FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS...
Our Ministry Theme for 2021-2022

Welcome Video for Biennial Mission Summit

On the Road with Rauschenbusch with Dennis L. Johnson, the author of To Live in God: Daily Reflections with Walter Rauschenbusch. Click to view this presentation from the Biennial Mission Summit.

Honoring Excellence in Ministry

The Ministers Council invites you to remember an American Baptist minister(s) who has been significant to you in the past or present. We invite you to write a brief tribute as you make a gift in honor of him or her. Your tribute will be placed among those recognized and honored on this website.

Click to Honor Excellence in Ministry. See the Honor Roll.

All gifts collected will be used to encourage ministry competence, collegiality, and centeredness through the Excellence in Ministry Fund.

What Makes a Minister Competent?

What makes clergy effective in their role? What competencies are critical to clergy effectiveness? Answering the questions around professional competence is a priority for the Ministers Council.

Competency List from the Midwest Ministry Development Service

What is the Ministers Council?

We are an independent, non-profit organization of ordained, commission, licensed and lay Christian leaders. Seminarians are also eligible for membership and encouraged to join. (More/Less)

We are the only ABC organization dedicated solely to the well-being of ministers. We serve in increasingly diverse settings including the local church, specialized ministries of chaplaincy, counseling, coaching and spiritual direction, as well as administration, education and community organizing.

Individuals are eligible for membership in this body if they are eligible for inclusion in the Leadership Status list maintained by the American Baptist Churches Information System (ABCIS) and if they pay national dues to this body.

What Do We Do?

We nurture, encourage, and strengthen more than 2000 clergy, counselors, seminarians, and lay leaders. We provide fellowshipping opportunities; spiritual enrichment; and educational programming to fuel the effectiveness of the men and women called of God to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

What Do We Provide?

Support for regionally based Ministers Council chapters
Annual gatherings, workshops, retreats for respite, and spiritual and professional development
Models and best practice guidelines for creating clergy peer groups
Informative articles and writings for ministers
Discounts to value-added services through partnerships
A sense of community for clergy so that no one has to go it alone

How Can You Support the Ministers Council?

Give to our Together in Ministry Fund, which expands the program of clergy peer group learning.

Inspiring ministerial excellence for the glory of Jesus Christ since 1935

. . . to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.
—Ephesians 4:12-13

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS... Our Ministry Theme for 2021-2022