Residency Programs
- - Scholars, clergy, church leaders, thinkers, artists, and writers who are seeking to discern and communicate the meaning of Christian identity and unity in a religiously and culturally diverse world are invited to apply for our residency programs.
  - Get Practical Information »
  - Apply for a Fellowship »
  - View 2020 Scholars »
- - Resident Scholars Program
    
    for those looking to stay a semester or a full academic year
  - Program Details
  - Work and Scholarship
  - Housing and Facilities
  - Application Process
  - Former Resident Scholars
  - Apply Now »
- - Short term Residencies
    
    for those looking to stay for a shorter period of time
  - Program Details
  - Living and Working
  - Application Process
  - Former Short Term Scholars
  - Apply Now »
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Writing Workshops
- - Each summer, the Collegeville Institute opens its doors to pastors, ministers, lay leaders, and other thinkers and writers for week-long, intensive writing workshops geared toward various levels of writing skill, genre and interest.
    
    Each fall, the Collegeville Institute partners with other institutes, seminaries, or churches to coordinate regional off-site workshops.
  - Get Practical Information »
  - View 2021 Workshops »
  - Explore Past Workshops »
- - Open Applications:
  - Our Own Deep Wells: Writing on Vocation across Race and Culture
  - Emerging Writers Mentorship Program
  - Apply Now »
- - Closed Applications:
  - Please note: We are not accepting applications for many of our summer 2021 workshops because we rescheduled several from summer 2020 due to Covid-19. We will return to a full roster of our summer writing workshops in 2022.
  - Apart, and Yet a Part: A Workshop with Writing Coach Michael N. McGregor
  - Exploring Identity and (Dis)belonging through the Personal Essay
  - In the Thick of It: Explorations of Advanced Topics in Prose Writing
  - Breaking the Academic Mold: Liberating the Powerful, Personal Voice Inside You
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Vocation Projects
- - The Communities of Calling Initiative invites congregations into a 5-year project on vocation.
    
    The Collegeville Institute Seminars offer resources to explore calling in your community.
  - Vocation Projects Overview »
- Resources on Vocation:
- - Called to Life – a free program for small groups
  - Called to Work – a free program for small groups
- - Lives Explored – a video storytelling project
  - Books – publications on vocation
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Fellows Program
- Bringing together an ecumenical group of gifted Minnesota faith leaders, the Collegeville Institute Fellows Program focuses on leadership development with the goal of strengthening religious leaders’ sense of themselves as civic leaders.
- Fellows Program Overview
- Twin Cities Fellows Program
- Rural Minnesota Fellows Program
- Multi-Religious Fellows Program
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Faith and Writing
- Good writing is essential to powerful theological education within congregations. In this section we highlight book reviews, provide resources for good writing, feature the writing of our program participants, and more.
- Resources for Faith and Writing
- Participant Publications
- Bearings magazine
- Submit Your Publication »
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Bearings Online Articles on Vocation

Called to Life: Vocation Stories about Identity
Going to the source, hearing an authority speak our truth, finding our place in one stop on our vocational journey-- all these speak to who we are.
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What Dance in Church Could Do for Women
"My skill as a dancer began to fuse with my faith ... until the administration told us it was distracting and we needed to go behind the stage curtain."
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Called to Life: Vocation Stories about Belonging
"I watched the glowing lantern glide up toward the spark of Orion’s stars, just barely aware that, within me, a new spark was growing, too."
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Called to Life: Vocation Stories about Food and Belonging
What food traditions bring you life? Our connections with others, both family and friends, call us to love and belonging.
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Running the Race
As we "run the race" to win, as Paul encouraged the Corinthians, what "deliberate practice" will help shape us as Christian disciples?
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Jesus and the Good Citizen
Encounter by encounter, the Gospels contrast the power of God in Christ to the destructive force of the systems and authorities that kept Galilee and Judea in thrall to Roman rule.
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Make Honey While the Sun Shines: Beekeeping in God’s Time
The bees taught me a new way to be in time. I knew how to march in time, but the honeybees showed me how to dance to the rhythms of nature in the city.
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Leading Lives That Matter, Second Edition
In a revision of their book, "Leading Lives that Matter," Dorothy Bass and Mark Schwehn provide new perspectives as they ask: What should we do and who should we be?
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Following God’s Call to Survive
Patrick Reyes encourages us "to do ministry as my grandma did: in the midst of deep suffering and pain, an abundance of love and healing."
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When Purpose Isn’t Enough
The language of purpose will only take us so far; we need something more to embrace the sacrifices we cannot avoid at this time.
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