The Plus Program
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New cohorts for 2013 are forming
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Questions? Looking for more information?
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The Plus Program, an executive education program specifically for religious leaders, is a distinct collaboration between Garrett-Evangelical and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Through academic rigor, professional relevance for religious leaders, and the flexibility you need to succeed, the Plus Program equips you to effectively lead your ministry for the 21st Century. The Plus Program is taught by senior faculty and practitioners at Kellogg School of Management and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.
The Plus Program is . . .
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- A clergy executive certification program taught by the faculty of Kellogg Center for Nonprofit Management at Northwestern University and Garrett-Evangelical.
- A cutting-edge program, tailored to meet the dynamic needs of clergy and lay leaders.
- A series of lectures, interactive exercises, and dialogues intentionally crafted to address the complexities of leadership and organizational transformation.
- A collaborative learning experience which equips participants to put new skills and concepts immediately into action to meet today’s toughest challenges.
Plus Program Participants will . . .
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- Create and articulate a dynamic model of Christian leadership for the 21st century
- Explore innovative models of congregational development
- Embrace new models of fundraising and stewardship
- Develop skills for effective leadership
- Form lasting collaborative connections with Plus colleagues and faculty
Plus Program Graduates Will . . .
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- Earn a certificate in nonprofit management issued from Kellogg School of Management and Garrett-Evangelical
- Receive lifelong learning and networking benefits, including invitations to Kellogg School and Garrett-Evangelical alumni and executive education activities
- Have access to faculty research and publications
- Can continue in the Executive Scholars program at the Kellogg School of Management and qualify for a 30% tuition reduction in the Open Enrollment Executive Education program
New cohorts for the fall of 2013 are forming now and space is limited. If you are looking for a way to gain additional leadership and management skills and to interact with like-minded religious professionals, the Plus Program can help you meet your goals and enhance the success of your ministry. Apply today!
Testimonials
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"One of the things I especially appreciate about the Plus Program was being able to look at Discipleship from a business model. Kellogg provides a view of ministry that reveals hidden areas and brings things that may have been frustratingly blurry into focus. The timing has been a divine intervention for my ministry. Divinely called and Spirit-driven, I know that my ministry can only go as far as my own humility and willingness to be taught and transformed. Each session takes me to that 'next level.'" Sarai Case |
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"I am able to take the lessons learned through the Plus Program and apply them directly to the practice of ministry. I have learned new ways of leading staff and have gained a better understanding of how to budget for outreach ministries. It has been refreshing to get a business education to compliment the M.Div. I earned from Garrett-Evangelical." |
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"This program has allowed me to continue learning and further develop my leadership skills with a community of my peers to support me." |
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"We've heard from professors who have been successful in their ministry, business, and daily life and it was a great thing for us to learn from them." |
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"This program has helped me see beyond my immediate circumstances that there are better ways of doing things than the prescribed method. This is exactly what I needed." |
Program Descriptions
Participants in the Plus Program meet twice in an academic year (October and April) for two days over the course of two years. Held at the Kellogg School of Management's Chicago campus (Wieboldt Hall at 339 E. Chicago Ave, Chicago, Illinois), each two-day session is taught by senior facutly and practitioners from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and Kellogg School of Management. These sessions are taught in an executive education format that utilizes hands on activities, case studies, and applications tailored to religious professionals. The Plus Program includes:
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Session One: Developing Personal Leadership Leadership Today – Today’s world presents significant challenges to leaders. The world has changed and leaders need to change too. This session will help the participants better understand their role as leaders managing challenging situations and a wide variety of issues. Key questions such as work/life balance, leading change, and managing people will be addressed. Leading and Following – Leaders need to understand their dual role as leaders and followers to truly be successful at guiding an organization to success. In this session, pastors will explore the entanglement of being a leader and a follower. Using unique metaphors, the faculty will teach the participants that leading requires moving forward and moving back and the ability to empower others to reach the goal. |
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Session Two: Focus on General Management Finance and Accounting for Pastors – Many nonprofit leaders have moved into leadership because of their commitment to the mission of the organization. Often, these leaders have not had significant management or business training in specific skills like financial management. This session will address the key principles of financial management including understanding financial statements and the trends represented by the numbers, predicting the financial implications of managerial decisions, and learning to work more effectively with financial executives. Leading Change – In today’s turbulent times, change is a fact of life for most organizations including churches. Whether it is a change in leadership, culture, requirements or demographics, pastors and volunteer leaders play a key role in this dynamic environment. This session will discuss the management of change and the skills necessary to ensure the organization’s future growth. It will address key drivers of change and how to motivate various constituents to support and embrace change. |
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Session Three: Exploring Leadership in My Mission Team Building – No leader becomes successful working alone. Managers in today’s world rely on teams to help them achieve their objectives, develop new programs and services, generate solutions and expand their vision. These sessions will help pastors design and implement more effective teams in their parishes. They will examine elements of intra-team behavior such as leadership, communication and conflict resolution and inter-team dynamics such as competition. Specific topics addressed in these sessions would be: how to lead a team; how to encourage creativity; how to ensure coordination; how to deal with difficult team members; how to improve the teams' decision-making and performance; and how to get the most out of a team. |
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Session Four: Managing People and Resources Performance Evaluation Managing people is an essential task of any nonprofit leader. This session will build on the Motivating Key Stakeholders session and address the key concepts of performance appraisals of staff and/or volunteers. It would utilize many of the same theories as the previous session, but will apply them in the specific context of face-to-face interactions. The session would be interactive and include a case and an exercise. Stewarding your Resources – As a church, receiving diverse support from a variety of sources, parishes need to be strong stewards of the time, talent and treasure that is shared with the parish. As the leader, the pastor needs to be accountable for those resources. This session will underscore the importance of on-going development of relationships and maintenance of assets in the care of the parish. |
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Session Five: Building External Relationships Branding Your Congregation - Brand image is one of the most important resources organizations have and brands vary in the amount of power and value they have in the marketplace. However, most nonprofit organizations do not leverage their brands effectively. If a nonprofit treats a brand as name only, it misses the point of branding. This session will combine the latest thought-leadership on this topic with practical exercises and will allow faith-based leaders to develop a brand management strategy that will leverage their brand to increase participation and engagement of parishioners. |
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Session Six: Capstone Program - The Leadership Challenge Conflict Resolution and Negotiations – The Kellogg School is a leader in the field of dispute resolution and negotiation. It is a subject that is critical to building relationships, internally and externally. This session will give the pastors the skills and confidence to plan and implement more effective negotiation strategies and reach more satisfactory outcomes. Working one-on-one and in teams, participants will learn to negotiate deals, resolve disputes and make decisions in competitive environments. Leaders make decisions every day that impact the growth of their organizations. Nonprofit leaders deal with a wide variety of constituents and create key partnerships including those with staff, volunteers, donors, corporations, etc. Often, these are not easy decisions and require a clear understanding of the values and goals of the organization and the goals of the potential partners. |
Meet the Faculty
The Plus Program faculty includes senior faculty and practitioners from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and Garrett-Evangelical. Their combination of theory and practice creates a tremendous learning experience for our participants. Throughout each program, faculty present new developments in management theory from an academic perspective as well as practical applications that will work in a variety of ministries and nonprofit organizations. We invite you to get to know some of the Plus Faculty now.
