CHC Announces New Partnership with Gardner Webb Divinity School

The Center for Healthy Churches is excited to announce its newest formal partnership with the Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity.  According to Director Bill Wilson “this partnership will enable both our organizations to better serve clergy and congregations throughout the region. Gardner Webb is producing some of the finest ministers I have met, and we so appreciate their faculty and staff’s approach to honoring and caring deeply about congregational life in the 21^st century.  I believe that together we make a significant contribution to the vitality and health of our churches and ministers.”

This partnership is a natural fit.  In it’s short life, CHC has served more than 300 churches in Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky, the primary region where Gardner-Webb’s alumni are now serving in various ministerial capacities.  Furthermore, Dr. Guy Sayles, adjunct faculty member at Gardner-Webb serves as one of CHC’s 27 consultants.

Dr. Danny West, GWU director of ministry leadership and professor of preaching and pastoral studies, says that he is “delighted that the natural, organic relationship that has always existed has now culminated in a formal partnership between the GWU School of Divinity and CHC.  It is a privilege to serve alongside the impressive staff at CHC.”

“Dynamic partnerships are among the most important tools that churches and Christian organizations need to meet the challenge of thriving in our changing context.  We learn more and we make a bigger impact working together,“ said Dr. Matt Cook, CHC’s new Assistant Director.  “Gardner-Webb’s School of Divinity wants to help ministers and churches meet those challenges and we’re thrilled to work with them.”  

The School of Divinity and CHC will collaborate to offer conferences, academic programs, consulting, coaching, and enrichment events to churches and clergy in the region. The two organizations will share resources, personnel and facilities.
 
The first major initiative of this partnership will be a series of learning events focused on “Turnaround Leadership” in the local church.  This unique event will take place in ten cities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia in the spring of 2020. Participants, both laity and clergy, will be invited to learn about and then imagine a turnaround strategy for their church during a mid-day lunch-and-learn format. Details on the locations and dates for the Tour events will be announced soon. 

Wilson concluded: “Some of the most creative and innovative work I see being done in local churches today is coming from the influence of schools like Gardner Webb who recognize the dramatic needs, and are willing to supply the resources to back up that awareness.  I am grateful for the vision and the commitment this partnership symbolizes. Adding Gardner Webb to our growing team of organizational partners is an important growth step for us and for the churches and ministers we seek to serve.”

Read the Gardner Webb Divinity School article here.
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The Center for Healthy Churches is a dynamic network of 27 consultants and coaches from across the theological and geographical spectrum. CHC works with a wide array of churches and organizations in the realm of spiritual, mental, organizational, and emotional health. See our website at www.chchurches.org for more information.