Second Cohort for CHHSM Scholar Finalists Provides Mentoring and Financial Assistance to Innovative Leaders

An unusual coming together of funding has created new blessings for the UCC’s Council for Health and Human Service Ministries (CHHSM) and the finalists of its Rev. Jerry Paul Scholar Program, or CHHSM Scholar Program. Beginning this spring, and through the 2025-2026 academic year, the three finalists not selected as this year’s CHHSM Scholar will form a one-year Leadership Cohort.

The Rev. Davanta R. Scruggs Sr., Erin Dooley, and the Rev. Regan Doyle Saoirse are the three members of the new cohort. Scruggs, senior pastor of New Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Shelbyville, Ky., is pursuing a master’s degree in community leadership at Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, Mo. Dooley currently is pastor of inclusivity at Kaleo Phoenix (Ariz.) Church and an Eden student earning a master’s degree in community leadership. She also is co-founder of BLK South, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to the healing and development of African-American communities in the southern United States. Saoirse is a UCC chaplain working towards a D.Min. degree in interreligious chaplaincy at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in New Brighton, Minn.

“The diverse strengths of these three candidates presented a unique opportunity that was too good to pass up,” said the Rev. Dr. Elyse Berry, CHHSM’s associate for advocacy and leadership development, “so when funds became available, we jumped at the chance to create a new cohort.”

The new cohort will support the three seminarians in integrating and engaging their experience in health and human services in new ways through a faith-based perspective, structure and community. All three will be enrolled in the 2025-2026 Nollau Leadership Institute, thanks to a grant from the Pension Boards, United Church of Christ. Participants also will have peer coaching and mentoring in their interest areas facilitated by CHHSM staff, offering support and networking opportunities with CHHSM organizations and various UCC national ministries. Additionally, they will participate in the CHHSM Annual Gathering and engage with CHHSM’s board of directors and affinity groups.

Additionally, each participant will receive a $5,000 grant. Scruggs and Lashley’s monies come courtesy of a Deaconess Foundation grant. It will go to assist Scruggs and Lashley with their current nonprofit undertakings. Saoirse’s grant, for her seminary studies, is from CHHSM’s Legacy Fund, which funds leadership formation initiatives.

“Each of the participants is a returning or second-career seminarian, having had great success in their work as part of their call to ministry,” Berry added. “The focus will be on what emerges for them when they are able to fully bring their faith, spirituality, and passion for social justice into their health and human services work and leadership.”

Through the cohort, the three will experience a community of kindred spirits and colleagues emphasizing that they are not alone in their desire to bring their whole selves to their work in the public realm.

About the Cohort Participants

The Rev. Davanta Scruggs Sr. graduates from Eden at the end of this year. He first felt a call to ministry at age 10, and has spent the years since in a variety of church roles, from serving as a teen pastor at a congregation in Indianapolis in 2018, serving as director of the Juvenile Justice Ministry for Central Indiana Youth for Christ, and focusing on community transformation and violence prevention as “peace maker” with the Indianapolis Office of Public Health and Safety.

Now as pastor, he envisions the “NMZ [New Mt. Zion] Transformation Project, a comprehensive initiative that will utilize the 22 acres of land owned by New Mt. Zion to provide housing, resources, and opportunities for the community. “This program will sharpen my ability to merge theology with practical community organizing,” Scruggs said. “Through mentorship and hands-on learning, I hope to refine my approach to ministry, ensuring that the work I do — from leading my church to advancing the NMZ Transformation Project — is both theologically sound and community centered. It will also help me think critically about sustainable faith-based advocacy.”

“I see this program as an opportunity to deepen my understanding of how churches can be active agents of change, especially in areas like housing justice and economic equity,” he added. “I’m committed to ministry that extends beyond the pulpit and transforms lives, and CHHSM’s mission aligns with that calling.”

Scruggs said he is most excited about learning from experienced mentors and building relationships “with a cohort of leaders who share a passion for integrating faith and justice.”

Erin Dooley’s nonprofit, BLK South, focuses on art, health, education, and history preservation as vehicles for community development and healing. “Our vision of ‘reverse migration’ aligns closely with CHHSM’s commitment to fostering justice and inclusion,” she said. Reverse migration is a term used to describe the movement of Black Americans from the northern United States to the South. During the Great Migration of the early-to-mid 20th century, Black Americans moved north for job opportunities not available to them in the South, and to escape the Jim Crow laws. Since then, Black Americans have been moving back to the South in increasing numbers to reclaim cultural and familial ties, among other reasons, known as reverse migration.

In addition to BLK South and pastoring Kaleo Phoenix Church, Dooley also is podcast producer and host of “Millennials in Ministry, AZ”. She sees the cohort program “as a great opportunity to further develop my leadership skills, expand my theological education, and build relationships with other faith-driven leaders who are deeply invested in justice-centered ministry.”

“I believe the CHHSM program will help equip me with the resources and strategic insight necessary to sustain and expand the impact of my ministry,” she added. “I am most looking forward to the opportunity to engage with a cohort of like-minded leaders who are passionate about faith-based social change. Having a network of individuals who share a commitment to equity and justice will be both inspirational and deeply formative. I am also eager to gain insight from experienced mentors who have navigated the challenges of leading faith-based organizations in the health and human service sectors.”

As with Scruggs, Dooley looks to the CHHSM program to give her insights into extending her work beyond the pulpit. “As my ministry expands beyond traditional church spaces into nonprofit leadership and community development, I recognize the importance of having theologically grounded and practically informed guidance,” she said. “This program will allow me to process the complexities of leading a nonprofit rooted in faith, justice and community transformation while being surrounded by others who understand the unique challenges and opportunities of this work.”

The Rev. Regan Saoirse joined the UCC in 2000 and has been an ordained minister for 16 years, yet she had never before connected with CHHSM. She sought out the leadership program as a way to learn more about CHHSM and its members’ ministries. “I also loved the sound of the work done in the Nollau Leadership Institute and wanted to be a student,” she said.

Participation in the cohort will allow her time to work on her doctoral dissertation on caring for LGBTQ clergy, “but it will also allow me to dig deep into learning more about nonprofit spiritual and pastoral care, and about the UCC family of CHHSM,” she said.

Saoirse comes to the program in a slightly different place than many other Nollau participants. “I am in a transitional period with my chaplaincy,” she said. “I did healthcare chaplaincy for a long time. So with this cohort and my D.Min. dissertation, I hope to discern a new path.”

As a consultant for LGBTQ clergy in the UCC’s regional Kansas-Oklahoma Conference, Saoirse hosts quarterly online gatherings and in-person retreats. She is interested especially in senior care and end-of-life care for LGBTQ persons, particularly clergy.

“Recognizing how the coming year will be to our queer family in Christ, we should love on them and advocate justice for all even more. For our queer clergy, they contribute to the heart of our conference and need our support now more than ever,” she said, referencing her role as a consultant.

As part of the cohort, Saoirse said she looks forward to meeting new people who also love to serve others, to share her passion for LGBTQ clergy care, and to learn from the wisdom that others will share.

The new leadership cohort experience will benefit CHHSM and the three seminarians, said Jamar Doyle, president and CEO of CHHSM. “We are thankful for the gifts Davanta, Erin, and Regan will bring to CHHSM during the coming year,” he said, “and we look forward to helping them as they discern the path of God’s call in their lives.”