The Foundation for Evangelism is pleased to announce acceptance of the Grace Spiritual Leadership Academy grant proposal. Key partners with the Foundation in this grant are Craig Robertson of Spiritual Leadership Inc., and Rev. Jorge Acevedo, Lead Pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Coral, Florida and 2009 Distinguished Evangelist of The United Methodist Church.

The proposal begins, “Imagine 1500 United Methodist pastors equipped with the tools to lead a new movement of the Church, leading their local churches to become faithful and fruitful, extending God’s Kingdom into their communities. Imagine pastors loving God and others passionately, learning with generative leaders in their churches and leading with collaborative, healthy and holy teams. This is the God-sized vision of the Grace Spiritual Leadership Academy!”

Download the Case Statement

Early in 2011, the process of establishing relationships with lead churches, developing selection criteria and utilizing these criteria to select participant churches, and fundraising activities will begin.  The grant’s goals and objectives as well as a basic outline of the program to be funded follow:

Goals & Objectives

• To move good leaders with The United Methodist denomination into a new understanding of Spiritual Leadership and community.
• To build transformative environments where accountability for Soul and Mission are coupled with the ability to work and solve adaptive problems.
• Create a movement that affects every aspect of The United Methodist denomination.
• This process has the capacity to influence cultural level or root level changes that address many of the surface level issues that are prefenting health in ministries.

Utilizing the Incubator Process

There are two primary versions of the Incubator Process. The “Train-the-Trainer Incutabor” where leaders are equipped to go and lead their teams through the process and the “Ministry Team Incubator” where and entire team travels through the process together. Both versions:

• Work to build a team of spiritual leaders who are Loving, Learning, and Leading together in covenant
• Create an environment where persons can be and can make disciples.
• Clarify Values, Mission, and Vision (Focus)
• Develop a Ministry Action Plan (MAP) answering:
• • Who are we?
  • Where are we?
  • What is God calling us to do?
  • How do we get there?
• Commit to bringing transformation to both the church and the community by putting the MAP into action.
• Duplicate the process by building generative teams who MAP and implement back home in the local church.

Participants Engage by:

• Holding each other accountable in loving support for spiritual growth, personal piety, leadership development, and community transformation.
• Giving themselves to God in worship, prayer and conversation.
• Learning together about community, following, and leadership
• Becoming or learning how to be a leadership team that tackles a problem together so as to better create a disciple-making faith community.