Equipping and serving church
leaders and other Christ-followers for God’s mission in the world
Year in Review
2024-25
A Word From the Executive Director
Dear friends,
Welcome to the 2024-25 Siburt Institute Year in Review! The past academic year has brought us many opportunities to equip leaders so that churches thrive. As you peruse these pages, you will see some of the stories as well as numbers, each with its own narrative of ministers and leaders whose life and ministry have been touched by the varied programs and people associated with Siburt.
For over a decade, the Siburt Institute has helped churches find ministers, leaders learn about their congregations, and ministers explore prayer and make connections for spiritual life and healthy ministry. Siburt is the conduit for chaplains to receive endorsement and experience community, for ministry couples to find healing in their marriages and ministries, and for leaders to learn about spiritual direction. Church leaders around the globe turn to the Siburt Institute for written and video resources every single day. Leaders gather at events, download podcasts and tune in for webinars. The Siburt Institute resources leaders in multiple ways – all in service to God’s work in the world.
The stories in this Year in Review reflect the many ways we see God at work. And God is using you as you share in this work! Thank you for your generosity and your commitment to help equip leaders for congregations. What you do in your partnership with the Siburt Institute makes a difference – globally. Enjoy the stories that unfold here, and continue to pray for God’s faithful blessing on Siburt’s work in the coming year!
With joy and gratitude,
Dr. Carson E. Reed (’95 D.Min.) Vice President, Church Relations Executive Director, Siburt Institute for
Church Ministry
Lilly Grant Program
PARTNERSHIP
A
s first announced in February 2025, the Siburt Institute has been selected to collaborate with Pepperdine University’s Empower and Equip program.
Lilly Endowment Inc. granted Pepperdine $7.5 million for the Empower and Equip initiative aimed at enhancing the vitality of rural ministries by providing encouragement, updated research data, leadership training, collaboration and resources. Pepperdine is working with sister institutions including, among others, York, Oklahoma Christian, Harding and Lipscomb, as well as The Christian Chronicle and other organizations within Churches of Christ, including the Siburt Institute for Church Ministry.
We are excited about the opportunities ahead in light of this partnership. As a collaborative effort, the Siburt Institute will partner on a national level to conduct research, equip leaders, offer accessible resources, and provide networks of learning for leaders in rural and small-town congregations. We are grateful for this opportunity to work with a wide array of partner institutions and organizations serving Churches of Christ.
Early work will center on research led by Dr. Suzie Macaluso, our research director. She will oversee a five-year longitudinal study on Churches of Christ, specifically in rural areas and small towns, focusing on church leaders and ministers. This portion of the study will seek to learn more about pastoral leadership needs, ways churches identify leaders, and methods by which those leaders are called, prepared and supported.
We will also conduct research on the congregational level that examines the primary strengths and weaknesses perceived in congregations, programs and ministries offered, as well as community collaborations
and needs. We plan to engage in qualitative research by listening to congregants and learning about the significance of congregational life in their spiritual growth. In light of these findings, we hope to determine regional trends, tailor resources to the needs of congregations and communities in rural and small towns, and encourage the spiritual formation of people in congregations across the United States.
We intend to conduct this demographic research and also learn from the literature on ministry in rural areas and small towns in order to develop an array of support and resources for such churches. We believe the research will illustrate the need for resources and support in the following areas: nurturing healthy theological convictions, building thriving congregations, engaging local communities, stewarding assets and resources, and developing leadership for the long haul. We hope to offer support and resources that specifically attend to these five areas, as they are intertwined in the lived realities of rural and small-town congregations.
In addition to these areas of research and resource offerings on a national level, the Siburt Institute will serve as a regional hub for the initiative. Similar to the presence of our sister institutions and organizations across the country, the Siburt Institute will engage rural and small-town church leaders in our region for contextual support and equipping. Over the next year, we will develop programming to host regional events in Texas and beyond.
We look forward to connecting with leaders and ministers in rural and small-town congregations as they engage in Kingdom work, confident that these intentional relationships to empower and equip leaders will further God’s purposes.
The Siburt Institute will partner on a national level to conduct research, equip leaders, offer accessible resources, and provide networks of learning for leaders in rural and small-town congregations.
2024 theme
Pre-Conference Preaching Seminar
In addition to the Wednesday evening through Friday lunchtime schedule of Summit, we hosted a pre-conference preaching seminar in the 2024 Summit. It was led by Dr. Anna Carter Florence and Dr. Jake Myers from Columbia Theological Seminary. This intensive pre-conference event began on Tuesday evening prior to Summit and continued through the day on Wednesday. Participants were able to spend time immersed in Scripture as they envisioned how to reignite people’s passion for God’s word.
