Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology is helping build healthier churches through a new initiative aimed at growing leadership from the congregation to the pulpit.
The initiative, funded by a $907,179 grant from the Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, aims to partner with congregations to develop clergy and lay leaders. Lay leaders are congregants who are not ordained but serve their church in leadership roles.
“Congregations are in the best position to know the kind of leadership they need as well as cultivating the leadership among them,” said School of Theology Dean Dr. Greg DeLoach.
Historically, church leadership developed through an individual’s call to ministry. The individual would go away to seminary and graduate ready to pastor a church, said Leah Jackson, LAW ‘05 and DIV ‘12, grant project coordinator for the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative. Jackson currently is pursuing her Doctor of Ministry at Mercer.
“The Theology School is not the only institution that needs to be a part of helping you grow into being ready to walk in your ministry. Your church is a very big part of that — your pastor, your community, your family,” she said. “What we are doing is offering programming that allows the pastors — the churches — to walk with our students while they are in seminary.”
To that end, the School of Theology is offering fellowships through its Center for Calling and Vocation that allow students pursuing a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry to intern at their home church while pursuing their degree.
McAfee student Melissa Lester grew up at Northside Baptist Church in Atlanta. Now, she’s growing into a church leader through the fellowship program. It has allowed her to remain at her church during her studies, receive mentoring from the senior pastor, and take on leadership roles in church.
“Without the fellowship, I wouldn’t be working on a master’s, and I wouldn’t be at Mercer. I wouldn’t be coming into the leadership roles that I am with my church currently,” said Lester, who works full time as vice president of UnCommon Property Realty. She already holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations and journalism from Berry College and an associate’s degree in liberal arts from Young Harris College.
Lester said her pastor’s mentorship has helped inform her studies.
“I really value the mentor luncheons with my pastor because I get to talk more in depth with him about the classes that I’m taking, and I get to ask him more questions about my own interpretations, about how he views it,” she said.
The School of Theology also is offering as part of the grant more ways for students to come together as a community.
McAfee traditionally holds a chapel service on Tuesday afternoons on campus. On some weeks, attendance is stronger than others. Now, the School is planning shorter opportunities three times a week for students and faculty to come together. Plans also are in the works to build community among online students.
“One day between classes, we’re going to have coffee breaks where the students will be able to sit down together with faculty, with staff, with one another for a time of fellowship,” Jackson said. “Another day during the week, we’re going to have a time that’s available for more meditative and devotional time.”
The community-building extends to alumni and churches, including offering continuing education through the school and the Baugh Center for Baptist Leadership. McAfee also offers peer support to alumni by sponsoring group attendance at conferences across the nation, and the school has a media and streaming lab that is open to all its stakeholders.
McAfee also is looking at how it can better serve diverse populations. In recent years, the School has seen enrollment growth among Black women and students who are more theologically conservative, for example.
“We want to be intentional about how we develop community that is meaningful for all students and push all of our students to the next level in their ministry,” Jackson said.
The McAfee Circle was created to foster relationships among the school’s Black, female students.
Black women face unique struggles in ministry, and the group has been an amazing support, said Yamileh Barnett, who graduated in 2024 with a Doctor of Ministry in pastoral care and chaplaincy.
“It’s helpful to know that we’re not experiencing these things individually,” she said. “In addition to holding each other up and holding each other accountable, we offer each other opportunities. I can’t even tell you how many opportunities have been offered to me simply by engaging in this group.”
The School of Theology is now halfway through the four-year grant.
“Theological education in general is going through great, great change. Local churches are going through great, great change,” Dr. DeLoach said. “Rather than worrying about what was, the grant truly is giving us an opportunity to reimagine possibilities. Grants like this one give us some latitude to be creative. The future of theological education is going to rest on creativity, adaptability and imagination.”
