Pastors plan to use Lilly grants to research, relax, travel

Here are responses from some of the United Methodist pastors (in alpha order) who received Lilly renewal grants this summer.

Russell Allanson, pastor of The Promise UMC in Fishers, said his reaction to receiving the grant was "Elation! We've been working on this as a congregation, and it has given us yet one more sense of success and blessing!"

"There are three foci of my leave. The first is study," he told Together. "I will study cutting edge worship at churches that do that well. That will include reading, visits (to Ginghamsburg UMC, Granger Community Church, Willow Creek Community Church and others), conversation and experience.

"The second is connecting deeper with the tradition. I will continue my study of John Wesley and the early Methodists (in England).

"The third is really primary. It is reconnection with my family. All ministry done well is stressful, but it appears church planting is some of the most stressful. I understand this because it is a relentless, never-ending schedule that can, and often does, consume everything. While I've experienced these stresses, the approach of my wife and I has been one of ministering from God's strength and not from our strength. So, this third focus is to connect with my wife and children on an even deeper level. This will include an extended time of camping (to and from Banff and Jasper National Parks, in Canada) and even a cruise."

Allanson's leave will begin in June 2006.

Robert Coleman, pastor of Methodist Temple UMC in Evansville, told Together, "Since I had just received a stint in one artery that had a 95 percent blockage, the surprise did not cause a heart attack. My wife Joyce and I are very pleased and excited. The timing is a double blessing."

He said his grant will be used, "for relaxation and renewal through travel and photography. This will be coordinated with many opportunities to use photography and art expression of faith in the local church."

While he is on the road, he said his members in Evansville "will be given opportunities to display their photography, improve technical skills and better understand faith expression through the visual arts."

Coleman plans to begin his leave in summer 2006 focusing in the northwest Canada and Alaska, plus the British Isles.

Andrea Leininger, pastor of Bethel UMC in Indianapolis, said she was shocked, thrilled and overjoyed at receiving the renewal grant. Not able to sleep the night after the announcement, at 4 a.m. she said she lit a candle, put on music and did a sacred dance to God. She then woke her husband, the Rev. Harold Leininger a retired pastor, and they took a walk at sunrise.

She told Together, "The grant will permit us to 'Journey with God.' We will travel to New Mexico, France, Italy and Ghana for multi-cultural experiences of God. At the same time I experience these worship experiences, Bethel will do the same. Pastors and choirs of diverse cultural and spiritual practice will lead our worship on four different Sundays.

"While in Ghana working as a volunteer chaplain at the Ankaase Methodist Faith Healing Hospital, Harold and I will experience an African worship experience. On the same Sunday Bethel will have an African or African/American pastor with an African choir. In this way Bethel will be enabled to experience new and meaningful forms of worship as a way to understand, experience, appreciate and learn about other ways to enjoy God, and then create some new opportunities to Pike Township which is the most diverse township in the state of Indiana." All this and more is scheduled to begin Aug. 1.

Derek Weber, pastor of First UMC in Anderson, said he felt both joy and relief when he had received word of his grant. He told Together that he vacillated between confidence that he would receive it and fear that he had set up a program that wouldn't meet the requirements of the sponsors. He said, "The money will be used to fund some travel and living expenses for me and some for my family. My wife and I adopted two children from Korea and now we are taking them back to that country for a time of reconnection to those roots. The largest portion of the expense is this trip, which will take place at the beginning of the sabbatical.

"The second most expensive part is a trip to Great Britain, where my wife and I lived for over five years while I served in the British Methodist Church and later while I completed my Ph.D. We made many friends and had many experiences that we would like to share with our children. I also have a couple of personal fact-finding trips scattered throughout the time."

The Webers will begin all this in July 2006 and return before the end of October. The time begins in Korea, and includes time in Indiana, Tennessee, Texas, Great Britain (England and Scotland), Kansas City and Ohio.

Last updated on 25 Apr 2008

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