My research question arises out of my work with Agora, an organization housed at Luther Seminary in St. Paul and dedicated to providing leadership training for immigrant leaders in congregations in Minnesota. I have recently been called to serve as Director of Agora, and I plan to begin this work in October of 2014. If I receive the grant, I would conduct a qualitative research project, interviewing students and teachers in lay formation programs in this country that prepare immigrant leaders for ministry, focusing on my denomination but including other denominational programs as possible. I would also conduct research visits to our two companion synods, in Guatemala and Tanzania, interviewing teachers and leaders in their lay leadership programs, since we often speak of how we need to learn from our global partners in the ways that they identify and prepare leaders for the church. In all settings, I would conduct individual and focus group interviews, using the following topics as a guide:

1. How are new leaders identified, supported, trained and mentored?

2. What are the most helpful pedagogical techniques for immigrant leaders?

3. (For U.S. interviews) What are the dynamics of effective cross-cultural bridge-building between immigrant and traditional faith communities?

I would then write up my findings in longer paper, as well as shorter essays and articles that could be distributed more widely in various circles of interest.