This is part one of a two-part series on ordination at Redeemer. The next post will include an interview featuring several Redeemer members who are currently pursuing ordination.

In 2018, under the guidance of our Rector, Alan Hawkins, I launched the Center for Pastoral Formation (CPF) as a ministry arm of the Abbey here at Church of the Redeemer. The mission of the CPF is to help lay people discern their call into ministry and equip them for full participation in the faith-filled ministry of Christ within the parish of Church of the Redeemer.

Central to this initiative is the wholehearted conviction that the parish (our local church) is the best training ground for leadership and pastoral formation, In other words, the parish is a school for the Lord’s service. For this reason, the goal of the Center for Pastoral Formation is to prepare all aspiring and current ministers and clergy for the diverse, complex, and fruitful ministry of the local church for today and tomorrow. To accomplish this goal of forming ministers and clergy, the Center for Pastoral Formation currently focuses on the following integrated components:

• Spiritual/pastoral formation

• Biblical, liturgical, and theological education

• Pastoral mentorship and collaborative learning

• Lay and ministerial service

Since 2018 I have had the blessed opportunity to walk alongside key leaders who have and continue to play a vital role in the life of our parish. Over the course of the past year our diocese has been gradually transitioning into a deanery system to ensure that clergy and emerging clergy leaders within our diocese are better equipped for vocational ministry. At the beginning of this year I accepted the call to serve as the Director for Leadership Formation within the Triad Deanery (of which our parish is a part) of our diocese. What this entails is that the CPF now has a wider reach beyond our local church. It also means that the four integrated components (listed above) are officially aligned with all diocesan leadership formation guidelines for those seeking ordination in our diocese. As the Center for Pastoral Formation continues to develop, I invite you to pray for and with me as I walk alongside these women and men, that God will be glorified in our lives along the road to and beyond ordination.

Fr. Benjamin