Building Relationships, Building Community
One of the goals of Summit is to create space for those serving in ministry, whether formally or informally, to come together to support one another and to form relationships with each other – in short, to build community. And if the 2024 Summit is any indication, we are doing just that. In October, ministers and church leaders dedicated to the areas of adult formation, children’s ministry, Hispanic ministry, preaching and rural churches came together to learn in community, encourage one another and connect as they explored the theme Woven Together: The Power of Biblical Narratives. For ministry leaders desiring focused ministry content, it was an impactful few days. For those wanting to create connections that would extend well past the conference dates, it was equally meaningful. As Summit seeks to serve churches and church leaders well, we are dedicated to being a place where participants can grow closer both to God and each other in intentional ways. In 2025, our ministry communities will be centered on adult formation, family/next gen ministry, Hispanic ministry, preaching, and rural/small churches. We hope you will come to a Summit in the near future, as your presence will be a value to old and new friends alike.
Diving Deeply into Scripture
Many love to attend Summit simply to dive more deeply into Scripture. For those individuals, Summit hosts two general interest communities – an Old Testament one and a New Testament one. In 2024, the New Testament general interest community examined Luke 13. As participants heard from New Testament scholars, they were able to discover how sometimes isolated texts work together to weave the story of Luke’s Gospel. In the Old Testament general interest community, scholars focused on the book of Exodus as a touchstone for liberation and faith. Summit 2025 will be equally as rich as faculty from ACU’s College of Biblical Studies partner with others to explore the theme of Encounter: Spirit of the Living God. We hope you will make plans to be a part of this purposeful study of God’s word.
The Vibrancy of Gathering
Each year at Summit, we are blessed to hear from speakers and scholars, both inside and outside of ACU, who encourage us to think more deeply about Scripture and what it means to be children of God. The 2024 Summit was no exception. Josh Ross (’06 M.Div.), Dr. Robby John (’24 D.Min.) and Alejandro Ezquerra (’20 M.Div.) served as keynote speakers on Wednesday evening, Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, respectively. Dr. Tiffany Dahlman (’22 D.Min.) and Dr. Claire Davidson Frederick led our morning devotionals. At our Thursday evening dinner and plenary session, “Anchor Point,” Dr. Anna Carter Florence asked us to think about how the women of Jesus’s genealogy shaped his story. Each of those sessions was further enriched through praise led by United Voice Worship. This coming year, we are excited to announce that Dr. Nijay Gupta, Dr. Naomi Walters (’10 M.Div.), Dr. Jerry Taylor and Dr. Nathan Burrow (’25 D.Min.) will serve as keynote speakers. They will each examine the active presence of God in the world as the Holy Spirit works in our lives to guide, empower and transform us. We hope you will come find renewal and refreshment as we encounter the Spirit of the living God.
Summit participants enjoy the morning devotional in Chapel on the Hill
United Voice Worship leads worship times for the 2024 Summit gatherings
Executive director Dr. Carson Reed visits with a Summit attendee
Summit attendees enjoy the Anchor Point dinner on Thursday evening
Devotional speaker Dr. Tiffany Dahlman worships alongside her son in Chapel on the Hill
Staff Transitions
As the Siburt Institute has grown, so has the size of our staff over the years. And with a larger staff comes an increase in individual turnover, including this past year.
Dr. Suzie Macaluso is now serving as our research director. With her strong research background in sociology of religion, Suzie will take on a variety of projects, including maintaining our Church Health Assessment program, contributing to the Ministers’ Salary Survey, and continuing existing projects while establishing new ones related to serving Church of Christ congregations.
Additionally, Shelby Coble (’24 M.Div.) now serves as the institute’s assistant director. Shelby works directly with Dr. Carson Reed as they consult with elderships and church leader groups, in addition to serving as a communication liaison for our other church consultants. She is our “point person” on the
Lilly grant program (see page 1), while also maintaining research and writing related to consultive needs.
We have also had turnover in some administrative roles. In summer 2024, Caroline Kennemer (’23) transitioned out of the institute to work in a dream role with a local non-profit. We were thrilled to welcome as her replacement, Corie Fox, who is a current M.Div. student and comes to us after having served many years in ministry in a congregation in Colorado.
Ola Mae Bulkley (’23) moved to the University Events office at ACU at the turn of the year, and Gina Hack joined us as her replacement. Gina has spent the first half of 2025 working hard and getting acquainted with the many aspects of the Siburt Institute’s ministry.
We are grateful to all of our staff for their work, but especially for new faces and new roles!
