Resources
Cohorts

Adaptive Church Leadership Cohorts

Register

Training to Lead in a Radically Changed World

Most church leaders today recognize that we are undergoing an unprecedented change. How can we learn to leverage this moment for even greater transformation of our congregations and even greater missional fruitfulness? What does your team need to learn to come out the other side of the pandemic stronger than ever? How do you lead change in such a rapidly changing world? If you find yourself overwhelmed by the challenges, you want to learn to lead real adaptive change.

The Church Leadership Institute offers two different modalities of cohorts: a regionally based hybrid cohort (in collaboration with Fresh Expressions) and a fully online cohort. Both of these cohorts offer resourcing, a team approach, a community of fellow travelers, and coaching that can help you take the important steps towards more impactful ministry in a radically changed world.

Our next fully online cohort will begin in February 2025. Registration will open in October.

At a Glance

Timeline

6-18 months

Dependent on whether you're online or hybrid

Group Size

2-6 people

Online: 2-4, Hybrid: up to 6

Format

Online (via Zoom) and Hybrid

*Hybrid cohorts are regionally-based and run by Fresh Expressions

Adaptive Church Leadership Cohorts

Explore what it means to be adaptive leaders who can go into uncharted territory when everybody has been thrust into it at the same time. Brought to you by the Church Leadership Institute in partnership with Fresh Expressions.

What's Included?

Tight-knit Teams and a Trained Coach

Cohorts include up to 21 church teams, all working in groups of four teams with one trained coach. Together, you'll share 3 group coaching calls that will take place every month.

Hands-On Experience

Three all-cohort webinars provide experiential learning with both experts and other leaders from across the country in real time.

Missional Prototype Method

This tested method will teach you how to best serve your community and to focus on the changes needed within your congregation to faithfully thrive in a changing world.

Online Learning Modules

You'll gain access to four modules where your team will learn and put into practice one new leadership concept each month. This material will be yours to access and go back to long after the cohort is complete.

Best-Selling Leadership Resources

Every member of your team will receive two best-selling leadership books.

Regionally Based and Hybrid Cohorts

Through an 18-month process in collaboration with Fresh Expressions, a team of up to 6 participants from your congregation will discover and live into the principles of adaptive change that lead to impactful ministry in the 21st century.

The hybrid version has the same content as the online one, but it includes in-person meetings as well. Registration for the hybrid Adaptive Capacity Cohort is run by Fresh Expressions.

Learn More
Regionally Based and Hybrid Cohorts featured image

Meet Your Guide

Tod Bolsinger is the Senior Congregational Strategist and Associate Professor of Leadership Formation at Fuller Seminary. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1993, Dr. Bolsinger served as senior pastor of San Clemente Presbyterian Church from 1997 to 2014. Prior to that he was associate pastor of discipleship and spiritual formation at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood.

Holding both a PhD in Theology and Master of Divinity from Fuller, Bolsinger taught graduate-level classes in theology for 14 years at Fuller’s regional campus in Orange County prior to joining the seminary’s regular faculty. He has extensive experience in church and nonprofit consulting and executive coaching. Building on his work in Canoeing the Mountains: Leadership in Uncharted Territory and Tempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change, Bolsinger leads the Online Adaptive Capacity Cohort based on the convictions that leaders are shaped in leading, require vulnerable self-reflection, safe relationships, and formative practices in order to lead a process of discernment, experimentation, and learning.

Tod Bolsinger featured image

Tod Bolsinger

Executive Director

Financial Assistance

Thanks to a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment, we will be subsidizing 16 churches with grants that range between $500-$1,000 for each church team.

Program Pricing

Online: $1,500/team (2-4 people)

You will experience:

  • 6-month accelerator program
  • Qualification for an optional year of individualized coaching
  • No expensive travel. No time-consuming concepts to master. Just 100% online real-time learning for your real-life situation.

Specialized Coaching Add-On:

An additional $1,500 for 12 months of follow-up coaching

  • Experiment with prototypes
  • Integrate the changes into your church culture for long-term adaptive transformation

Hybrid via Fresh Expressions: $5,999 or $279/month for up to 6 people

You will experience:

  • Learning skills for leading through change
  • Learning how to craft effective missional experiments
  • Learning to navigate a congregation through change

*The cohort’s cost includes a $1,000 non-refundable deposit

Ready to Apply?

Step 1: Fill out the form

Fill out the application.

Step 2: Review supplemental content

If your church is accepted between June and November, you will gain access to pre-cohort content.

Step 3: Confirm and communicate

If you have additional questions please email cli@fuller.edu.

Prepare to transform
your work and leadership.

Register for a cohort and find the support and guidance you need to lead with courage and discernment.

Register