ABOUT

Thriving in Ministry exists to build healthy engagement points for invested mentoring, ongoing peer relationships, and 1:1 strategic support that develops an individualized thriving plan for ministers. We reduce isolation, restore vocational clarity, and increase long-term pastoral sustainability.

Grounded in both research and praxis, our program was launched to take intentional steps to create proven resources for individual pastors in their journey. Begun as a grant-backed idea in a university center, Thriving has graduated and expanded over the last five years to answer felt-need calls from ministers.

Backed by generous donors, including a grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc., people who believe in your ministry allow us to provide highly subsidized resources and cohort journeys.

Two women working together at a desk with computers, one typing on a laptop and the other looking at the screen.

WHO WE ARE

Thriving in Ministry is for YOU.

Are you new in your vocational ministry journey? Have you launched a church in the last 5 years? Do you pastor an existing congregation or lead a network?

Through various resources and programs, our goal is to support all ministers and networks, while giving specific emphasis to underrepresented demographics and church planters: voices of color, female voices, and the voices of rural pastors.

A young man with dark hair smiling and standing outdoors during sunset, with dry plants in the foreground and a blurred wooded background.

WHO WE SERVE

Meet the Team

  • A woman with long, wavy blonde hair, wearing black-rimmed glasses and a purple top, smiling at the camera against a plain background.

    Rev. Kathy Cannon

    CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    former lead pastor & church planter

  • A woman with dark hair smiling, wearing a blue top, in front of a colorful painted wall with teal, purple, and white sections.

    Rev. Korista Lewis

    ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
    certified coach, former lead pastor

  • Oscar Perez

    Rev. Oscar Perez

    MENTORING & SYSTEMS
    SPECIALIST
    church planter

  • Smiling woman with brown hair, glasses, and a colorful shirt outdoors in a wooded area.

    Dr. Rebecca Marines

    MENTOR TEAM
    chaplain

  • A man with a beard and mustache wearing a gray checked blazer, white collared shirt, and a blue pocket square, smiling against a plain gray background.

    Dr. Darnell Williams

    MENTOR TEAM
    president, north central university

  • HEATHER WEBER

    Rev. Heather Weber

    MENTOR TEAM
    coach, author, podcaster

  • Rev. Andy Smith

    MENTOR TEAM
    sec/tres distrito central a/g

  • Portrait of a man with glasses, gray hair, and a beard, wearing a gray blazer and plaid shirt, standing outdoors with green foliage in the background.

    Dr. Earl Creps

    MENTOR EMERITUS
    church planter, author, & educator

  • A smiling man with short dark hair, a goatee, and a mustache, wearing a light gray jacket over a blue dress shirt, standing outdoors with a green blurred background.

    Dr. Robert Campbell

    PSYCH CONSULTANT
    dean, college of social & behavioral sciences at northwest university

  • A young man in a gray suit with a red and blue striped bow tie, wearing glasses, outdoors with trees in the background.

    Dr. Joshua Ziefle

    GRANTWRITER & EDU SUPPORT
    dean, college of ministry at
    northwest university

  • Rev. Tim Gross

    MENTOR TEAM
    marriage & family therapist