Dr. Mycal X. Brickhouse Named Program Director of Fuller Seminary-led FORWARD Consortium
Fuller Seminary is excited to announce that Rev. Dr. Mycal X. Brickhouse has been named the program director for the new FORWARD Consortium, effective April 16. The previously announced FORWARD Consortium, being launched through a $10 million grant from Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, is a collaborative network of evangelical institutions, led by Fuller, that seeks to reimagine the formation of pastoral leaders for the evolving needs of the church.
Dr. Brickhouse, who will transition from his current role as director of programs and grants at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity School, is a seasoned leader with extensive experience in managing multi-million-dollar grant programs and cultivating collaborative partnerships. Working at the intersection of faith, leadership, and community empowerment, he previously served as director of alumni relations at Duke Divinity School and is also presently director of outreach and church expansion at Baptist Grove Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. Brickhouse is an ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, with a decade of experience as an associate and senior pastor. He holds dual BA degrees in political science and African American studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MDiv and DMin from Duke Divinity School. He is also a graduate of the Black Theology and Leadership Institute at Princeton Theological Seminary and the Millennial Leaders Project at Union Theological Seminary. Actively committed to the work of reconciliation, justice, and community uplift, Brickhouse serves on the Board of Directors for NeighborUp, formerly Dorcas Ministries.
In the role of program director for the FORWARD Consortium, Brickhouse will provide strategic leadership and day-to-day oversight for a collaborative initiative that will equip ministry leaders for a rapidly evolving church amidst an increasingly digitally formed world. FORWARD brings together Fuller with other theological and educational institutions and networks to co-design solutions to pressing challenges in ministry preparation—including rising costs, geographic barriers, digital disruption, and the evolving needs of diverse congregational contexts. The initiative is anchored in three core strategies of digital-forward connection, digital-forward curriculum, and digital-forward capacity building.
The consortium, led by Fuller, with consulting support from Magellan Learning Solutions, includes the Association for Hispanic Theological Education (AETH), Hampton University School of Religion, Harbor Genesis Christian College, LABI College, Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, and Western Theological Seminary. Moving these institutions beyond competitive postures toward a model of generous partnership, FORWARD leverages the collective wisdom and resources of each to enable scalable projects and strategies impossible for any single institution to undertake alone.
Dr. Jeffrey F. Keuss, dean of Fuller’s School of Mission and Theology, said, “The FORWARD Consortium was built on the conviction that no single institution can meet the full complexity of what the church needs today, and Dr. Mycal Brickhouse embodies that spirit of generous collaboration. He is a pastor, a scholar, and a bridge-builder who understands both the urgency of this moment and the long arc of what faithful ministry formation requires. We are excited for what his leadership will bring to this initiative and for this next chapter of equipping leaders who share Christ’s hope and healing in the church and the world.”
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About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United States and around the globe.
About Fuller Seminary
Fuller Seminary is a multidenominational graduate institution that has equipped visionary ministers, scholars, teachers, mental health professionals, and intercultural leaders since 1947 to share Christ’s hope and healing in the church and the world. With graduate degrees, certificate programs, and professional and personal development courses delivered through two schools and a global online community of students and learners, Fuller comprehensively prepares Jesus-led women and men to become the compassionate, resilient leaders the world needs now.