As one pastor once quipped,
“ministry loves company.”
The bridge from seminary into ordained ministry can be complex to navigate, and the Bridge to Ministry cohort is here to accompany you as you cross this threshold with colleagues who understand the unique joys and challenges of your first years in pastoral leadership.
Bridge to Ministry is designed to support new clergy as they move from theological education into their first call, helping them grow into confident, grounded, and faithful pastoral leaders. The program cultivates a community of collegial support where early-career ministers can share wisdom, ask honest questions without fear, and build relationships that sustain them in the daily realities of congregational ministry.
The cohort provides structured opportunities for spiritual formation, practical leadership development, and guided reflection—equipping pastors with the tools they need to lead with courage, compassion, and clarity. Through monthly virtual gatherings, the guidance of a seasoned facilitator, and an annual in-person retreat, participants deepen their spiritual practices, strengthen their pastoral identity, and gain essential skills for effective and sustainable ministry.
Our aim is to nurture resilient, reflective, and well-supported clergy who can serve their communities with integrity, creativity, and hope.
Sarah Allen
Sarah serves on the faculty of Austin Seminary as Associate Dean of Ministerial Formation and Advanced Studies and is the Borders and Bridges Grant Director. Prior to joining the seminary, she served as Pastor for Children, Youth, and Families at First Presbyterian Church of Austin, Texas, from 2007–2021. During this long and fruitful season of ministry, Sarah experienced firsthand the invaluable gift of clergy cohorts. She continues to be a proud member of the PSW clergywomen cohort, a community of clergywomen who support one another’s calls, dreams, questions, joys, and laments, and who have faithfully journeyed together for more than a decade.
An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Sarah is passionate about equipping faithful leaders for sustainable ministry. She serves the wider church as a retreat leader, curriculum writer, and summer camp chaplain.
Sarah and her husband, Cam, are the proud parents of three fabulous children. Together they make up the “Sloth Hiking Team,” delighting in long—if slow—hikes through God’s beautiful creation. Sarah also loves curling up with a good book, leading energizers, enjoying an ice cream cone, and dancing hip-hop—poorly, but with great joy.
Grant Director
In Sarah’s first years of ministry, fresh out of seminary, she found herself elbow-deep in challenges she had never encountered in the classroom. What do you do when you discover that your congregation’s beloved Mother’s Day Out program is no longer eligible for a childcare licensing exemption? How do you faithfully balance the demands of ministry with the realities of parenthood? She wondered who she could call—someone who would understand both the deep fulfillment she experienced as a pastor and the aching loneliness she sometimes carried.
Years later, Sarah and other clergywomen formed a cohort that continues to thrive to this day, offering exactly the kind of support she once longed for. When she joined the faculty of Austin Seminary, she and other colleagues at the seminary, began dreaming of how to extend this gift more intentionally, to create a bridge into ministry where newly ordained leaders could gather for support, sustenance, and friendship during the tender and complex early years of pastoral leadership.
That dream took its first form in 2023, when a pilot cohort began meeting monthly with newly ordained clergy. The success of that pilot affirmed the deep need for such accompaniment. The Lilly Endowment grant now represents the fulfillment of this vision: to provide structured, relational, and spiritually grounded support to new clergy as they travel thee bridge from classroom learning into faithful, sustainable ministry.
THANK YOU... it was a truly rejuvenating and inspiring time and I was so grateful to be led by you and in the company of everyone else who attended.
Rachel F
Pastor in Missouri
Who Should Apply for the Bridge to Ministry New Clergy Cohort?
The Bridge to Ministry cohort is designed for newly ordained or newly called ministers who are navigating the transition from seminary into the lived realities of pastoral leadership.
You should consider applying if you are:
In your first call or within your first 1–3 years of ordained ministry
Experiencing the joys of ministry alongside the questions, uncertainties, and growing edges that come with early leadership
Longing for collegial support, honest conversation, and companions who understand both the rewards and the weight of ministry
Open to reflection, shared learning, and mutual encouragement in a cohort setting
Seeking practices that support sustainable, resilient ministry rather than survival alone
This cohort is especially well-suited for ministers who:
Find themselves facing situations they were never fully prepared for in seminary
Desire a trusted space to ask real questions without needing to have all the answers
Want to build relationships that counter isolation and foster long-term vocational health
Believe ministry is not meant to be carried alone
Bridge to Ministry is not a supervision group or a performance-driven program. It is a community of accompaniment—a place to be known, supported, and strengthened as you cross the threshold from classroom learning into faithful practice.
If you are seeking companions for the journey and a place to grow into ministry with honesty, courage, and hope, this cohort may be for you.
Who should apply to serve as a facilitator for the Bridge to Ministry cohort?
Bridge to Ministry facilitators are experienced pastoral leaders who are passionate about accompanying newly ordained ministers as they transition from seminary into the lived realities of ministry. Facilitators are not expected to have all the answers; rather, they serve as skilled guides who create hospitable, reflective, and trustworthy spaces where new clergy can grow in confidence, resilience, and vocational clarity.
Ideal facilitators include:
Ordained ministers with at least seven years of ministry experience and in good standing with their denomination
Leaders with a commitment to sustainable ministry practices, including attention to boundaries, wellness, and vocational longevity
Individuals skilled in group facilitation, active listening, and fostering peer learning rather than directive mentoring
Clergy who value collegiality, confidentiality, and the formation of authentic pastoral relationships
Ministers who are reflective about their own leadership, open to learning alongside others, and grounded in their sense of call
Facilitators should be able to hold space for both the deep joy and the real challenges of ministry—celebrating moments of pastoral fulfillment while also tending to isolation, uncertainty, and fatigue.
Bridge to Ministry facilitators serve not as experts standing apart, but as companions walking alongside new clergy—helping to build the bridge from classroom learning into faithful, resilient ministry.