The Foundation for Evangelism opened applications for its Thriving Congregations Local Church cohort program on December 1. These cohorts will provide comprehensive training and resources built on the Foundation’s 7 year success with online and in-person cohorts that have trained thousands of seminarians, pastors, and laity.
Participating congregations in cohorts will form teams of 5-10 laity and one pastor to qualify for cohort participation. Each church team will be guided through the process of outlining a relevant evangelism experiment, leveraging the knowledge and skills acquired during the cohort training to apply for a grant to help implement their evangelism strategy.
The Thriving Congregations Local Church Cohorts are open to Wesleyan-tradition* congregations in the United States. These training cohorts are intended to enable small and medium-sized** churches to discern and launch an experiment or initiative to share the Gospel and invite others into a relationship with Jesus. Through these cohorts, the Foundation desires to provide an opportunity for faith communities to be creative and take risks.
Any church meeting the criteria may apply. To help clarify the cohort criteria and application process, an information session is available at foundationforevangelism.org/grant-seekers/thriving-congregations-cohorts/.
Applications open December 1, 2024 and will close January 15, 2025.
The Thriving Congregations Local Church Cohorts will hold additional cycles in the Fall of 2025 and Spring of 2026.
The Foundation for Evangelism Thriving Congregations Local Church Cohort program is made possible through a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc, and the generosity of donors, friends, and partners of The Foundation for Evangelism.
For three-quarters of a century, The Foundation for Evangelism has been guided by the belief that the church is God’s primary vessel for offering abundant life to all creation. Our work focuses on strengthening leaders, laity and congregations to be resilient faith communities sharing the Gospel and inviting others into the Body of Christ. Our work to help the Wesleyan-tradition church retain and act upon its zeal for sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ has involved countless hours of resourcing, relationship-building and combined grant awards of more than $18 million. To learn more about our work, visit www.FoundationForEvangelism.org.
* We define Wesleyan-tradition as based on the ministry movement begun in the 18th century by John and Charles Wesley. Responding to God’s pursuit of us, all are invited to the lifelong journey to love God and neighbor with their whole heart.
**under 250 participants
