Lilly Endowment grants to theological schools will fund major collaborations to prepare and support pastors

Nov. 24, 2025
Contact: Judith Cebula
317.916.7327 | communications@lei.org

Lilly Endowment grants to theological schools will fund major collaborations to prepare and support pastors

INDIANAPOLIS – Lilly Endowment Inc. has approved a new round of grants to help theological schools in the United States and Canada work collaboratively with other schools and church-related organizations to strengthen their preparation and support of ordained and lay pastoral leaders for congregational leadership now and in the future.

These 45 large-scale collaboration grants, ranging from $2.5 million to $10 million, represent the latest round of the Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, which is helping theological schools enhance their educational and financial capacities—all with the aim of supporting current pastoral leaders and preparing aspiring pastoral leaders with the skills needed to effectively lead congregations from a wide variety of contexts.

The theological schools receiving grants are affiliated with a broad range of church traditions, including among others, evangelical, mainline Protestant, nondenominational, Pentecostal, Orthodox, Catholic, and the Black church. Collectively, these schools will work collaboratively with nearly 400 other theological schools, colleges and universities, congregations, church agencies, denominations and other religious organizations to educate and support more effectively both aspiring and current pastoral leaders of churches.

Large-scale collaborations supported by these new grants include, among others:

Theological schools working together to reduce costs and increase the quality and number of courses available to students by sharing faculty and curricula, offering accelerated degree programs, and creating or enhancing shared digital educational platforms.
Theological schools, undergraduate institutions, denominational judicatories and agencies, congregations, church networks and Christian camps working together to identify and encourage young people to explore vocations in pastoral ministry through ministry exploration events, ministry internships, leadership development programs, and deploying seminary faculty to teach classes at undergraduate institutions.
Theological schools working with congregations and denominational agencies to make theological education more accessible by expanding non-degree programs to support pastors without theological degrees, embedding educational programs in congregations, providing programs to serve lay leaders, and designing programs for bi-vocational pastoral leaders and pastors serving in different ministry contexts.
Theological schools merging, consolidating educational degree programs, or sharing costs for administrative and other services.
Theological schools establishing shared endowments to increase scholarship funds for current and future pastoral leaders.

A list of the new grants can be found here.

“Theological schools play a vital role in preparing and supporting pastoral leaders for Christian congregations,” said Christopher L. Coble, the Endowment’s vice president for religion. “We believe that one of the most promising paths for theological schools to carry forward their important missions and enhance their impact is to work collaboratively with other schools, as well as congregations and other church-related organizations. By doing so they can strengthen their collective capacities to prepare and support pastoral leaders for effective congregational service now and in the future.”

The Endowment launched the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative in 2021. Since then, it has provided grants totaling more than $700 million to support 163 theological schools in efforts to strengthen their own educational and financial capacities and to support 61 schools in developing large-scale collaborative endeavors. In connection with each round of funding, the Endowment has also made grants to the Association of Theological Schools and the In Trust Center for Theological Schools to develop and administer a coordination program to help participating schools share insights and resources with each other for mutual learning.

About Lilly Endowment
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private philanthropic 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. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment 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 and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of about religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United State and around the globe.