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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (July 13, 2020) – The Arkansas Conference’s Culture of Calling initiative is excited to announce the funding of a new project to establish a chapter of the nationally recognized organization Project Transformation in the Southeast District.
Project Transformation is a non-profit organization affiliated with the Young Clergy Initiative of the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Higher Education and Ministry that seeks to empower children and college-age young adults who are discerning a calling to ministry.
The organization accomplishes this through summer and one-year service internships, as well as “community-oriented after-school and summer day camp programming for children and youth from low-income neighborhoods.”
The Methodist Foundation for Arkansas grant, which totals $106,500 and is applicable for 1 year, will aid in the establishment of a Project Transformation chapter in the Conference’s Southeast District, as well as provide the salary for a new Executive Director of the chapter, which will be announced at a later date.
“In a time when the world needs the church even more, I am grateful the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas can partner with the Arkansas Annual Conference to help more people discern a call into ministry through the Culture of Calling grant we have provided,” said the Rev. J. Wayne Clark, president and CEO of the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas.
Michelle Moore, Developer of Clergy Recruitment for the Arkansas Conference, applauded the grant and sees the establishment of a Project Transformation chapter as a wonderful opportunity for the entire Conference, but particularly the Southeast District.
“I am excited to see what the establishment of a chapter of Project Transformation in Southeast Arkansas will do you increase the number of opportunities for college students exploring a call to ministry and social justice work to remain in Arkansas to build relationships with clergy and churches in the Southeast District,” said Michelle Moore, Developer of Clergy Recruitment for the Arkansas Conference.
Project Transformation also maintains a strong relationship with five United Methodist seminaries in the United States — including Wesley Theological Seminary, Perkins School of Theology, Candler School of Theology, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and Duke Divinity School — to provide scholarship opportunities, oftentimes full tuition coverage, to former interns of Project Transformation.
In addition to establishing a chapter of PT in Arkansas, Moore will be partnering with the Rev. Sam Meadors of 200K More Reasons’ newly established The Delta Project to accomplish a key goal of reducing childhood illiteracy in the Delta region of the state.
“This nation-wide program is a beautiful marriage between Michelle Moore’s work with Culture of Calling and 200K More Reasons’ The Delta Project,” said Meadors. “Project Transformation is close to my heart. It is where I discerned a call to ministry in the United Methodist Church as a young adult. After serving with Project Transformation in Tennessee and Texas, I have wanted to bring this amazing ministry to my home state. I am so grateful for the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas for investing in the future of children, young adults, and churches as a part of Project Transformation.”
More information on Project Transformation can be found on their website, www.projecttransformation.org/.
For more information on The Delta Project, contact the Rev. Sam Meadors at samantha.meadors@arumc.org.
Michelle Moore can be reached at michelle.moore@arumc.org.
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