant Pastors Part of Lilly Renewal Program
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (November 29, 2001) - Mercer Island Covenant Church in Mercer Island,
Washington, and Valley Covenant Church in Eugene, Oregon, have received grants of $27,500 and $30,000 respectively to enable their pastors, Eric Newberg and Stephen Bilynskyj, to
participate in the National Clergy Renewal Program/2001 funded by the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment, Inc.
Newberg and Bilynskyj are two of 129 pastors across the country who will participate in this
program. Through the program, pastors will be able to step back from their busy lives and renew their spirits for the sake of their ongoing ministries.
The program, which is in its second year, invites congregations and ministers to consider and plan a period of "intentional reflection and renewal." It provides a time for ministers to step away from their daily obligations and gain the fresh perspective and renewed energy that a carefully
Considered "sabbath time" of travel, study, rest and prayer can provide.
Each congregation can apply for a grant of up to $30,000. Up to $10,000 of that amount can be used to fulfill pastoral duties during his or her absence. The 129 grants - covering congregations in 38 states - total $3.2 million.
Newberg and his wife, Carol, will use their portion of the grant to participate in the three-month
program for continuing education and spiritual renewal at the Tantur Institute in Israel, located near Jerusalem on the road to Bethlehem. They will depart on January 10 and return to Mercer Island on April 17.
The study plan for the Tantur program includes ecumenism, local churches, biblical geography, Old Testament, New Testament, Judaism and Islam. Shorter sessions will be offered on Palestinian liberation theology and Jewish identity, nationhood and state. Guided field trips, prepared for by lectures, readings and maps, will be taken in the Negev, Judean Desert, the Dead Sea area, the Jerusalem of Jesus and the Galilee region.
Bilynskyj's plans for the renewal period include travel to England and Greece with his family, as well as study and reflection time in the Chicago area and in Arizona, all during the summer of 2002.
"The congregations' affection for their pastors was quite evident in the applications and they demonstrated considerable creativity in finding ways to handle ongoing responsibilities while
their pastors are away," said Craig Dykstra, endowment vice president for religion. "Likewise, the ministers were plainly thrilled at the notion of planning programs that would give them time 'to get away from it all' and then 'come back to it all' as better pastors."
One of the country's larges private philanthropic foundations, Lilly Endowment was established in 1937 and supports religion, community development and education. Kendall Dahlstrom and the Evangelical Covenant Church of South Bend, Indiana, received a Lilly Renewal Grant in 2000.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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