Lake Junaluska, N.C. — The Foundation for Evangelism is pleased to announce it has received a $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Thriving Congregations Initiative. The grant will provide support for Catalytic Cohorts of Clergy and Laity to Lead Thriving Congregations. These training cohorts, along with innovation grants, will empower smaller congregations to launch new evangelistic experiments.
Utilizing and expanding on the Foundation’s proven online and in-person cohorts, churches will understand their gifts, listen well to their communities, and be equipped to evaluate current ministries as well as develop new ones. These cohorts have already trained more than 1,000 seminarians, pastors and congregations during the past seven years.
Dr. Heather Lear, Vice President for Grants for The Foundation for Evangelism said, “We are thrilled to be granted the opportunity to expand our impact through the support of Lilly Endowment and are grateful for the generosity, vision, and passion to see local congregations thrive.”
The Equipping the Local Church Grants, an annual grant cycle of The Foundation for Evangelism, supports more than 50 congregations across eight Methodist-Wesleyan-tradition denominations. After three grant cycles, the Foundation found that, while most smaller churches have the desire to reach new people, they do not know where to begin. During a five-year period, this grant will enable the creation of 18 cohort teams of clergy and lay leaders from 360 congregation (more than 2,400 total leaders). Participants will gain perspective on their ministry context, mastering tools and skills for evangelistic ministry with a measurable impact for congregation and community.
Following the completion of cohort training, congregations will be eligible to receive an innovation grant to implement their ministry experiment using the tools and skills gained. The Foundation will also create ongoing assessments of grant impact as it follows cohort congregations for five years post-training.