Dr. Suzie Macaluso Shelby Coble
Caroline Kennemer
Corie Fox
Ola Mae Bulkley
Gina Hack
The Contemplative Ministers’ Initiative (CMI) was founded in 2015 by Randy Harris, who passed the mantle of leadership on to Dr. Houston Heflin (’95) in 2021. As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of CMI’s founding, we are so thankful for the many people who have contributed to this program over the years, including donors, resource people, administrative staff and the more than 100 ministers who have committed to developing a deep, contemplative life. When we hear the stories ministers tell of how this program came at just the right time, and how God used it to provide community, we are encouraged and humbled that God has used CMI to provide these ministers much needed respite, silence and solitude, as well as the practices and tools necessary to sustain them during challenging seasons of life and ministry.
Additionally, we are now in our second full year of sponsoring the Selah Certificate in Spiritual Direction. In spring 2025, we graduated our first Selah cohort, and we congratulate these dedicated individuals! These amazing men and women commit to 15 months of study, supervision and practice as spiritual companions, walking alongside others during their spiritual journeys, all while receiving their own spiritual direction. We are excited for how God will continue to use them in life and ministry in the days to come, and we look forward to welcoming our next cohort in spring 2026.
Contemplative Ministers’ Initiative
CMI participants gather at the Montserrat Jesuit Retreat House in Dallas
CMI participants enjoy a “get-to-know-you” activity on the first night of the retreat
The spring 2025-26 cohort of the Selah Certificate in Spiritual Direction
The Selah program includes times of discussion around readings and the practice of spiritual direction
Scholar-inResidence
The Siburt Institute’s location within Abilene Christian University has been a key part of our ministry as we leverage academic resources for the church and God’s kingdom. To that end, in 2024-25 we welcomed Collin Packer (’06) as our first scholar-in-residence.
Collin, a two-time graduate of ACU, was a student of Dr. Charles Siburt. Collin spent 13 years as the lead minister for churches in the Denver and Dallas areas. As his calling evolved, he transitioned out of full-time church ministry in 2021, serving as the director of faith-based partnerships at CitySquare in Dallas and as the communications director for State Rep. Carl Sherman during Texas’ 88th Legislative Session. He also served as the co-chair for MARCH (Ministry for Awareness, Relationships, Change and Healing), a multiracial group of Christians who work to manifest the gospel through love, peace and justice.
Collin’s Siburt Institute project originated when he was a Fellow in Wesley Seminary’s inaugural Public Theology Cohort. He discerned that Churches of Christ need support to
better manage the polarized social and political realities impacting churches. His Siburt project goal was to develop and offer resources to help church leaders equip their flocks to better embody a faithful public witness outside their church buildings and in the public square.
Collin participated in conversations both inside and outside Church of Christ circles, whether with ministers and professors or in conferences and lectures, in addition to engaging with books and articles pertaining to Christian public witness. For the Siburt Institute, Collin wrote for our Mosaic blog, spoke at our ElderLink Atlanta event in March 2025 and served ministers in our Contemplative Ministers’ Initiative program. He also contributed to other organizations’ work on this topic, including a six-week North Texas Pastoral Cohort in Public Witness, Mission Alive’s Discipleship Conversations podcast and Threaded’s Colored Commentary podcast, and MARCH Dallas’s “Let’s Go There!” pre-election area-wide series and public education organizing meetings.
Collin and the Siburt Institute are deeply grateful to the generous donor who helped make this practitioner-scholar program possible.
Collin Packer
Collin Packer leads a breakout session during our ElderLink Atlanta event in March
Our Chaplains Fellowship is continuing to flourish! Regular connection points can be found with our ongoing quarterly lunch-and-learns and a bimonthly newsletter called Tapestry that highlights stories from chaplains as well as relevant updates.
In fall 2024, we hosted a lunch at Summit in partnership with Dr. Gary Payne, the federal-level endorser for Churches of Christ. If you are interested in looking through past newsletters, they are available as archives on our website and within the Tapestry section of the Mosaic blog. You can learn more at siburtinstitute.org/tapestry.
The last year has also brought some changes to our chaplaincy program
personnel. We welcomed Dr. Amy BostHenegar, Dr. Gabriel Fisher (’22 D.Min.), Dr. Tom Nuckels, Michele Thompson, Chris Tomberlin and Benjamin Wiles to our endorsement steering committee and/or Tapestry editorial board. These chaplains provide leadership in various aspects of the endorsement process and Tapestry newsletter. Along with this wonderful growth also came some sad goodbyes. Dr. Dwayne Lee (’04) needed to step away from the endorsement committee to continue his professional endeavors, but we remain thankful for his leadership and service in getting this program off the ground and running. Additionally, Dr. Tom Nuckels died unexpectedly this past February. Tom was an invaluable member of our team and had been involved since the program’s inception. We are so thankful for his contributions to chaplaincy and the church, and we miss him dearly.
