Director of Practical Church Leadership and Program Development

Practical Church Leadership (70% of role)

Dakota Wesleyan University (DWU) aspires to be a national leader in equipping church leaders with practical tools, including management and administrative skills, to sustain and build the Church. The university seeks a visionary and collaborative leader to steward and expand its nationally recognized Practical Church Leadership (PCL) program in support of that vision. This role blends program leadership, partnership cultivation, and entrepreneurial program development, with meaningful influence over the future direction of church leadership education at DWU.

Reporting to the Chair of the Business Department, and in regular collaboration with the Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives and the Provost, the ideal candidate will be passionate about providing ministry leaders with the skills and knowledge necessary to sustain and grow the Church. They will understand the evolving context of ministry leadership and remain actively connected to church bodies and ministry networks in order to identify and respond to emerging needs.

Hybrid or remote work may be considered, yet regular on-campus presence is preferred to support collaboration and service to the University community.

The next director will lead and build upon DWU’s Practical Church Leadership program, a nationally recognized program that prepares ministry leaders for outstanding service in their churches and communities. While clergy are well-schooled in theological education, they are seeking administrative and management skills and competencies that enable them to lead in the evolving and ever-changing landscape of church leadership. The PCL program provides an adaptive and practical response to that need.

This is an exciting and dynamic moment to enter this work. Dakota Wesleyan University has a national network of partners and is a participant in two significant Lilly Endowment grants awarded to Garrett Theological Seminary and Kairos Theological Seminary. These partnerships will bring new collaborators and financial resources to this work, and the director will serve as DWU’s lead in those developments.

Together with grant partners and church bodies, the director will help shape new programs that serve ministry and lay leaders and extend the university’s reach into new populations. For example, the ideal candidate will envision and lead efforts to expand degree completion offerings with UMC’s Course of Study, as well as explore new initiatives such as Spanish-language degree completion and lay leadership programming.

The director will vet and coordinate program expansion and development with a wide range of church bodies, including the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church, and other ministerial partners.

• Candidates must hold a master’s degree or higher
• Experience in both church leadership and nonprofit and/or business administration
• Comfort with budget oversight and business planning
• Experience teaching or facilitating adult learners
• Preferred experience with grant-funded initiatives

• Lead the overall development, execution, and continuous improvement of the PCL program while ensuring program quality, consistency, and alignment with university standards.
• Recruit, support, and advise students enrolled in the program.
• Lead and oversee academic curriculum aligning best practices in nonprofit administration with church leadership. Coordinate curriculum updates in response to emerging ministry needs.
• Teach a minimum of two PCL courses per year, in consultation with the provost.

• Recruit, train, and oversee instructors.
• Recruit, train, and manage the coaching component of the program.
• Host virtual development sessions for adjuncts and coaches.

• Develop and manage partnerships with foundations, conferences, synods, GBHEM, and other stakeholders.
• Solicit scholarships from partners to support PCL scholars.
• Present and/or exhibit at regional and national conferences to recruit students and cultivate…