Flame Fellows

FLAME (Faithful Leaders As Mission Evangelists) Fellows exists to cultivate strong pastoral leaders who are spiritually well-formed, equipped to empower others to make disciples, and committed to reaching their communities for Jesus Christ.

These cohorts will experience a 9-month, in-depth program which includes coaching in a supportive small group context, relational accountability, the opportunity for collaborative work, and experiential learning through guest leaders as well as site visits in the US and abroad.

Overview

September 2025 to May 2026
Kick Off on Thursday, September 4th - 10am to 2pm EST
Sight Visit to Memphis - October 2025
Sight Visit to Cuba - February 2026
Order of the FLAME Gathering - March 2026

Learning Process

FLAME fellows is designed to guide cohort members in two unique ways:

Core Learning: Proven process focused on spiritual formation, mission action planning, and shared leadership.
Contextual Learning: The program adapts content as themes emerge through cohort member inputs.

Covered Expenses

We are grateful to program donors, who enable us to offer program benefits that far exceed registration fees. Here is what’s included:

Coaching Sessions
Monthly Zoom Meetings
Travel to/from site visits, accommodation, and meals
Annual FLAME Gathering Registration Fee
Renown guest leaders joining calls throughout the cohort

Hear from our Fellows

Here's what they say

As leaders, we need places where we're safe, where we can grow, where we can learn and where we can fellowship with one another. Flame Fellows has provided all of that for me, and more! It has been a space where God has sharpened and confirmed vision. It's also been a place of exposure. We recently went to Cuba and had the awesome opportunity to witness the revival that's taking place there, to hear their strategies, and to be prayed for and over by phenomenal leaders while we were there.

I had the privilege of participating in Flame Fellows in 2020, right when none of us knew that we needed it, but we did! It has been an incredible gift in offering support and connection to other pastors and leaders across the Wesleyan Methodist family. It has given me experiences and opportunities to make me a better leader that I wouldn't have had otherwise. It has sharpened my edges, opened my eyes, and it's been the gift of a lifetime!

I had the privilege of being in one of the first cohorts of Flame Fellows and it was one of the best decisions I made! I got to join pastors from across the country from different experiences and backgrounds, learned about church leadership, talked a lot about what was going on in our churches, and found ways to support one another. Pastoring is hard. Leadership is hard. Finding people that are doing the same thing that you're doing who can encourage you is one of the best things about Flame Fellows.

I was fortunate enough to be part of the first Flame Fellows and it was a great time! We got together with pastors all over the country, we Zoomed, we talked about ministry, we grew in our faith and we also grew in understanding how we can continue to tell other people about Jesus. It was an absolute blast! It has drastically changed my life and it has given me a fresh breath of air in ministry. Flame Fellows also gave me so many good friends.

This past year has been amazing for me! I now have a connection of pastors and clergy around the country that I'm able to process life with and to talk about what it is to do ministry in this day. Also, the trips to Memphis and Cuba have been life altering. I got to see the way in which the power of the Holy Spirit manifests in different areas. I got inspiration, stories to tell, and a group of friends from this experience.