The D. James Kennedy Institute for Reformed Leadership

The D. James Kennedy Institute of Reformed Leadership

“Public Theology in the Service of the Church”

The D. James Kennedy Institute of Reformed Leadership is a Christian think-tank using Research, Writing, and Resources to shepherd shepherds who shepherd the flock. We partner with other ministries to increase their effective Gospel mission in the world.

THE VISION AND MISSION STATEMENT

Introduction

The D James Kennedy Institute of Reformed Leadership is the major program initiative of Faith for Living, Inc. The D James Kennedy Institute of Reformed Leadership (“the Kennedy Institute”) is a ministry whose mission is to shepherd the shepherds who shepherd the flock.

The Kennedy Institute is a proprietary program of Faith for Living, Inc. The D. James Kennedy Institute of Reformed Leadership are proprietary programs granted by the Kennedy Family (October 2013) and owned by Faith for Living, Inc., a North Carolina 501(c)(3) nonprofit faith-based corporation, Dr. Michael A. Milton, President-CEO and Senior Fellow. The transfer of ministry and use of Dr. Kennedy’s name was granted through the Kennedy Family and Coral Ridge Ministries, Inc.

The Kennedy Institute is housed on the campus of Erskine College and Seminary in Due West, South Carolina. The corporate offices are located at 1167 Carolina Drive, Tryon, NC.

The ministry willingly operates under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church in America, Tennessee Valley Presbytery. The ministry has been adopted by the General Synod as a means of pastoral training by the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. The ministry has an ongoing partnership with Erskine Theological Seminary, South Carolina.

Preface to the Vision and Mission Statement

The Vision and Mission Statement for the Kennedy Institute originates in God’s burden for His Church and extends to the New Heaven and the New Earth. Our purpose within that larger divine enterprise is twofold: to support the Church with research, writing, and resources to live faithful lives in a secular age; and to support pastoral education (information) and training (formation) to help promote Scripturally faithful, spiritually healthy, and sustainable pastoral and parish (i.e., local church and denominational) ministries.

The Burden: Halt the cycle of pastoral pathologies and congregational disruption due to a lack of practical training.

The ministry’s mission is grounded in a burden to help reduce Pastor burnout which leads to family crises and congregational chaos. Mistakes made early in the ministry because of the lack of vocational training, despite educational credentials, can leave scars that extend through generations. The blight of pastoral burnout must be met head-on with a program of ministry that is focused on the Fulfillment of the Great Commission of Jesus Christ and the Education and Training for pastoral ministry across the stages of life and career.

Our Values: The catholic and Reformed creeds that express the teaching of Holy Scripture are the authoritative guides to assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of the Burden.

The following values guide the Kennedy Institute:

The inerrancy and infallibility of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments;
The catholic creed of Christendom, viz., the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed);
The faithful summary of doctrine taught in Scripture as contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith, and its Larger and Shorter Catechisms;
Education (information) must be wed to training (formation) to prepare one to serve the Church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Word and Sacrament;
Education and Training must employ multimodal means for both teaching and learning, and apprenticeship (internship, residency, fellowship, and lifelong learning)systems delivering needed courses of study and training to address clergy challenges through the pastoral lifecycle).

The Vision: Sustainable Spiritual Health for Ministers and Congregations

The vision of the Kennedy Institute is to reimagine pastoral education and training so that ministers, their families, and the congregations (and institutions) they serve are strengthened for sustainable spiritual health for generations of faithful gospel Ministry.

The Mission: Shepherding shepherds who shepherd the flock.

The mission of the Kennedy Institute is to shepherd shepherds who will shepherd the flock of Christ through research, writing, and resources.

The Philosophy of Ministry: A Christian think-tank seeking to conduct public theology in the service of the Church ministry through research, writing, and resources.

The Philosophy of Ministry of the Kennedy Institute is summarized in this statement: Public theology in the Church’s service.

