Five-year, $10 million grant-supported project will bring together four schools to enhance support for co-vocational pastors and oral learners.
Corpus Christi (December 10, 2025) – Taking its name from the Latin for “callings,” the newly formed Vocatia Collaborative seeks to encourage and equip a broader range of people to respond to God’s call to congregational leadership by enhancing services to co-vocational pastors and oral-preference learners. Wesley Biblical Seminary (Jackson, Mississippi) will lead this endeavor, joined by Stark College and Seminary (Corpus Christi, Texas), Kingswood University (New Brunswick, Canada), and God’s Bible School and College (Cincinnati, Ohio), along with a number of supporting denominational and educational partners.
The collaborative is being funded by a grant of $10 million through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative. This initiative is designed to help theological schools across the United States and Canada as they prioritize and respond to the most pressing challenges they face as they prepare pastoral leaders for Christian congregations both now and into the future. The grant to WBS is one of 45 that was approved in this competitive round of funding to support theological schools as they lead large-scale collaborations with other seminaries, colleges and universities, and other church-related organizations. The Vocatia Initiative will include two wings–both related to non-traditional learners.
First Wing of Initiative
First, the collaborators will seek to catalyze a movement of co-vocational ministry. Historically, many pastors have served churches bi-vocationally, and trends point to that number increasing. However, there is often an unspoken ideal of “full time” ministry. By promoting co-vocational service as equally valid, Vocatia will help persons who otherwise might not have answered the call to ministry to discern a path to church leadership. At the same time, Vocatia members will develop courses to address challenges related to co-vocational service to help both pastors and congregations find healthy ways of doing ministry together.
“We continue to celebrate and serve those called to full-time vocational ministry,” WBS President Andy Miller explained, “but co-vocational ministry has the potential to be more sustainable in many contexts, as well as creating opportunities for marketplace evangelism and lay leadership.”
Second Wing of Initiative
The second wing of Vocatia will be strengthening support for oral-preference learners. While traditional academia stresses learning by reading and writing, many students prefer learning through discussion, storytelling, and active collaboration. This proportion is increasing as cultural changes have shifted digital natives toward audiovisual media. By incorporating teaching methods designed for oral cultures, seminaries can serve a broader array of students, as well as equipping pastors to better serve the oral learners in their congregations.
“By retrieving historic oral teaching methods along with the contemporary work of global missionaries, we believe we can offer an alternative educational path that is equally rigorous while embracing a diversity of learning styles,” said Miller.
These efforts directly support the mission of Stark College & Seminary to equip educationally under-served followers of Christ for service in the church and community.
“We are thrilled to participate in the Vocatia Collaborative and partner with other seminaries across North America. We believe these approaches to learning are a vital part of the educational experience and can only empower more students who feel called to ministry.”
Dr. Tony Celelli, President of Stark College & Seminary
Lilly Endowment launched the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative in 2021. Since then, it has provided grants totaling more than $700 million to support 163 theological schools in efforts to strengthen their own educational and financial capacities and to assist 61 schools in developing large-scale collaborative endeavors. “Theological schools have long played a central role for most denominations and church networks in preparing and supporting pastoral leaders who guide congregations,” said Christopher L. Coble, the Endowment’s vice president for religion. “These schools are paying close attention to the challenges churches are facing today and will face in the foreseeable future. The grants will help these schools engage in wide-ranging, innovative efforts to adapt their educational programs and build their financial capacities so they can better prepare pastors and lay ministers to effectively lead the congregations they will serve in the future.”
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of about religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United State and around the globe traditions in the United States and across the globe.
About Stark College & Seminary
Stark College & Seminary exists to equip educationally under-served followers of Christ for service in the church and community. Stark is an accredited institution that provides Certificate, Diploma-level, Baccalaureate, and Graduate programs in South Texas and beyond. With affordable tuition and a close-knit community for students, Stark creates a unique opportunity for those interested in every level of ministry preparation and theological education. Learn more about Stark at stark.edu.
About the Collaborators
For more information about the collaborators, visit:
- Wesley Biblical Seminary http://wbs.edu.
- God’s Bible School and Seminary http://gbs.edu
- Kingswood University http://kingswood.edu
- Stark College & Seminary https://stark.edu