In the city of Salt Lake City, historic Christian faith has never had a significant presence. Salt Lake City is a city settled by people who parted from Protestant Christianity in the mid-1800’s to start a new religious movement. Salt Lake City’s history began with the settling of a misunderstood and persecuted people seeking religious freedom. It is a unique city made up of people who are deeply connected with its history coupled with a growing population of those who consider themselves “outsiders” in a culture strongly influenced by its history. To this day, the percentage of those in the state of Utah who hold to the historic Christianity (Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox) has remained at 8%. This context provides unique challenges for those who are seeking to effectively serve the city as ministers of the gospel. Because of the unique context of Salt Lake City, it is important that biblically informed indigenous leadership takes root.
How will Salt Lake City and the region be reached with the good news of the gospel of grace? Professors Harvie Conn and Manuel Ortiz state, “Utilizing indigenous leaders is the most effective way to reach urban communities for Christ, but it is imperative that anyone chosen to lead first be brought to spiritual maturity through adequate training.” If there is any place in great need of indigenous leaders trained for gospel ministry, it is Utah. In 2005, New Song Presbyterian took this challenge seriously by launching an internship program designed to train indigenous leaders for gospel ministry in Utah.
This ministry training program, now known as The Utah Leadership Initiative (ULI), exists to train ministers from Utah for Utah. To carry out this mission, the Initiative involves 4 phases of training. In the first phase, prospective leaders are given the opportunity to assess their calling and experience core aspects of ministerial work. In phase 2, once a calling is affirmed, participants complete a formal seminary education. Once theological education is complete they move to phase 3 where they participate in an apprenticeship which includes preparation for and completion of licensure and ordination for gospel ministry. Finally, participants move to phase 4 where they begin to develop new ministry endeavors to reach communities across Utah with the gospel.
For more information on the Utah Leadership Initiative contact Mark Peach at mark@newsong.org or check us out on Facebook.
