Resources
Lent 2024 Devotion Book
By Bethany Fellows
Edited by Melanie Harrell Delaney, Lauren Bennett and Darren Phelps
A daily devotional spanning Ash Wednesday through Easter guides readers through Lent with weekly themes of retreat, prayer, honest, compassion, creativity, and community.
When Jesus was preparing for a new phase of his ministry — or experiencing the final week — he went to Bethany, his holy retreat. Following that tradition, The Bethany Fellowships, a ministry of support for young clergy and congregations, have cultivated an intentional rhythm of life and ministry that empowers community, creativity, prayer, and resilience. This six-week-long Lenten daily devotional follows practices and relationships Jesus models for us throughout his ministry, bringing us to the biblical town of Bethany to encourage retreat, prayer, honesty, compassion, creativity, and community.
Rest & Resilience was written and edited by current Bethany Fellows, alumni and leaders.
MINISTRY AFTER GUN VIOLENCE
Based in her own experience following the mass shooting in Odessa, TX in 2019, wise pastor and Bethany Alumna Rev. Dr. Dawn Darwin Weaks offers support and prayerful counsel for pastors responding to gun violence in their own communities.
GARY STRAUB ON SUSAN BEAUMONT'S "HOW TO LEAD WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING"
We are "leading in a liminal season." Read seasoned pastor and Bethany Board member Gary Straub's take on what leadership in a liminal season requires.
99 PRAYERS YOUR CHURCH NEEDS (BUT DOESN’T KNOW IT YET)
by The Bethany Fellows
edited by Cara Gilger
When the unexpected comes and you can’t find the words to pray, 99 Prayers Your Church Needs (But Doesn’t Know It Yet) will provide the starting point that will help lead you to the prayer your congregation or pastor needs. From prayers for a family who has lost a loved one to addiction, to a prayer for the new pastor in a new congregation, these 99 prayers will help you respond to a multitude of unexpected prayer requests—whether celebratory or grieving, or somewhere in between—in the course of your congregation's life.
PENSION FUND | EXCELLENCE IN MINISTRY PROGRAM
The Pension Fund of the Christian Church's Excellence in Ministry (EIM) program helps pastors remain and be more effective in ministry. With 20 years of experience in nurturing clergy peer groups, Bethany Fellows works with EIM to offer safe and brave spaces for pastors and spouses to share conversation, prayer and long-lasting collegial relationships.
BLESSED ARE THE CRAZY: BREAKING THE SILENCE ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS, FAMILY, AND CHURCH
by Sarah Griffith Lund
Sarah Griffith Lund offers a honest and raw look at her father's battle with bipolar disorder, the helpless sense of deja vu as her brother struggles with his own mental illness, and serving as a spiritual adviser for her cousin, a mentally ill young man executed for murder. Through the challenges and despair she shows how churches can be safe havens for people who have brain diseases and for their loved ones. Sarah is a Bethany Fellow alum and serves on the Ecumenical Bethany Fellows leadership team. This book was published by Chalice Press in 2014.
TACTFUL ADVICE FOR CALLING YOUR NEXT PASTOR
by Gary Straub
Change at church is always stressful— never more so than when a congregation changes pastors. The search process digs to the core of congregational identity, personality, mission and even stirs that complex web of relationships we affectionately call “church family.”
Navigating this season successfully involves tricky interplay between ‘playing by the rules,’ and engineering a landing gear while still aloft. Straub offers a guideline that overviews the formal process while creating space for entrepreneurial initiative.
Persevering in the search process to a “good call” requires a wisdom born of prayer, a gut intuition about people, and supreme faith in the Spirit who guides even flawed processes and people to places where mutual ministry can thrive. Straub brings prayerful counsel and practical advice to the process.