Why join the Bridge to Ministry Cohort?
Because no one should have to cross into ministry alone.
The first years after seminary are holy—and hard. You arrive in your first call carrying deep hope, real calling, and more responsibility than any classroom could fully prepare you for. You are suddenly navigating hospital rooms, budget meetings, staff conflict, pastoral grief, denominational systems, and your own interior life—all at once.
Bridge to Ministry exists for this very moment.
This cohort is not about fixing you, evaluating you, or shaping you into someone else’s idea of a “successful pastor.” It is about accompanying you as you become the pastor God is already equipping you to be.
A Place to Be Honest
Early ministry can be isolating. You are expected to lead before you feel steady, know before you’ve had time to learn, to be strong when you’re still becoming.
In Bridge to Ministry, you don’t have to perform competence. You can bring your real questions:
Am I doing this right?
Why does this feel so lonely sometimes?
How do I hold joy and exhaustion at the same time?
Who am I becoming as a pastor?
Here, you are met not with judgment or advice, but with peers who understand—because they are living it too.
A Community that Sustains
This cohort is built around relationships. Over monthly online gatherings and an annual in-person retreat, you will come to know a small circle of ministers who walk with you through the highs and lows of early ministry. These are the people who celebrate your first baptism, hold you when a funeral shakes you, and remind you of who you are when you forget.
These are not networking connections.
They are pastoral companions.
Many clergy find that the relationships formed in a cohort become some of the most enduring and life-giving of their ministry.
Thank you so much for the perfect rest retreat in between busy seasons of my life - both personally and professionally. I put my collage up at my home desk and I put my rest bag in my craft basket in my living room and I’m brainstorming things to fill it with.
Savannah G
Pastor in Texas
Formation for Real Life Ministry
Bridge to Ministry weaves together:
Spiritual practices that ground and renew you
Reflective conversation that helps you make meaning of what you are living
Practical wisdom for navigating leadership, boundaries, conflict, and change
Vocational discernment as you grow into your pastoral identity
This is a cohort for pastors who want more than survival.
A Faithful Way to Grow
Bridge to Ministry gives you space to continue learning in community—with people who speak the language of ministry, honor the weight you carry, and believe deeply in your calling.
This is a cohort for pastors who want more than survival.
It is for those who want to build a ministry that is sustainable, faithful, and rooted in joy.
Ministry loves Company
If you are in your first years of ordained ministry and longing for:
A place to be fully yourself
Companions who understand the weight and wonder of this work
Practices that help you stay grounded in faith
A community that walks with you through this threshold
Then Bridge to Ministry may be exactly the support you didn’t know you were allowed to ask for.
