Auburn Theological Seminary is excited to offer its Emerging Leaders Program in support of our mission to identify and strengthen leaders from the pulpit to the public square to build community, bridge divides, pursue justice, and heal the world.

The Auburn Emerging Leaders Program is a year-long experience with a multifaith, cross-cultural, and diverse cohort of emerging faith-rooted leaders between the ages of 18 and 35. The Emerging Leaders program begins with a five-day in-person, immersive residential intensive and continues with monthly virtual cohort gatherings. Each cohort of 16 – 20 members is selected through an application process and receives Auburn Emerging Leader fellowships covering program curriculum, travel, and meals.

Auburn is committed to:
     • Ground faith and religious leaders in their traditions and a diverse multifaith community of learners.
     • Equip leaders with vocational practices and tools to sustain their work long-term and intergenerational.
     • Connect leaders committed to healing the world with peers across religious and cultural differences.

Auburn’s Emerging Leaders Program is designed for you to:
     • Deepen their grounding in their religious tradition through introduction to the practices of scriptural reasoning and engaging in transformative textual engagement practices of long-time Auburn professor Walter Wink, Paulo Friere, and Augusto Boal.
     • Gain a new understanding of others’ religious grounding and traditions.
     • Acquire practices for their work to build community, bridge divides, and pursue justice as healing-centered leaders that can be applied in a variety of contexts.
     • Experience positive interactions with cohort members with diverse traditions, experiences, and contexts.
     • Build supportive cohort relationships that are expected to extend beyond the in-person program.

Auburn’s Program for Emerging Leaders offers participants ages 18-35:

     • A five-day immersive retreat with a diverse, multifaith cohort for shared, interactive learning in the framework, grounding, and practices for healing-centered leadership to build community, bridge divides, and pursue justice.
     • Twelve monthly cohort sessions to deepen understanding, practice skills, explore case studies of practices applied in context, and sustain community support.
     • Opportunities to delve more deeply into the material and broaden engagement through additional courses on Auburn’s virtual platform, Kwaray.
     • Designated cohort room on Kwaray and opportunity to engage with other Auburn cohorts.
     • Opportunity to apply for Auburn’s Heal the World annual summit for peer learning with other Auburn cohort alumni.
     • Facilitation by and coaching from Auburn’s leadership team with decades of experience and leadership in narrative change and pedagogy, vocation, trauma-informed and healing-centered ministry, multifaith justice work, and spiritual formation.

When and Where.

From 5:00 pm on Monday, April 21, until 11 a.m. on Friday, April 25, 2025. 

The Janet Prindle Center for Prophetic Leadership will host the event at the Virginia Mae Center at the Washington National Cathedral, April 21-25, 2025.

All costs (program, travel within the U.S., lodging, and meals during the program) for those selected to participate in this cohort will be paid for by Auburn Theological Seminary.

Complete the application form to reflect your interests and experience.

Applications are due by February 15 and participants will be notified by March 21. 

This selective program aims to compose a diverse and committed cohort.