Grant permits Diocese of Eastern PA to initiate Clergy Peer Learning Groups
Clergy Peer Learning Groups will become a reality within the Diocese of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania this coming year thanks to a $25,000.00 grant awarded by the Pastoral Excellence Network [PEN]. The Clergy Peer Learning Program—Honoring Orthodox Pastoral Excellence [HOPE]—builds upon a preexisting diocesan endeavor that had brought active priests together for mutual support, learning, and personal growth.
“The PEN grant will expand this program of building peer communities of practice from an initial group into a resource available for all diocesan clergy who wish to participate,” said His Eminence, Archbishop Mark. “Additionally, the HOPE program will permit the initiation of clergy wives peer groups, offering them the same opportunities for shared support, personal interaction, and health.”
While the HOPE program is an initiative of the Diocese, the grant money allows clergy and clergy wives from other jurisdictions in the area to join in the peer group experience.
“Doing so adds the strengthening element of diversity to the program and helps build healthy bonds among priests and priests’ wives of all Orthodox jurisdictions laboring on the front lines of parish ministry,” Archbishop Mark added.
The program was launched on Monday, September 28, 2015 at the Clergy Continuing Education gathering at Holy Trinity Church, Pottstown, PA. A HOPE presentation was made by Priest Nathan Preston, Administrator of the Orthodox Church in America’s Pastoral Life Department, and Archpriest Nicholas J. Solak, Administrator of the Diocese’s HOPE Program. Priests from the Diocese who had already experienced the positive benefits of clergy peer learning groups also shared their experiences.
Experienced and trained facilitators are available to the Diocese to begin organizing newly formed Clergy Peer Learning Groups. Dr. Albert Rossi also will be available to begin facilitating the first Clergy Wives Peer Learning Group.
“The application for this grant and the impetus for this program stems from a combined endeavor of the Diocese’s Clergy Continuing Education Program, the OCA’s Department of Continuing Education and the OCA’s recently revived Pastoral Life Department,” continued Archbishop Mark, who also serves as the Department’s Episcopal Liaison.
This spring, Archbishop Mark, Archpriest Ian Pac-Urar and Fathers Nicholas and Nathan travelled to San Francisco to gain a broader understanding of clergy peer groups, the practice that informs them, and the process of their implementation. They also completed training as program facilitators, acquiring a richer understanding of the promise and potential such programs hold in enabling clergy to gather, to grow together, and to work towards goals of health and sustainability in their ministries and lives.
The program is sponsored by the Pastoral Excellence Network, a non-denominational based at Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, IN and funded by the Lilly Foundation for Religion.