SPE Project Spotlight:
Companions in Ministry
Evaluation Leads to New Program
After 20 years operating the acclaimed Academy for Spiritual Formation®, Upper Room Ministries® knew it was time to design a new program just for pastors. The problem, though, was deciding what that new program would be. To help them find out, Upper Room set out two years ago to conduct a thorough evaluation of the Academy.
Now, after extensive research that included a survey of former Academy participants, Upper Room has both gained new insights into the Academy and, in turn, used those findings to design and launch “Companions in Ministry,” a new program for local church pastors.
“We had heard anecdotal accounts, but our research confirmed for us that the Academy is a remarkably renewing and reorienting experience for participants,” says Jerry Haas, director of both the Academy and Companions in Ministry. “And it also suggested that a program focused specifically on pastors could supplement—but not replace—the Academy.”
After a period of preparatory reading and devotions, Companions in Ministry got underway April 4-9 as 54 pastors from 34 states gathered in Nashville for the first in a series of five-day retreats. Representing 12 denominations, the “companion” pastors were selected last year from more than 140 applicants in 40 states.
Companions—and the research that led to its development—are funded by a Sustaining Pastoral Excellence grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. The program, a two-year pilot, is intended in large part to help pastors better integrate spiritual formation into local church life.
Before designing the Companions program, Upper Room hired Doble Research Associates, Inc., of Summit, N.J., to conduct phone interviews, focus groups, and a written survey of 241 clergy who had previously participated in the Academy for Spiritual Formation. Established in 1983, the Academy for Spiritual Formation is a covenant learning program that combines academic learning and experience in spiritual disciplines. Each Academy lasts two years, with participants meeting in five-day sessions every three months, for a total of 40 days in a retreat residence.
“Our hunch was that while the Academy has had a great impact on individuals in terms of their own spiritual formation, it may not have had as much impact on pastoral ministry and on churches,” says Haas.
To Haas’ surprise, the survey found that the Academy was in fact having a lasting impact on clergy participants both personally and in their ministry. But even so, the surveyed pastors identified two issues as particularly important for Upper Room Ministries to keep in mind as it developed Companions in Ministry:
- how to integrate spirituality into the systems of the local church, and
- how to help the congregation learn to pray and practice the presence of God in their daily lives.
As one former Academy participant explained in a focus group: “I certainly see a need for a bridge between the Academy experience and one’s ministry. . . and how to integrate more of the profound personal change and benefit we’ve experienced into a fruit of ministry for the people one is serving.”
As the role of local churches has evolved, they have increasingly taken on a host of civil and social functions that often have little to do with spiritual formation, according to Haas. “Helping congregations shift into becoming more intentional spiritual communities is a major challenge,” he says.
