December 19, 2024
Contact: Judith Cebula
317.916.7327 | cebulaj@lei.org

Grants will support efforts nationwide to strengthen Christian congregations in small towns and rural areas

INDIANAPOLIS – Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded grants to 20 organizations across the United States to provide resources to help churches in rural areas and small towns enhance the vitality of their ministries and strengthen the leadership of the pastors and lay leaders who guide them. The Endowment made the grants through its Ministry in Rural Areas and Small Towns Initiative (Rural and Small Towns Initiative).

Ranging from $1,425,863 to $7,500,000, the grants total more than $95 million. Funds will support pastors and leaders in congregations in rural settings in a wide variety of ways. Efforts will include:

• Hosting workshops, conferences and webinars to explore common challenges facing churches in rural settings
• Developing and sharing resources designed specifically for rural and small-town ministries
• Offering certificate and training programs on rural ministry for pastors and congregational lay leaders to strengthen their leadership skills
• Providing coaching, mentoring and other forms of support for pastoral and lay leaders
• Building or strengthening networks among rural and small-town churches for shared learning and mutual support
• Providing small grants to congregations to help them develop or enhance collaborations with other organizations in their communities to address local challenges.

The funded organizations will serve as resource hubs in their church networks and/or geographic regions and work collaboratively with more than 160 other organizations that will also provide resources and support to rural and small-town churches.

“Rural and small-town congregations play critical roles in supporting the vitality of their local communities,” said Christopher L. Coble, the Endowment’s vice president for religion. “Yet many resources available to support congregations do not address adequately the particular challenges faced by churches in rural settings. Our hope is that these grants will provide much needed resources and support to rural and small-town churches to help them address their challenges and enhance and extend the many ways that they serve their communities.”

Organizations funded through the Rural and Small Towns Initiative represent a broad spectrum of Christian traditions that includes Catholic, mainline and evangelical Protestant, and Pentecostal faith communities as well as communities rooted in Black Church and Hispanic traditions, among others. Based in 15 states, they will work to reach all regions of the country by working with a wide range of collaborating organizations, including colleges and universities, national and regional denominational offices and agencies, multidenominational church networks and parachurch organizations.

Included in this initiative are grants to the Center for Rural Strategies located in Whitesburg, KY, and to Indiana University Foundation to support Indiana University’s Center for Rural Engagement based in Bloomington, IN. The grants will help these two organizations draw on their expertise in rural community development, engagement and communications to assist other organizations being funded through the Rural and Small Towns Initiative.

The organizations and the grants they were awarded are as follows:

American Baptist Theological Seminary, Nashville, TN  |  $1,999,994
Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI  |  $6,326,735
Ashland University, Ashland, OH  |  $2,464,667
Catholic Church Extension Society of the United States of America, Chicago, IL |  $7,500,000
Catholic Rural Life, St. Paul, MN  |  $5,000,000
Center for Rural Strategies, Whitesburg, KY  |  $1,499,674
Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, Austin, TX  |  $5,000,000
Evangel University of the Assemblies of God, Springfield, MO  |  $7,500,000
Grove City College, Grove City, PA  |  $4,999,424
Hood Theological Seminary, Salisbury, NC  |  $1,500,000
Indiana University Foundation, Bloomington, IN  |  $1,425,863
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY  |  $5,000,000
Mexican American Catholic College, San Antonio, TX  |  $6,290,000
Rural Economic Development Center, Raleigh, NC  |  $6,388,592
Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA  |  $7,500,000
Rural Home Missionary Association, Morton, IL  |  $3,182,546
Samford University, Birmingham, AL  |  $5,000,000
University of the Ozarks, Clarksville, AR  |  $4,877,803
Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, IA  |  $7,400,000
Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, IL  |  $5,000,000

About Lilly Endowment
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based 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. Although the gifts of stock remain a 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. Although the Endowment maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana, it also funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion. While the primary aim of its religion grantmaking focuses on strengthening the leadership and vitality of Christian congregations in the United States, the Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding about religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the contributions that people of all faiths and diverse religious communities make to our greater civic well-being.