In 2025, Leadership Education awarded 39 Reflective Leadership Grants to lay and ordained Christian leaders.
This grant program provided up to $15,000 to step away from their current work to reflect on accomplishments, broaden perspectives and discern next steps.
These leaders serve in a range of roles, from project director to senior administrator, and work in a variety of organizations, including denominations, seminaries, church-related colleges, consultancies, congregations, Christian non-profits, Christian social enterprises and others.
Provided are brief summary descriptions of grantees' central focus during their grant period.
Learn more about Reflective Leadership Grants here.
Watts Street Baptist Church
Durham, NC
Engaging a season of reflection to distill decades of experience into equity-based frameworks — bridging tradition and innovation to equip justice-centered leaders for transformative institutional change.
Bethany UCC
Chicago, IL
Creating space to grieve, reflect, and reconnect — integrating pastoral transition, creative ministry, and storytelling into a renewed vocation rooted in healing, embodiment, and faithful imagination.
The Navigators
Colorado Springs, CO
Preparing for expanded executive leadership — engaging reflection to build capacity, lead through organizational restructure, and steward newly integrated teams with strategic vision, clarity, and care.
Eusebeia
Warrington, PA
Embracing vocational ministry through rest, reflection, and renewal — integrating past experience with spiritual clarity to lead Eusebeia’s transition from volunteer-led vision to sustainable, mission-driven impact.
The Presbytery of Tropical Florida
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Creating space to reflect and reset — aligning personal vocation with emerging ministry demands to faithfully lead amid competing priorities and guide the development corporation into sustainable fruition.
Princeton Theological Seminary
Skillman, NJ
Engaging intentional reflection to renew vocational integrity, refine strategy, and model sustainable leadership—strengthening the Center for Asian American Christianity’s impact and future direction.
Galileo Christian Church
Mansfield, TX
Exploring sustainable leadership through reflection, rest, and renewal — integrating advocacy, caregiving, and spiritual grounding to faithfully lead justice work with resilience, clarity, and courageous compassion.
Iskali
Stone Park, IL
Stepping back to gain clarity and perspective — refining leadership structure and strategy to sustain Iskali’s growth while deepening its mission of empowering young Latino faith leaders.
Archdiocese of Newark
Fair Lawn, NJ
A shift toward Spirit-led, communal leadership to enable integration of transformational practices, equip leaders to navigate adaptive change, and guide systemic renewal within a complex pastoral landscape.
Carmel Presbyterian Church
Warrington, PA
Reflecting on a formative chaplaincy career to discern a faithful next chapter — integrating lived wisdom into future leadership and deepening partnership with the Carmel Presbyterian community.
North Park Theological Seminary
Chicago, IL
Engaging strategic reflection to guide Seminary-University integration — strengthening faculty collaboration, expanding hybrid cohorts, and developing 3+2 pathways that align with emerging opportunities in theological education.
Hope for San Diego
San Diego, CA
Planning for legacy and growth—aligning personal transition with organizational succession and scaling Hope for San Diego’s impact through deeper church partnerships and visionary, sustainable leadership.
Living Stones Church
Boston, MA
Exploring and expanding a vocational discernment framework to empower emerging Latine leaders — deepening Living Stones’ ministry and catalyzing faith-rooted influence across neighborhoods, networks, and generations.
Northwest Washington Synod
Renton, WA
Shifting from entrepreneurial launch to strategic discernment — renewing vocational clarity and theological grounding to sustain, adapt, and expand lay formation through the evolving LiVE Project.
The Row LA: The Church Without Walls
Los Angeles, CA
Reflecting on rapid growth to realign leadership, structure, and strategy — maximizing new opportunities in ministry, social enterprise, and community impact for sustainable transformation in Skid Row.
Stars: Illuminate, Educate, Advocate
Arcadia, CA
Discerning sustainable, innovative, and collaborative strategies that support mental, emotional, and spiritual thriving amid long-term fire recovery and rebuilding in Altadena/Pasadena.
California Prestige University
Santa Fe Springs, CA
Stepping back to reimagine leadership—aligning vocational calling with institutional transformation through study, discernment, and renewal to guide California Prestige University toward faithful, sustainable impact.
Messiah United Methodist Church
Alexandria, VA
Discerning a call by deepening creative arts engagement—shaping an intergenerational, healing-centered vision that roots spiritual formation in wonder, connection, and communal grace.
