This fall, as registration opens for 2027 CREDO conferences, the Board of Pensions will begin welcoming back ministers who have attended CREDO in the past. Until now, eligible ministers attended only one conference in their career, reflecting an agency commitment for every eligible minister to experience CREDO before expanding the program. Over the years, participants have consistently indicated they would find immense value in returning to CREDO. For most, it is a transformative experience, bringing renewal through its support for spiritual, vocational, health (emotional and physical), and financial wholeness. 

“CREDO has been an important source of support for individual ministers and, by extension, the congregations and communities they serve for over 20 years,” said Lori Neff LaRue, Vice President, Education. “Ministry has become increasingly complex and clergy isolation is a very real concern. To provide a space for ministers to reflect on God’s ongoing call in their lives in the midst of a community of their peers is but one way we demonstrate our commitment to ministerial well-being.”

With the demands of ministry increasing, the Board is expanding its commitment to the program across the arc of ministry, Neff LaRue said. As the expansion unfolds, eligible ministers will be invited to three CREDO conferences, seven to 10 years apart, from ordination to retirement.

The Board is also developing programs to support ministers between CREDO conferences, particularly in the early years of ministry. The additional programs will help ministers build their capacities for resilience and creativity in life and leadership, said the Reverend Dr. Michael Wilson, Director, Education for the Arc of Ministry. As part of its commitment, the Board will pilot a six-week Beginning Well online course this fall for recently ordained pastors.

“The Board of Pensions wants ministers to thrive,” Wilson said. “The Beginning Well program will invite recently ordained ministers to form community, develop capacities for boundaries and spiritual wholeness, and make a plan to flourish as they enter into ministry.”

Eligibility 

CREDO is open to ministers of the Word and Sacrament who are enrolled in the Medical Plan and/or the Defined Benefit Pension Plan and serving a validated ministry, including outside of a congregation. The conference format includes:

• recently ordained — ordained in the PC(USA) more than one and fewer than five years; ages 25-63
• mid-career — ordained in the PC(USA) five or more years ago; ages 30-63
• late career — ordained in the PC(USA) 10 or more years ago; ages 55-63