Columbia’s S3 Project Offers Group Study Grants to Clergy and Church Professionals

Decatur, GA— The Center for Lifelong Learning announces that applications for the 2014 cohort of the S3 (Sabbath, Study and Service) Project will be accepted through October 18, 2013. Applicant groups from all stages of ministry – from first or early call through mid-to-late career ministry – are invited to apply.

The S3 Project offers small, self-selected groups of clergy and other church professionals the opportunity to design and participate in learning projects that strengthen their practice of ministry. Groups will receive $500 per person to fund their self-directed group work. Participants must attend two retreats: February 17-20, 2014 at the beginning of their year-long project and another in February 2015.  

Each group must submit one file (group and individual applications) electronically by or before October 18; a printed copy must be postmarked and mailed by this date as well. Information and application materials are available at http://www.ctsnet.edu/sabbath-study-service or by contacting S3 Project coordinator Sarah Erickson at 404-687-4526 orericksons@CTSnet.edu. Groups will be notified of acceptance by November 1. 

“The project develops support groups, fosters skills and ideas for ministry, and offers opportunity for the development of creative approaches for learning,” Erickson says. Columbia’s role in the project is to provide resources, coaching, structure, and other support to the project’s peer learning groups. A total of 65 groups and 375 individuals have participated in S3 since it began in 2003. This will be the final cohort for this version of the S3 project.

The S3 Project is supported with funding from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., which awarded the seminary the original grant in 2002 and a five-year continuation grant of $648,863 in 2008. “Columbia’s S3 Project was one of the 64 original projects in the Lilly Endowment’s Sustaining Pastoral Excellence initiative,” reports Erickson. “S3 provides a way to sustain pastoral leaders and contribute to the growing body of knowledge about the importance of peer learning and clergy excellence.”

Columbia Theological Seminary shares a commitment of "educating imaginative, resilient leaders for God's changing world." As an educational institution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Columbia is a community of theological inquiry and formation for ministry in the service of the Church of Jesus Christ. Columbia offers seven graduate degree programs and dozens of lifelong learning courses and events as a resource for church professionals and lay people.