Funding renewed for pastor residency program

DALLAS — The Lilly Endowment has awarded Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas, a second round of funding for its pastoral residency program. The $850,000 grant will fund another five years of the program that brings recent seminary graduates to Wilshire Baptist for two years of practical training before going to their own pastorates.

Wilshire began its pastoral residency program in 2002 with an $800,000 Lilly grant and has produced three graduates — Jay Hogewood, Ann Bell Worley and Jake Hall. Current pastoral residents are David King, an Anniston native and Samford University graduate; Amy Grizzle, daughter of Ron Grizzle who is pastor of Riverchase Baptist Church, Birmingham; Sean Allen and Andrew Daugherty. Wilshire is one of only 10 congregations nationwide to receive renewal grants in late 2005. Lilly’s Transition-into-Ministry Programs, from which the Wilshire grant derives, “foster on-the-job training for recent seminary graduates in order to increase their competence and confidence for pastoral ministry,” explained Wilshire Senior Pastor George Mason.