Research
- The Kennedy Institute is a Christian Think Tank dedicated to research that brings sustainable spiritual health to pastors and congregations.
Writing
- The Kennedy Institute, as a Christian think-tank, produces scholarly research papers, position papers and seeks to advance the mission of The Institute new articles, books, monographs, and electronic publications that supports the Vision and Mission of The Institute.
  - Current Projects
    - Public Theology on the Things that Matter Most: A DJK Institute Monograph Series released over one year by pastor-scholars engaging the issues of our time.
Resources
- The Kennedy Institute Leverage is research and writing to produce resources that fulfill the vision and mission of The Institute. These resources include:
  - Reimagining Pastoral Education and Training: An initiative of supporting the Vision and Mission of the Institute by developing and deploying a multimodal system of education and training aimed at lifting the burden of pastoral burnout and its numerous pathological consequences. Specifically, Reimagining Pastoral Education and Training is the Institute’s comprehensive program of study and apprenticeship that supports the pastor (or other expressions of ordained ministry) and congregation from seminary internship (supervised ministry practicum for each seminary course) to residency (the first year following graduation from seminary, taking place at the newly ordained minister’s place of service; involving 12 pastoral competencies delivered online and on-the-ground, with a carefully designed system of [asynchronous online] lectures by senior practitioners, ministry experience with verbatim, and supervised theological reflection), fellowship (seminary + 5 years in which the minister enters a doctor of ministry [or similar] program for the purpose of theological reflection, vocational renewal, and scholarly contribution to an area of need in Gospel ministry), and lifelong learning

Governance

**Executive Summary Infographic: The D. James Kennedy of Reformed Leadership**

Staff

Dr. Michael A. Milton, President, and CEO; Senior Fellow
Mrs. Christine Hartung, Executive Assistant to the President
Mrs. Langley Shealy, Communications (contract employee; assigned by Erskine Seminary)

Board of Trustees

Dr. Michael A. Milton, President-CEO, Tryon, NC
Dr. George Grant, Clerk; Senior Minister, Parish Presbyterian Church (PCA), Franklin, TN
Mrs. Christine Hartung, Recording Secretary, Executive Assistant to the President, Indian Trail, NC (non-voting)
Mrs. Mae Milton, Pastor’s wife, Tryon, NC (non-voting)
Mr. Jeff Johnson, State Farm Agent, Chattanooga, TN
Mr. Kent Warner, Director of Information Technology, Black and Veatch Engineering Firm, Overland Park, KS
Mr. Steve Maye, Managing Partner, Drake Capital, LLC, Charlotte, NC
John Michael E. Milton, Associate Director of Online Learning, Erskine College and Seminary, Due West, SC
Dr. James Carter, Coordinator, Presbyterian, and Reformed Commission on Chaplains, Mount Pleasant, SC
Dr. R.J. Gore, Dean of the Seminary Emeritus, Professor of Systematic Theology, Erskine Theological Seminary, Due West, SC
The Stated Clerk of Tennessee Valley Presbytery, Chattanooga, TN (non-voting)

Media Information

About: https://kennedyinstitute.net/ExecSum
DJK Institute graphics: Dropbox Transfer link to files: https://www.dropbox.com/t/iw2THu7bauKX7RzR
M. Milton press kit with bios, high-resolution photographs: https://michaelmilton.org/about/press-kit/

Projects

The following projects represent current work in the three areas of focus for the Kennedy Institute. Their status—research, planning, construction, completed, or ongoing—are indicated in brackets.

These are examples of how the Kennedy Institute can provide support to your organization.

Research

Pastoral Education and Training project
Peer Review
Grant writing
Leviticus as pastoral education and training
Faith for Living Biblical Guide to the Stages of Life
Multimodal course development on pastoral theology

Writing

Front Page Theology: Public Theology in the Secular Age—The D. James Kennedy Institute of Reformed Leadership Monograph Series (professional) [construction stage]
The Journal of Evangelical and Reformed Theology: An Academic Journal Published by the D. James Kennedy Institute of Reformed Leadership (scholarly) [planning]
Salem Communications (popular articles)
Moral Leadership (a hardcover, softcover book, ebook, and Audible)
Course design for Moral Leadership
Audible recordings of Institute books
Multimodal systems design for graduate-level education