Media Contact: Kerry Traubert

(404) 727-1170
ktraubert@fteleaders.org

COURTNEY COWART APPOINTED REGIONAL DIRECTOR

FOR CALLING CONGREGATIONS INITIATIVE

FTE taps scholar, author and community leader to cultivate “Vocation Care”

ATLANTA, June 2, 2010 – The Fund for Theological Education (FTE) has named
Courtney Cowart—a scholar with extensive experience in community building, spiritual
formation and education programs of the Episcopal Church—to its Calling
Congregations program team.

Calling Congregations is a national, ecumenical effort to equip congregations

and faith-based organizations to play a vital role in noticing and nurturing young men
and women with the potential to become excellent pastoral leaders. It awards grants
and fellowships; hosts learning events, workshops and conferences; convenes clergy
and lay peer groups; offers online resources and fosters collaboration between diverse
groups for cultivating cultures that identify future leaders.

At FTE, Cowart will work with churches and

other groups to create intentional and
innovative ways to mentor young people as
they explore what it means to be ‘called,’ a
process the Fund describes as Vocation Care.

Cowart comes to FTE from New Orleans,

Courtney Cowart
Regional Director, Calling Congregations
Louisiana, where she was founding co-director
of the Office of Disaster Response in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She also served
as senior adviser for Missional Leadership
Programs for the Diocese, and in this role
developed and taught an accredited course,
“Building the Beloved Community,” designed to
introduce young adults and seminarians to new
models of relational leadership and community
organizing.

“Courtney’s experience is a strong match for the work of calling a new generation of
leaders to renew the church and change the world,” said the Rev. Stephen Lewis,
national director of Calling Congregations. “Her on-the-ground leadership in the Gulf
Coast and at Ground Zero in New York City after 9/11 offers a rare perspective on why
good ministry—and good ministers—matter to society.”

Prior to her work in Louisiana, Cowart was founding chief of staff for the post-9/11
Recovery Ministry of St. Paul’s Chapel in New York City, where she also served the
philanthropic programs of Trinity Church Wall Street. Her book, “An American
Awakening: From Ground Zero to Katrina, the People We Are Free to Be,” tells the story
of what happens in congregations when people hear and follow their call in the
aftermath of disaster, and explores “how to make the collective power of ‘lived
vocation’ normative and contagious” in church and society.

A member of the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, Cowart earned her Th.D. in Anglican
Studies and Master of Arts in Ascetical Theology at The General Theological Seminary.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Vanderbilt University.

The Fund for Theological Education is a nonprofit organization that advocates for
excellence and diversity in pastoral ministry and theological scholarship. For more
information, visit www.fteleaders.org.