Beatitude Fellowship

The Beatitude Society is “a national progressive Christian leadership development organization that equips emerging entrepreneurial faith leaders.  The Beatitude Society is committed to creating new models for vibrant church life and the pursuit of social justice…to the welcoming and inclusive love of God expressed in the words and actions of Jesus; we are Christian at our roots and multi-faith in our reach.”

We’re thrilled that one of our pastors, Matt Smith, was selected as one of the seven inaugural Beatitude Fellows.  The fellowship is designed to equip a select group of emerging faith leaders under the age of 40 “with the resources and relationships that empower them to create new models of church and the pursuit of social justice.”

Learn more about The Beatitude Society here.

The Beatitude Fellowship provides

• A $10,000 award
• A yearlong series of quarterly Fellows’ gatherings in Berkeley, CA
• Customized resources and advisors: how to choose and work with coaches, mentors and other leaders in a widening network of resources
• Evaluation and strategic planning: how to figure out what each Fellow needs in their ministry, from the tangible (people, money, time) to the intangible (faith, hope, courage)
• Teaching, preaching, and story-telling workshops: how to tell the story of your innovative ministry project
• Community-building workshops: how to engage your congregation in change
• Sustaining spiritual formation: how to lead from within, incorporating the practices and principles of deep listening, creating hospitable spaces, holding the tensions of paradox, developing a spirit of inquiry

The financial award and year-long formation with other emerging faith leaders will help our community as we begin to envision and develop a new worship gathering in the coming year.  We look forward to sharing more in the next few weeks about this next step in our efforts to root our lives in Grace, grow in faith, and reach in love.