The Emmanuel Gospel Center
Dorchester, MA
Discerning a new season — integrating teaching, pastoral care, and prophetic witness through reflection and prayer to realign vision, vocation, and courageous leadership amid challenging times.
A Rocha USA
Wheaton, IL
A season of strategic renewal enables healing and reflection, aligning individual transformation with organizational retooling for sustainable mission amid internal pressures, societal disruption, and environmental upheaval.
Consensus Council
Bismarck, ND
Cultivating prophetic imagination through strategic reflection — discerning personal calling and organizational direction amid shifting political landscapes and funding threats to sustain restorative justice and consensus-building work.
Hope Center of Disciples Church (Formerly Christian Life Center)
Blue Island, IL
A season of reflective leadership clarifies how to scale impact with integrity — blending spiritual depth and strategic vision while anchoring growth in mission, rest, and discernment.
The Family and Marriage Institute of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Embracing a sacred pivot — engaging intentional reflection to gain strategic, spiritual, and emotional clarity for guiding trauma-informed, faith-rooted relational care into its next transformative season.
Mexican American Catholic College
San Antonio, TX
Shifting from crisis response to visionary leadership — reflecting on 25 years of priesthood to discern and develop the skills needed for MACC’s next season of growth.
Northeastern Minnesota Synod, ELCA
Duluth, MN
Creating space for vocational discernment during episcopal transition — seeking clarity, courage, and spiritual grounding to determine the next most faithful step in leadership and service.
Cascades Presbyterian Church
Camas, WA
Engaging spiritual practices, coaching, and peer learning to reflect on two decades of ministry — preparing for a faithful leadership transition and discerning new post-retirement possibilities.
Franciscan School of Theology
San Diego, CA
Engaging study and reflection to strengthen academic leadership — building faculty cohesion, advancing ministerial formation, and envisioning innovative approaches to guide a growing theological school into the future.
Awakenings, Inc
Houston, TX
Engaging a reflective pause to deepen global, BIPOC-centered contemplative work—clarifying vision, structure, and sustainability through listening, spiritual inquiry, and commitment to belonging over urgency.
American Baptist Home Mission Societies
King of Prussia, PA
A season of strategic discernment to refresh leadership development with theologies and understandings of contemporary issues of injustice and human divisions to equip faith leaders fostering intercultural beloved community.
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Lilburn, GA
Stepping back to heal, grow, and realign — strengthening leadership and fundraising capacity while reclaiming spiritual grounding to lead strategic change with clarity, sustainability, and renewed wholeness.
Fuller Theological Seminary
Pasadena, CA
Equipping emerging Black Christian leaders to catalyze church renewal, confront systemic injustice, and foster flourishing communities through discipleship, advocacy, and the transformative mission of the Black church.
The Lovewell Collective, LLC
Marietta, GA
Developing an integrative clergy wellness framework — translating pastoral, clinical, and consulting experience into a sustainable model that equips clergy to prevent burnout and reimagine healthy ministry.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
Minneapolis, MN
Transitioning from crisis response to sustainable ministry — integrating trauma-informed wisdom, theological reflection, and community-rooted models to reimagine pastoral leadership shaped by disruption, resilience, and collective transformation.
Missio Alliance
Henrico, VA
Leveraging time to reflect, realign, and reimagine — discerning strategic priorities and sustainable models that deepen Missio Alliance’s mission amid shifting cultural and ecclesial landscapes.
The Mom Community
Atlanta, GA
Investing in sustainable leadership and wellness — equipping the Executive Director to guide The Mom Community’s growth with clarity, infrastructure, and wholeness to support young families.
St. Andrew's Lutheran Church
San Diego, CA
Centering self amid leadership transition — cultivating resilience, clarity, and vision to guide St. Andrew’s forward with heart, creativity, and renewed commitment to community healing and hope.
Saint Ambrose Episcopal Church
Raleigh, NC
Integrating African Christian traditions on ancestral land to nurture faith, justice, and diaspora connections rooted in generational ministry.
Prairie Lutheran Church
Maple Grove, MN
Strengthening leadership capacity and congregational culture — developing sustainable models for shared ministry, lay empowerment, and stewardship to meet the challenges of a changing church context.
Qurious Theologian Academy
Chesapeake, VA
Pausing to realign leadership and strategy — building sustainable, justice-centered models for Qurious Theologian Academy, grounded in spiritual wholeness, rest, and visionary ministry.