Discover a wealth of resources to support your journey with the Clergy Renewal Program. Whether you’re interested in learning more about the program, seeking a renewal grant, or a current grant recipient looking for CRP forms and documents, this page offers valuable insights and tools to guide you.
Already excited about the prospect of a renewal grant? Click the button below to navigate directly to the application section.
Why Clergy Renewal Program?
Make Your Heart Sing – The CRP Experience from a Grant Recipient’s Perspective
Application Tips and FAQs
The 2025 Requests for Proposals (RFPs) linked below serve as sample materials that provide a full description of the program including eligibility requirements, program parameters, selection criteria, and the proposal writing and submission process. Please review the appropriate RFP thoroughly. Each one includes important instructions, required forms, and the proposal questions. Be sure to select the appropriate links below.
Clergy renewal programs may take many forms. No specific model is prescribed since renewal will look different depending on the unique circumstances of each congregation and pastor. However, congregations that have implemented their own clergy renewal programs may offer helpful insights into the process of planning renewal.
Determining the right time for a renewal program requires discernment. Some past participants in the Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Programs’ grants have shared their reflections on how they thought about the timing of their renewal programs:
Repairing vs. Renewing
Lay Leadership & the Right Time
Timing & Groundwork
Planning, communicating, managing expectations, and many other preparations may happen in the time leading up to the renewal leave, itself. Some past grant participants have discussed with us what their preparations and groundwork consisted in, how well those preparations did (or didn’t) work, and what advice they have for congregations that are preparing for their own renewal programs:
Preparing Congregations
Laying Groundwork
Getting Ready
Possible renewal programs may include an uninterrupted period for reading and writing, directed research at a theological school, a study trip to religious sites or travel for other purposes in the United States or elsewhere in the world, quiet time for rest and prayer, and special visits with family and friends. They may also include time to “lean in” to an issue in ministry about which the pastor and the congregation are passionate. The possibilities are many. Some past grant participants have shared with us what pastor and congregation did with their renewal time, why they structured their renewal in the way they did, and what advice they have for others who are planning renewal times:
Pastoral Experience
Congregational Renewal
What Renewal Leave Looks Like
Structuring Renewal Leave Time
Strengthening relationships, renewing a sense of call, meeting and serving the neighbor in a new way, finding joy and purpose in a simplified life, traveling to new lands and unfamiliar territories, creating opportunities where members of the congregation can exercise their gifts for ministry— life-giving experiences like these are common aspects of renewal times. Profound discoveries that pastors and their congregations describe as
“life-changing events” occur as they participate in this program. Past grant participants have spoken with us about how they returned from the renewal experiences, ways they carried forward their learnings and practices, and how they’ve come to recognize the gifts that came from the renewal time:
Sustaining the Impact
The Fruit of Renewal Leave
Here you can explore all videos related to the Clergy Renewal Program.
2023 Clergy Renewal Information Webinar
Make Your Heart Sing: Rev. Karen Hernandez Granzen and Westminster Presbyterian Church
2023 Clergy Renewal Programs Information Webinar
Clergy Renewal Programs: Grant Recipient Bishop Claude Alexander Shares Insights from His Sabbatical
Clergy Renewal Programs: Healthy Pastor, Healthy Congregation, Healthy Community
PROGRAMA DE RENOVACION PASTORAL - Marco Teológico Para el Tiempo Sabático
PROGRAMA DE RENOVACION PASTORAL
Listen to a series of interviews with past grant recipients as they discuss their renewal grant experiences.
© 2024 Christian Theological Seminary. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy
