We encourage and equip leaders to take spiritual and social responsibility for their neighbors and neighborhoods.
Schedule a conversation or download questionnaire to apply.
PARTICIPATION
By participating in the LEADER COHORT you will cultivate:
1. A deeper sense of the importance of the place you are from and the place you are in
2. A perspective of Scripture, the incarnation of Jesus, and the early Church grounded in geography
3. A framework to see place as the creative context for worship, formation, and mission
4. A connection to a capacity building and life-enriching community of leaders
“Leaders do three things: bear pain, build trust, bring hope.”
J.R. Briggs
OUTCOMES
Outcome 1: Produce a Genogram
Excavate the foundations of faith and place producing a Genogram to analyze your family of origin and the influences on your spiritual formation and personal practice.
Outcome 2: Craft a Rule of Life
Establish life-giving rhythms by crafting a Rule of Life to encourage your love of neighbor and neighborhood through place-based principles and practices.
Outcome 3: Develop a Neighborhood Study
Evaluate the unique DNA of the place you live by developing a Neighborhood Study to assess the histories, assets, needs, threats, and opportunities in your specific geographic context.
Outcome 4: Create a Parish Plan
Create a comprehensive Parish Plan with a strategy (infrastructure) to achieve an articulated vision (imagination) to cultivate spiritual and social responsibility for your neighbors and neighborhood.
LEARNING
The LEADER COHORT is designed to learn at a patient pace. Each cohort includes 6-8 participants. The cohort combines a multimodal approach to learning including: discussions, individual reflection, shared practices, neighborhood tours, and weekend retreats.
The learning framework for the LEADER COHORT is:
CONTENT | Cohort Meal & Meeting
REFLECTION | Individual Reflection & Practice
CONVERSATION | 1:1 Cohort Conversation
COMMUNITY | Cohort Meal & Meeting
“Courage requires the willingness to lean into uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. If we can’t handle uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure in a way that aligns with our values we can’t lead.”
Brené Brown
CALENDAR
The LEADER COHORT is designed for meaningful connection.
Cohort Meeting & Meal | 3 hours a month (one Friday a month, 8:30-11:30am)
Individual Reflection & Practice | 3 hours a month
Cohort Participant Conversation | 1 hour a month
Cohort Retreats | 4 days a year (Spring & Fall)
FINANCE
The total financial investment for the LEADER COHORT for 2023 - 2024 is:
$2,000 | Individual tuition for each participant ($165 per month)
$10,000| Scholarship tuition for each participant from individuals, congregations, and organizations.
The $12,000 annual cost covers all program expenses including: reading materials, meals, accommodations and meals at two retreats.
Financial Support & Scholarships
Do not let program cost be an obstacle. Financial support may be available from employers (as professional development) or churches (through a mission committee). Scholarships are available for those with financial need.
“Wisdom is the art of living skillfully in whatever actual conditions we find ourselves.”
Eugene Peterson
PROFILE
This profile is descriptive, not prescriptive, for participants in the LEADER COHORT.
BEGINNING COHORT
Colorado | You consider Colorado home. It is not a place you are passing through. You are not overwhelmed or offended by the rugged individualism of the “Wild West”.
Character | You want to cultivate an integrated life. You desire to practice a life: UP toward abiding with God; IN toward personal health; OUT toward meaningful relational connection; and DOWN to be rooted in your neighborhood.
Calling | You have a sense of purpose to guide, love, and lead those who want to follow the Way of Jesus.
Competency | You have led people either in a church, para-church, ministry, or camp context. You have a desire to facilitate growth in the faith of others.
Culture | You know your neighbors and enjoy your neighborhood. You want to be a part of an organization that is marked by creativity, risk, and celebration.
Creativity | You see opportunity in challenges. You are energized by seeking out creative solutions to problems. You are motivated to explore new models of the Church.
Chemistry | You are aware of how you relate with others. You are committed to learn from others.
Capacity | You have assessed the time and energy required to the process of learning to lead an expression of the Church in and for your neighborhood
COMPLETING COHORT
Colorado | You are a learning to embrace and appreciate the unique challenges of leading others in Denver. You desire to reshape the rugged individualism into resilient collaboration.
Character | You have established practices: UP toward a life with God; IN toward mental, emotional, and physical health; OUT toward relational connection; and DOWN toward a rooted mission to love your neighbors and neighborhood.
Calling | You have a clear “telos” to serve, love, and lead your neighbors who want to follow the Way of Jesus.
Competency | You can articulate how your skills, giftedness, and experiences can be leveraged on behalf of others. You can confidently build the volunteer and financial support for the work you lead.
Culture | Your neighbors and neighborhood see you as a contributor and collaborator of good. You have and share inspiring stories of creativity, risk, and celebration.
Creativity | You see the unique opportunities and challenges in your neighborhood. Your unique methods help your neighbors who want to follow the Way of Jesus.
Chemistry | You can lead people who are not like you. You can listen and learn from others.
Capacity | You have rhythms of life to lead and love others from a place of rest.
The LEADER COHORT is an initiative of The Sacred Grace to encourage and equip leaders to take spiritual and social responsibility for their neighbors and neighborhoods.