McDowell Manor Project is a working title for Rev. Dr. James M. Leonard's retirement ambition and ministry project, It is a project to be developed over the next ten years, with an estimated inauguration date of 2027. Its goals include creation of capital and promotion of rural industry in an economically depressed area of West Virginia such as McDowell or Wyoming County, within the context of bivocational pastoral ministry.
At the Project's core is a the manor home, property, and improvements. The manor property will be capable of supporting the Leonard family, and foster care or a group home, as well as a bed and breakfast or hostel, a small working farm, a modest family-style restaurant and gift shop, and a border collie breeding kennel. The McDowell Project will be closely tied to a manor church which will minister to the children and to the larger community.
When fully operational, the Project will provide limited work opportunities typical of a working farm, such as a butcher, cook, general laborers and farm hands. Volunteers will be solicited from the neighboring communities. The Project envisions Jim Leonard as bivocational church pastor, supervisor, and coordinator. The Project will be funded through Leonard investment capital, personal retirement income, bivocational ministerial income, and gifts and endowments from state and charitable sources, with a view toward long-term financial viability.
