The program, A Seminary for Every Congregation, will bring theological education and resources to the congregations at no cost. It will run through December 2030 with support from the Lilly Endowment’s Seminary Extended grant. Ethan King, project coordinator for the grant, said the seminary will partner with each congregation around “a central holding question.”

“That could be anything from ‘We’re looking to start a renovation of our grounds and we’re trying to think about the theological dimensions of placemaking’ to ‘We’ve had an influx of children at our church and want to think about reformatting around being an intergenerational church,’” King said.

“The seminary would come alongside a church, its pastor, and some of its layleaders for a year and help them explore their question, connect them with resources, and bring them a baseline education around community organizing, trauma-informed care, and leadership through tension and conflict resolution,” he added.

King said the partnership will offer research opportunities for seminary students and internships for students pursuing a master of divinity degree. “It will also help our seminary learn from people who are on the ground doing day-to-day ministry to inform our coursework,” he said.

“We’re looking to build a network of collaboration and relationships,” King said. “Hopefully it will cut down on some of the pastoral isolation and burnout we’ve seen in our research.”

For more information about the program, including for pastors interested in getting involved, contact King at ethan.king@emu.edu.

New DMin program

Funded through Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Pathways for Tomorrow initiative, Seminary Extended: Strengthening Pastoral Leadership supports a collaborative partnership between Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Union Presbyterian Seminary, and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

The grant also supports a new Doctor of Ministry in adaptive leadership program, expected to launch at all three seminaries in 2027. Students in the joint degree program will have access to shared resources, coursework, and projects across the three schools.

Additionally, the grant funds three new shared faculty members to teach students from all three schools.

King joins seminary staff

King began his new role as project coordinator in June. The Harrisonburg native holds a master’s degree in theological studies from Candler School of Theology at Emory University and bachelor’s degrees in religion and philosophy, political science, and economics from Emory & Henry University.

For the past four years, he worked in outreach and communications for the Church of the Nazarene in Harrisonburg. He said the experience gave him a unique perspective on ministerial work and the rigors that pastors face on a daily basis.

“When this grant opportunity came along, focused on connecting pastors with resources and training and education that is practically and contextually significant to their ministry, I thought it sounded like a great program and wanted to get involved,” King said.

“We are delighted to have Ethan coordinating our collaborative initiatives to foster theological formation in local faith communities,” said the Rev. Dr. Sarah Ann Bixler, dean of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. “He brings a keen understanding of the realities facing pastors and congregations, along with a hope-filled passion for equipping them to impact their communities in concrete ways. We are eager to see how God’s Spirit will move among us all.”

Seminary Extended is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative. This initiative is designed to help theological schools across the United States and Canada as they prioritize and respond to the most pressing challenges they face as they prepare pastoral leaders for Christian congregations both now and into the future. The grant to Union Presbyterian Seminary, in support of the collaborative partnership with Eastern Mennonite Seminary and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, is one of 45 approved in this competitive round of funding to support theological schools as they lead large-scale collaborations with other seminaries, colleges and universities, and other church-related organizations.Ěý

Seminary Extended: Strengthening Pastoral Leadership will equip Union Presbyterian Seminary, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary to provide pastors and congregations with practical, grounded support for ministry in a changing world. Through a shared Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Adaptive Leadership, pastors will study with faculty from all three schools, join short in-person learning intensives, receive coaching, and walk alongside peers as they learn to lead through change, conflict, and trauma. At the same time, congregations will engage in yearlong cohorts where each church’s pastor and a small team of lay leaders learn together, with mentors helping them grow in Bible study, community engagement, trauma-aware care, and planning for future ministry. The goal is to make strong, theologically rooted leadership development more accessible and useful to local churches across many Protestant traditions.

• “The generous grant from Lilly Endowment for Seminary Extended will significantly increase UPSem’s capacity to strengthen pastoral leadership within and for the Church, thus enhancing congregational life more broadly. Our ability to engage this work is powered by our strong partnership with 91´óÉń and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, each of which brings unique institutional gifts and expertise to our common mission of building up the Church. I am so excited to begin this journey of missional work with these terrific partners for the sake of the Church in the world that God loves so much,” said President Jacqueline E. Lapsley of Union Presbyterian Seminary.

• “This partnership is a powerful expression of what can happen when theological institutions lean into shared mission and imagination. With gratitude for Lilly Endowment, Seminary Extended: Strengthening Pastoral Leadership will allow our faculty, pastors, and congregations to learn alongside one another in ways that honor the realities of ministry today. This collaboration reflects our commitment to supporting leaders who can engage a complex and changing world with courage, compassion, and theological depth. This grant gives us the capacity to do that work together—stronger, more connected, and with greater impact,” said Dr. Tynisha Willingham, Provost at 91´óÉń.

• “Partnerships like this strengthen our ability to be the Church in the world. By uniting and sharing resources for this congregationally focused project, our institutions are demonstrating the possibility of future collaborations between churches and seminaries across ecumenical and regional boundaries. I’m honored to participate in this project with such supportive partners at UPSem and 91´óÉń,” said President Andrew D. Pomerville of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Lilly Endowment launched the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative in 2021. Since then, it has provided grants totaling more than $700 million to support 163 theological schools in efforts to strengthen their own educational and financial capacities and to assist 61 schools in developing large-scale collaborative endeavors.

91´óÉń Lilly Endowment Inc.
is a private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United States and around the globe.

