Rev. Dr. Virginia Ward
Spiritual Formation Practices in Multicultural Contexts
2023: Through a planning grant, Spiritual Formation Practices in Multicultural Contexts, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary’s Campus for Urban Ministerial Education (CUME) will design its programs for institutional learning that would elevate how they engage the ministry needs of the city and the spiritual formation of ministry leaders in the current, critically evolving context. Specifically, this grant will enable CUME to investigate and design for that context and thereby refine its equipping of urban leaders. As urban spiritual formation practices are revisited for a multicultural context, the seminary, students, alumni, and church communities will all benefit, continuing to build the cultural competencies of students.
Reframing Urban Ethnic Youth Ministry in Boston
2026: The Black Ministerial Alliance/TenPoint (BMA/TenPoint) is a merger of two organizations to address the issues negatively affecting youth and families in Boston’s Black urban communities. The collective mission is to build the capacity of Black churches and ministry leaders to support the empowerment of youth and families and to strengthen the health and well-being of their surrounding communities. Following this mission, BMA /TenPoint has become an inclusive alliance of churches, faith and community-based organizations reaching around 20,000 ethnically-diverse parishioners and clients in Greater Boston. This project seeks to gather pastors and leaders for conversations in focus groups and interviews about creating a holistic framework for urban ethnic churches in the Greater Boston area.
Virginia currently serves at the Boston Campus of Urban Ministerial Education (CUME). She has over 30 years of experience teaching youth ministry, leadership, and urban ministry development. Virginia serves as an Associate Pastor at Abundant Life Church, has worked with various ministries, and co-authored a book on hope and children.
The Strengthening Pastoral Formation for Ministry in the City initiative involves seminaries, theological institutions, and churches and intends to help communities and institutions explore and assess their own urban context and church life; gain clarity about their mission and programmatic offerings; and strengthen and support the design and implementation of plans to address key challenges and opportunities for pastoral formation and flourishing congregations in urban settings.
Congregations and Communities grants provide support for urban pastors, churches, faith-based community organizations, and theological institutions to share resources, ideas, and practices for life-giving ministry in cities across North America. We are truly inspired by the commitment of these churches, educational institutions, and community organizations.
I pray that every tribe, nation and tongue will live in freedom.