Serve Clergy
Sustaining Pastoral Excellence
Grants to help you rest, grow, and flourish in ministry.
Sustaining Pastoral Excellence grants are available to Covenant pastors, global personnel, and chaplains who satisfy the eligibility requirements and follow the application process outlined below. We encourage you to review the requirements before applying.
Qualified ministers may apply for a grant in three areas — read on to find the one that fits where you are.
Character
Spiritual Direction & Coaching
Deepening our Christ-defined identity.
“O Lord, you are our father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” — Isaiah 64:8
Our character as Christians — and as ministers — is rooted in a Christ-defined identity that recognizes God’s work in every area of our lives. Through Sustaining Pastoral Excellence, we connect Covenant pastors, global personnel, and chaplains with resources to grow that connection and deepen their friendship with God, often through the ministry of spiritual direction or coaching.
Up to two grants can be used in one calendar year to defray the cost of spiritual direction or coaching using the COACH® model. Application submissions are considered as they are received.
Spiritual Direction
$500Sustaining Pastoral Excellence offers grant funding for Covenant pastors, global personnel, and chaplains to explore spiritual direction for their own lives. Click here to find a trained spiritual director in your regional conference.
Find a Spiritual Director →Covenant Coaching
$500Covenant Coaches comes alongside leaders like you to promote discovery, foster clarity, and empower you to create action steps that will move you forward in your work and life. Covenant coaches trained in the COACH Model® stand ready to coach as part of cohorts or in personalized conversation on topics, opportunities, and challenges you choose.
Find a Covenant Coach →Competence
Personal Learning & Sabbatical Grants
Resourcing lifelong learners in ministry.
Remaining sharp in pastoral ministry requires one to be a lifelong learner. By providing resources to those in ministry for development in preaching, leading, teaching, and caring we aim to encourage Covenant pastors, missionaries, and chaplains on this journey.
Personal Learning Experiences
$500Available for self-selected opportunities to enhance growth in the pastoral arts of preaching, leading, teaching, and caring. Applications are considered as they are received.
Apply Here →Sabbatical Grants
$1,000Covenant pastors, global personnel, and chaplains can apply for a grant toward their sabbatical. These grants of up to $1,000 are available matching the amount offered by your church or ministry context — for a total of up to $2,000.
Apply Here →Walking Together
A Year of Intentional Community
$750 per personThe Walking Together grant supports five to seven Covenant colleagues for a year together in trustworthy community, sharing Christian life in a sacred space. The grant offers up to $5,250 for one year ($750 per participant, up to seven), plus an additional $500 honorarium for the convener. The intentional community may decide among themselves how best to utilize and distribute the funds according to the required categories outlined below.
Apply Here →Caminando Juntos
Un Año de Comunidad Intencional
$750 por personaEsta subvención Caminando Juntos brindará apoyo económico a cinco y hasta siete colegas que compartirán juntos durante un año, formando una comunidad de confianza y viviendo su fe cristiana en un espacio sagrado. La subvención ofrece hasta $5,250 por un año ($750 por participante, hasta siete), más un honorario adicional de $500 para el convocante. Los participantes pueden decidir entre ellos cómo utilizar y distribuir los fondos, dentro de las categorías requeridas que se describen a continuación.
Solicite Aquí →Constancy
Spiritual Renewal Retreats
Space to renew your friendship with God.
“Be still and know that I am God…” — Psalm 46:10
Deeper In Christ Retreat
The Deeper In Christ retreat experience is designed for those in ministry who are seeking to renew their friendship with God, reignite their pastoral imagination, and explore their call in a deeper way. Pastors, chaplains, and global personnel who would like to spend five days in reflection, prayer, spiritual direction, and worship are invited to apply to attend this re-visioning retreat. There are two retreats offered per year, with a maximum of ten participants per retreat.
October 4–9, 2026
Trinity Retreat Center
West Cornwall, Connecticut
Those who are selected to participate will receive a Sustaining Pastoral Excellence grant, which includes all expenses for the retreat experience, including registraiton, logdging, food and materials as well as a travel reimbursement of up to $600 for transportation to and from the retreat location.
Application Deadline: August 24, 2026
Apply Here →Self-Selected Renewal Retreats
- Up to $500 is available for personal retreats designed for Covenant ministers who feel the need to spend three to seven days in retreat, prayer, and study
- An outline of the retreat components, including desired outcomes, will need to accompany the grant application
- Application submissions are considered as they are received
Application Process
Qualifications & How to Apply
Everything you need before you submit.
Qualifications
Pastors, global personnel, and chaplains who are eligible for Sustaining Pastoral Excellence funding will demonstrate the following qualifications:
- Actively serving in a Covenant church or ministry setting with at least two years of ministry experience
- Currently holding an active Covenant credential (this includes Covenant ministers holding a bi-vocational license who have completed the Vocational Excellence class — ministers with retired credentials are not eligible)
- In good standing with the Covenant Ministerium, including the payment of conference and national ministerial dues for at least the last two years
- Applicants may receive up to two grants in a calendar year, with a lifetime cap of five grants
Eligibility
Unless otherwise specified, grants are only available for credentialed Covenant clergy. All persons using grant funds for an event must meet this criterion. Grants are not able to provide funding for a non-clergy person and/or a clergy spouse.
Complete applications for self-selected grant opportunities will be considered as they are received.
Grant award decisions will be sent via email as listed on your application. If you are approved, you will receive notification within twenty-one days of the application deadline. If your grant request is denied, your letter will include specifics as to why it could not be approved.
We hope that you will fully enjoy the experience for which you are receiving a grant, and that you will connect deeply with Jesus during that time, whatever it is.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Sustaining Pastoral Excellence initiative is now offering grants of up to $1,000 for a sabbatical. The grant amount matches the amount offered by your church or ministry context, for a total of up to $2,000. There are also other agencies, such as Lilly's Pastoral Renewal program, that fund sabbaticals for pastors.
Yes! Groups of five to seven applicants can apply for a Walking Together grant.
Sustaining Pastoral Excellence is designed to enhance the growth and work of credentialed Covenant pastors. It does not include resources for spouses or lay leaders.
The targets of Sustaining Pastoral Excellence do not provide resources for degree or certificate programs.
The grant deadlines for self-selected interactions are ongoing. All Covenant-created opportunities have a posted registration deadline for a specific event. Applications for these interactions must be received by the stated deadline. A response will be given to all applicants within a 21-day period after the pre-designated deadline.
Applicants may receive up to two grants in a calendar year, with a lifetime cap of five grants.
Our Partners
Made Possible By
A denomination-wide effort to sustain pastoral excellence.
The Sustaining Pastoral Excellence initiative exists as the result of the generosity of a variety of agencies. It takes a denomination-wide effort to develop the kind of culture that will sustain pastoral excellence. Working together, we can encourage pastors, global personnel, and chaplains to flourish in their relationship with Christ, which will enhance our common ministry for the sake of the kingdom.
Lilly Endowment, Inc.
The Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Initiative began in 2004 with a generous award from the Lilly Endowment, followed by a second grant in 2008 for the Covenant's continued work.
Learn More →Individual Donors
Individuals and family foundations support the development of pastoral and mission leaders in the Covenant. Gifts flow directly to our ministerial community and may be designated for spiritual direction, learning opportunities, or renewal retreats.
Donate Here →Covenant Ministerium
The Covenant Ministerium provides generous, ongoing support to the initiative through a portion of the dues paid each year by pastors, chaplains, and missionaries.
Learn More →