91´óÉń Union Presbyterian Seminary
Union Presbyterian Seminary is a community that is bound by the love of God, and united in bold Christian service for the church in the world. With campuses in Richmond, Virginia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, the seminary has prepared leaders for ministry since 1812 through rigorous theological education that is scholarly, pastoral, and engaged with contemporary life. Offering a range of degree programs, Union is home to distinguished faculty, a historic campus with one of the nation’s finest theological libraries, and a vibrant community of worship, service, and fellowship. Graduates serve as pastors, educators, chaplains, mission workers, and scholars, carrying forward the seminary’s long tradition of equipping leaders for the church and the world. Learn more at .

91´óÉń Eastern Mennonite Seminary
Eastern Mennonite Seminary is the graduate theological school of 91´óÉń, founded in 1917 in Harrisonburg, Virginia. As early as 1918, courses at the college level were offered in advanced biblical training, and seminary master’s programs emerged in the late 1960s. The seminary is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools and offers continuing education, certificates, and master’s and doctoral degrees. 91´óÉń is a world-renowned center for the study of peace, justice, and religion and an educational institution of Mennonite Church USA, serving students of diverse religious and cultural backgrounds. 91´óÉń confers undergraduate, graduate, and seminary degrees in the liberal arts, applied sciences, and professions. Learn more at .Ěý

91´óÉń Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Founded in 1853, Louisville Seminary offers an inclusive and diverse learning community, welcoming students from wide ecumenical backgrounds while maintaining its long, historic commitment to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). Louisville Seminary is led by the Holy Spirit to educate people to proclaim the Gospel, to care for all, and to work for justice in communities everywhere. It is distinguished by its nationally recognized marriage and family therapy and field education programs, its black church studies program, the scholarship and church service among its faculty, and a commitment to training people to participate in the continuing ministry of Jesus Christ. For more information, visit .

“Every course in this series is brand new,” said Cook, academic program director for the seminary’s Pathways for Tomorrow grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. and visiting assistant professor of Christian ethics. “We built an academic and professional degree that’s cohesive, integrative, and invites students to bring their whole person.”

The D.Min. program at Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS) is the first of its kind to combine study in the fields of justice, peacemaking, and theology. Students who graduate the three-year online program will receive a terminal degree that equips them to lead in faith-based settings, including in congregations, nonprofits, community organizing, and some teaching roles. The program is accredited by The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and is pending accreditation approval by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS).

Applications are now being accepted for the first cohort of students starting in August 2025. Cohort capacity is limited, so applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Along with their applications, candidates must submit three references, an academic writing sample, and a personal statement. 

EMS looks forward to begin extending offers of admission in March, and will continue to review applications as part of a rolling admissions process. Scholarships will be awarded to D.Min. program applicants on the basis of academic merit, leadership strengths, and financial need.

Students in the online doctoral program will complete one course at a time, devoting about 15 hours per week to their coursework. Those courses can be completed fully asynchronously, allowing students — who also will be engaged in practicing ministry — to fulfill their personal and ministerial commitments.

The Rev. Dr. Sarah Ann Bixler, assistant professor of formation and practical theology and associate dean of EMS, said this flexibility and balance is essential in providing support for student success.

“We want our D.Min. program to contribute to leaders’ wholeness,” she said. “EMS will support students to complete their doctoral degree in a timely fashion with integrity and flexibility. Students will be encouraged to pursue doctoral research that enhances their current ministry, rather than draining energy from the heart of their calling.”

Each course in the D.Min. program is designed and taught by continuing-contract, full-time EMS faculty with terminal degrees (PhD or D.Min.) in specific fields relevant to the courses they’re teaching. That’s something not seen at a lot of other Doctor of Ministry programs, which are often run on the labor of contingent faculty, Bixler said.

“This struck me as a justice issue, unethical for the program we envisioned in peacemaking and social change,” she said.

The D.Min. program reflects 91´óÉń’s core values of academic excellence, peace and justice, and active faith, providing a transformative education that prepares leaders to engage in ministry with integrity and purpose.

For more information about the Doctor of Ministry degree offered at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, visit:

Read more

• 91´óÉń News (July 2024): “Board of Trustees approves new Doctor of Ministry program”

• (January 2025): “Eastern Mennonite Seminary to offer first doctor of ministry program”

The Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in Peacemaking and Social Change program, approved by the 91´óÉń Board of Trustees at its meeting in June, is an advanced, professionally oriented degree that will equip graduates to lead in faith-based settings, including in congregations, nonprofits, community organizing, and some teaching roles. EMS faculty have designed this program to invite students to  engage in embodied, critical theological reflection on theories and practices of peacemaking and social change, developing their capacity to strategically foster communities of action for constructive change toward peace.

Courses in the three-year program can be completed fully asynchronously online, and are expected to begin during the summer or fall term of 2025.

These courses include: Theologies of Nonviolence, Justice and Peace; Theologies of Liberation; Religion and Social Change; Peacemaking Practices; Scriptures and the Ministry of Peacemaking; Trauma-Informed Spiritual Care; Analysis of Self and Systems; and Research Methods and Design. Each of these courses has been designed specially for the D.Min. program. 

In a 2021 survey of seminary alumni and students, 37 percent of respondents named a doctoral degree as something they believed EMS should consider adding. With enrollment in D.Min. programs steadily rising at ATS schools each year, the addition will help EMS meet an increased demand for a professional ministry doctorate.

“No other theological schools offer a D.Min. program in peacemaking and social change,” said Jacob Cook, academic program director for the seminary’s Pathways for Tomorrow grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. and visiting assistant professor of Christian ethics. “This is who we are. This is at the heart of all we do.”

Candidates for the D.Min. program are required to have a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree from an accredited school — or achieve M.Div. equivalency — with three or more years of post-M.Div. ministry experience.

The new program is pending accreditation approval by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. 

For more information about Eastern Mennonite Seminary degrees and programs, visit. 

Stay tuned for future 91´óÉń News updates on this significant new academic program!