Chaplains Fellowship
Tapestry newsletter
Dr. Gary Payne speaks to our Chaplains Fellowship lunch at Summit 2024
Dr. Paul Riddle addresses the attendees of the 2024 Summit Chaplains Fellowship lunch
The Siburt Institute held an ElderLink event in Atlanta in March 2024, hosted by the North Atlanta Church of Christ in Dunwoody, Georgia.
CMI Director Dr. Houston Heflin leads a breakout session at ElderLink Atlanta
Dr. Jerry Taylor encourages ElderLink attendees in one of his keynote addresses
Dr. John Mark Hicks teaches ElderLink attendees about the book of Ephesians
Summit director Dr. Jennifer Schroeder speaks about intergenerational ministry at ElderLink Atlanta
A longstanding service of the Siburt Institute is our set of ministers’ lunches, including two such events this year in Waco and San Angelo, both featuring ACU faculty speakers.
Associate director Dr. David Kneip often serves as the emcee at our face-to-face events
Ministers’ Support Network oordinator Robert Oglesby speaks to ministers and church leaders at the Crestview Church of Christ
Consulting partner Wes Crawford speaks about civil religion in the United States during our EFM San Angelo event at the Johnson Street Church of Christ
Discernment editor Dr. Ron Bruner speaks to attendees at a special equipping event in Cincinnati, Ohio
Bridge: PARTNERS FOR Discipleship
The Siburt Institute’s mission is to equip church leaders so that churches can thrive. But in a time when people are busier than ever and church life is rapidly changing, how do we best support these leaders?
These questions have been on our minds over the last couple of years, and a new partnership with ACU’s Graduate School of Theology is designed to help address them. “Bridge: Partners for Discipleship” is a new initiative that brings ACU Bible faculty to local congregations for weekend seminars designed to equip existing and future leaders with knowledge and skills to deepen their ministry. Bridge gives us an opportunity to span the gap between local churches and institutions like ACU as we bring together our learning and skills with the people and work in those specific areas.
We launched Bridge in the 2024-25 academic year, working with host churches in San Antonio, Houston and Abilene. Bible faculty members Dr. Mark Hamilton (’89 M.Div.), Dr. Tera (Stidham ‘04) Harmon, Dr. Mason Lee (’14 M.Div.), and Dr. Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby (’15 M.Div.) were featured speakers this year, exploring the theme “Faith Formation in a Digital Age.” We chose this theme because of the opportunity it gave us to bring together biblical insights, theological understanding and practical ministry matters. Further, it’s a topic we often associate with young people, when in fact it affects us all as we engage the opportunities
and challenges that ever-developing technology creates for Jesus-followers in our world. While our gatherings in 2024-25 did not all take the same format, each one featured opportunities to learn from and interact with our Bible faculty, to worship and fellowship together, and to share interactive elements like discussions and Q&A times.
As you may know, we conduct a range of events geared toward church members and leaders, and there are some similarities between Bridge and our other offerings. For example, Bridge – like our on-campus Summit event – attempts to engage a broader audience than church leaders. Similarly, Bridge and our ElderLink program are both conducted out of town, allowing us to minister to individuals in areas beyond Abilene. That said, Bridge also fits a unique niche, in that it allows us to provide Siburt content in a weekend format and to worship with the local believers on Sunday morning. During our 2024-25 Bridge events, we served elders, ministry leaders and leader spouses, along with Bible-class teachers and church members. And on the Sundays following, our speakers taught Bible classes, preached sermons and led at the Communion table after our events were over.
We are so grateful for our church partners at the Northside Church of Christ in San Antonio, Bammel Church of Christ in Houston and Pioneer Drive Baptist Church in Abilene for sharing in this work of equipping and encouraging. We look forward to the development of this new program over the coming years.
Dr. Mark Hamilton shares with the audience at Bridge San Antonio
Attendees enjoy food and fellowship at one of our Bridge events
A panel of ACU faculty speaks at Bridge San Antonio
Dr. Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby addresses the topic “Faith Formation in a Digital Age”
Dr. David Kneip speaks to Bridge attendees
2025 marks the 10-year anniversary of two of Siburt’s publication arms, both with international reach.
Since 2015, we have published 18 issues of Discernment, with a total of more than 70 articles or reviews.