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Gail Berger |
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Gennifer Brooks |
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Barry Bryant |
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Michelle L. Buck |
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Lisa A. Fortini-Campbell |
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Mark Fowler |
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Liz Livinsgton Howard |
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Thomas N. Hubbard |
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Harry M. Kraemer |
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J. Keith Murnighan |
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Marian Powers |
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Brent Waters |
About the Schools
Building partnerships with nonprofit practitioners is one of the key initiatives of the Center for Nonprofit Management. Founded in 1998 with the support of the WK Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Mich., the Center builds on the Kellogg School's long tradition of serving the governmental and nonprofit sector with management education.
The Center's mission is to become an internationally recognized resource in the field of nonprofit management education and higher education through our graduate degree and executive management programs. We aim to harness the resources of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University — teaching, research, case writing, consulting and volunteering — to partner with the nonprofit community.
Specifically, the Center has four objectives:
1) to enhance the existing Kellogg School MBA curriculum
2) to expand our outreach and partnership with the nonprofit community
3) to initiate and support scholarly research in the sector and
4) to provide outstanding executive education programs for nonprofit leaders
The Center relies on the expertise of academic faculty as well as practitioners from various areas of the nonprofit sector. It is this bridge between the academic community and the nonprofit sector that makes the Center for Nonprofit Management a unique entity. We encourage you to explore our Web site to learn more about the objectives of the Center and see how we are helping to address the challenges facing the nonprofit world in the 21st century.
Website: http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/research/nonprofit/index.htm
The core purpose of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary is to know God in Christ and, through preparing spiritual leaders, to help others know God in Christ.Garrett-Evangelical, founded in 1853, is a graduate school of theology related to The United Methodist Church. Located on the campus of Northwestern University, the seminary serves more than 500 students from many denominations and cultural backgrounds, fostering an atmosphere of ecumenical interaction. Garrett-Evangelical offers degrees for the master of divinity, master of arts, master of theological studies, doctor of philosophy, and doctor of ministry. Its 4,500 living alumni serve church and society around the world.
Mission Statement:
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary is a graduate theological school that prepares skilled, bold and articulate leaders who share the transforming love of Jesus Christ. Related to the United Methodist Church, with an ecumenical and international reach, we prepare leaders who are equipped to live and proclaim the Gospel and to teach in diverse congregations and educational settings. Our teaching and learning settings will be places of hospitality where we pursue respect and reconciliation in all encounters.
Garrett-Evangelical is the result of the interweaving of three institutions:
- Garrett Biblical Institute, the first Methodist seminary in the Midwest, was established in 1853 by largely the same church people who founded Northwestern. Founders hoped that the school would shape mind and spirit toward an educated ministry.
- The Chicago Training School, established in 1885, was an important force for women in ministry and for developing service agencies throughout Chicago. CTS merged with GBI in 1934.
- Evangelical Theological Seminary, located in Naperville and founded as a seminary of the Evangelical Church (later the Evangelical United Brethren) in 1873, joined with Garrett Theological Seminary in 1974 to form Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.
These institutional histories live on in our core values of critical and creative reason, evangelical commitment, and prophetic participation in society.
Website: www.garrett.edu
Fees
FeesThe annual fee for Plus Executive Education seminars is $2,500 per year and includes tuition, course materials and meals. A non-refundable deposit of $250 is due no later then September 1 to guarantee enrollment in October's courses. The $2,500 annual fee or a payment plan is due prior to the courses in October in order to participate.
To register and pay for your $250 deposit online click here. Please make checks payable to Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary or pay with a credit card by calling the Office of External Programs at 847.866.4547.
Mail to:
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Office of External Programs
2121 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60201
Please note, participants are responsible for travel and lodging expenses.
Financial Assistance
Payment plans and a limited number of partial-scholarships are available for those who need financial assistance. To learn more, contact Shay Craig in the Office of External Programs at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 847.866.4547.
Cancellation Policy
There is a non-refundable cancellation fee of 20% of the full tuition ($2,500), if notice of cancellation has not been received within 5 business days prior to the program date.
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