Forming Church Leaders To lead faithful change in a rapidly changing and disruptive world.

Who We Are

Under the direction of Executive Director Dr. Tod Bolsinger, the Church Leadership Institute (CLI) is a coaching group (through cohort based learning) and a research center of church leadership. While there are a number of good resources at work in the larger church today, the De Pree Center Church Leadership Institute brings four distinct aspects to this work:

Convene

Through our alumni and partner organizations, we bring the diverse church together across denominational and cultural lines to address the largest questions and challenges for the widest possible learning. “We talk to people who don’t talk to each other.

Research

Nested in a graduate school, our resources and experiences are grounded and will continually be grounded in research. Ongoing research will enable us to continually learn and offer those learnings to the larger church.

Reach

As a nonprofit institution with a technology platform and international reach, we can raise money and serve churches that could never afford the expertise of consultant agencies and pour the money from our consulting services back into other congregations, thus strengthening the larger body of Christ.

Formation

As an institution of formational education, our experience and expertise are on the formation of the inner life, character. resilience, and wisdom necessary for leadership-both individuals and congregations as a whole.

Who We Serve

The Church Leadership Institute primarily serves pastors and Christian leaders seeking to bring change to their communities. CLI comes alongside those who have said, “Seminary didn’t prepare me for this” and “I’m not sure I can survive this. Pastors and Christian leaders are mostly trained to be teachers and chaplains, but a rapidly changing, continually disruptive world requires that they also become skilled at leading change in their organizations where there are few best practices. CLI exists to come alongside those pastors and Christian leaders who are attempting to lead faithful change.