In 2015, we launched Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry, the academic journal published by the Siburt Institute. Discernment features articles and book reviews related to the discipline of practical theology, combining rigorous theoretical and theological reflection with contextually sensitive ministerial action. The articles in the journal present work describing ministry in a broad array of contexts such as congregational life, a particular ministry within a congregation (such as children’s ministry), mission contexts, ministry in crosscultural settings, and Christian ministry in an extra-congregational environment (such as disaster relief or care for the poor). As an indication of the quality of work being published in Discernment, the journal was accepted in July 2023 to be indexed by Atla Religion Database® and AtlaSerials PLUS® (Atlas PLUS), available on the EBSCOhost research interface. As a result, articles are now discoverable by an even wider audience, and access data bears that out.
Since 2015, we have published 18 issues of Discernment, with a total of more than 70 different articles or reviews. All of the issues and articles are available at no cost to readers worldwide, and during the lifetime of the journal, its articles have been downloaded
over 31,000 times. Additionally, the annual number of downloads is increasing; in 2024 alone, article downloads exceeded 5,500. The same is true of our global reach; individuals from 10 countries downloaded articles in 2015, but now that number has increased to 168! The most recent issue appeared in spring 2025, featuring two new book reviews and four new articles, including one by our Summit director, Dr. Jennifer Schroeder (’22 D.Min.).
Also in 2015, Siburt created a blog platform called Charis, which later morphed into our Mosaic blog. The name reflects the format of the blog, in that we host pieces by a variety of authors. In fact, since 2015, more than 150 authors have published pieces with Mosaic. Some have only published once, but we also have a handful of authors who have produced over 100 essays!
At the current time, we have approximately 15 regular contributors, and each writes monthly, every other month or quarterly. Additionally, our monthly Siburt Institute newsletter articles appear in Mosaic, as do the individual pieces that appear in our Chaplains Fellowship newsletter Tapestry. All told, we currently publish approximately 100 essays each year, and in spring 2025, our total number of posts surpassed 1,800 since inception.
50+ episodes
Podcast
The final category of Siburt publications involves multi-media materials. These include our webinars, such as monthly Intersection gatherings and quarterly Chaplains Fellowship events. All of these webinars are captured on video and published to our YouTube page. We also publish the audio from each webinar in our podcast feed, Live from the Siburt Institute. This publication arm is the newest among our Siburt offerings – it began in 2023 – but over the last two years we have released more than 50 episodes, and those episodes have been downloaded over 3,000 times.
The podcast features conversations hosted by Siburt staff or ACU Bible faculty, with guests from a wide range of academic disciplines and ministry contexts. Just in the past year, we have enjoyed conversations with book authors, ACU faculty members, a leader in global missions support and a prominent preacher, among many others.
Our mission in the Siburt Institute includes equipping church leaders, and we know that some leaders love to read, others like to watch content online and still others prefer audio productions – or need them due to their commutes to work. Through our publications, we make Siburt content available to all of these groups, and we are glad to be able to serve in this way.
CHURCH TRANSITIONS WEBPAGES • 2024-25 (past 12 months)
3,000 downloads CHURCH JOBS:
6,551 page views JOBS IN TEXAS:
3,009 page views YOUTH MINISTRY JOBS:
1,576 page views PULPIT MINISTER JOBS:
1,529 page views PREACHING JOBS:
699 page views
ON-SITE WORK WITH CHURCHES • 2024-25 (past 12 months)
ENGLAND
GEORGIA
TENNESSEE
25 CITIES in the U.S. and England
NEBRASKA Lincoln
NEW
Dr. Ron Bruner Discernment Editor
Randy Harris Senior Consultant and University Fellow
Renee Paul Program Manager
Shelby Coble Assistant Director
Dr. Houston Heflin Contemplative Ministers’ Initiative Director
Dr. Carson Reed Executive Director
Dr. Wes Crawford Consulting Partner
Dr. David Kneip Associate Director
Dr. Chelsie Sargent Consulting Partner
Dr. Carley Dodd Research Partner
Dr. Mason Lee Consulting Partner
Dr. Jennifer Schroeder Summit Director
Corie Fox Administrative Coordinator
Dr. Suzie Macaluso Research Director
Tim Sensing Looking Team
Dr. Barry Stephens Consulting Partner
Gina Hack Executive Assistant
Dr. Royce Money Founding Director
Dr. Eddie Sharp Consulting Partner
Dr. David Wray Consulting Partner
Dr. Jackie Halstead Selah Director
Robert Oglesby Jr. Ministers’ Support Network Coordinator
Judy Siburt Advisor
Emily Yerge Online Content Manager