Foundation helps Wake Forest Divinity School establish urban ministry program
The Wake Forest University Divinity School is using a grant from the Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation of Greensboro to establish a new urban ministry study program.
The $50,000 grant will support a partnership between the Divinity School and Greensboro Urban Ministry, a nonprofit organization that provides food, clothing, counseling and shelter to people in crisis in Guilford County.
Beginning in the summer of 2001, second-year Divinity School students will begin internships at Greensboro Urban Ministry sites to learn about pastoral care in a diverse ministry setting. Activities will include leading worship services and support groups, and providing opportunities for personal counseling.
“We are delighted that the foundation is helping us develop a partnership with Greensboro Urban Ministry,” said Bill Leonard, the dean of the Divinity School. “This encourages us in our efforts to link the new Divinity School with ministries throughout the Piedmont area of North Carolina.”
During the following academic year, the urban ministry internship program will expand to include a regular-term course, “The Art of Ministry,” combined with a 10-hour per week internship.
The final phase of the partnership will allow students to engage in full-time supervised ministry for an academic year as part of their Divinity School course of study. No time has been set for this phase to begin.
“We’re excited about this partnership with Wake Forest because it will allow the students to gain critical exposure to the homeless and the poor, and families in crisis,” said Mike Aiken, executive director of Greensboro Urban Ministry. “Spiritual support is so important to the increasing numbers of these people, and the students will witness the immediate and lasting effects of their work.”
Aiken also said that his organization’s interfaith focus will help the students learn to work in an ecumenical setting.
At the end of a five-year pilot period, the Divinity School and the Greensboro Urban Ministry will evaluate the effectiveness of the program. If the program is approved, it will become a permanent course of study within the Divinity School and will become a priority during the annual fund-raising for the school.
The Divinity School at Wake Forest began its second year this fall. The new class has 28 full-time students. Fourteen students are men and 14 are women. There were 24 people in the founding class – five men and 19 women.
Sigmund Sternberger, a former director of Cone Mills, founded what became the Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation before his death in 1964. He was an active member of Temple Emanuel in Greensboro, and served as treasurer there for 47 years.
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