La Sierra University receives $1 million grant for new vocational discernment center

Program Scope and Collaboration

The CVDF will operate as a hub for recruitment, ministerial preparation, and support for alumni. The discernment-formation program will be a co-curricular requirement for all divinity school students in professional programs, integrating seamlessly with their theological education.

Key activities administered by the center will include organizing an annual Vocational Festival for the larger community, including an annual Discernment Day for university students, establishing discernment ministry teams for congregations, offering spiritual direction for ministerial students, and providing counseling services to students. Festival and Discernment Day activities will include keynote speakers, breakout sessions, worships, and opportunities to speak and fellowship with divinity school faculty as well as students, pastors, chaplains, religious educators and alumni.

Current divinity school students will begin the process of discernment and formation within congregations where they worship, as part of their educational degree requirements. The center will form in each partnering congregation discernment ministry teams that will accompany students who are engaged in the discernment process. Curricular revisions have also begun in a curated list of classes.

The program will be overseen by a director and an administrative assistant, working alongside the divinity school faculty.

The H.M.S. Richards Divinity School, which is the premier ministry training school for Seventh-day Adventist churches in the western United States, intends for the CVDF to serve the expansive Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. This region includes the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah, encompassing 729 congregations and 721 official Adventist ministers, in addition to numerous non-denominational congregations in the Southern California Inland Empire region.

La Sierra University’s Divinity School is collaborating closely with several ministry organizations, including the Ministerial Department of the Southeastern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Adventist Health, The Pacific Union Conference Growing Young Leaders Initiative, and the Nevada Utah Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. 

Further support and commitment to partnership have been expressed by the Southern California Conference, Hawaii Conference, Central California Conference, Nevada-Utah Conference, and Southeastern California Conference. These partners highlight the critical need for the center, noting that traditional Adventist Christianity lacks a formalized discernment process for those called to ministry.

“The opportunity to collaborate in helping the next generation discern their call to ministry and develop the skills to thrive in that calling is both timely and essential,” said Will Penick, ministerial director of the Southeastern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and an alumnus of La Sierra’s divinity school. “Through the Growing Young Leaders program and scholarship, SECC remains committed to supporting students on this journey, and we’re excited to see La Sierra University’s grant further strengthen resources for this vital work of vocational formation.”

Alumnus Aren Rennacker last fall took the reins of the new Growing Young Leaders initiative at the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists under which the SECC and six other conferences operate. He noted, “I am thrilled to hear about this generous grant for La Sierra University. Developing the next generation of leaders in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church is a paramount venture that La Sierra has long been undertaking—now, they can do so in even greater ways,” Rennacker said. “As someone who works directly with students at the H.M.S. Richards Divinity School, and a graduate myself, I am excited for how these additional resources will further enhance the school's mission of preparing and equipping pastors and leaders of all levels.”

Arthur, La Sierra’s president noted the importance of the grant’s programs in assisting with students’ work in discerning their spiritual calling. Discernment is a continual process, and the discernment of a calling must take place before a career path is chosen, “because by that time you’re so far down the runway that it’s hard to re-direct,” he said.

Bradford C. Newton, president of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists discussed the grant’s alignment with the Pacific Union’s goal of fostering young leaders by helping them discern their vocational calling in Christ. “Our objective for the union is, we want people to have a sense of their own calling as disciples of Christ [in] whatever they’re going to be doing,” he said. “And that may be pastoral work or being a teacher for the church. But it could also be any kind of activity that you do having a sense that God’s calling you towards a life work that’s meaningful.”

About the H.M.S. Richards Divinity School: The La Sierra University H.M.S. Richards Divinity School is a theological school within the system of Seventh-day Adventist higher education. It integrates believing, thinking, and acting through teaching, scholarship, dialogue, and service. The school offers graduate programs, including the Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Public Theology, Master of Divinity (MDiv), Master of Theological Studies (MTS), and Master of Arts (MA) in Religion or Near Eastern Archaeology, along with various undergraduate programs. The Division of Graduate Studies is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS).

About Lilly Endowment Inc.: Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United State and around the globe.

Contact: Connie Penick, Executive Coordinator and Academic Advisor, H.M.S. Richards Divinity School [email protected] (951) 785-2041