Lilly Endowment is pleased to announce a new round of its Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative (Pathways). The aim of this initiative is to help theological schools strengthen and sustain their institutional capacities to prepare and support pastoral leaders for Christian churches.

The Endowment is expanding Pathways by offering two new grant opportunities for theological schools in the United States and Canada accredited by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) to:

• Explore the leadership needs of Christian congregations as well as emerging challenges and opportunities facing their own institutions.
• Gain clarity about their mission in light of these challenges and opportunities and in relationship to the leadership needs of their constituent churches.
• Assess the effectiveness of their financial and educational strategies as well as the long-term viability of their overall operations for educating and supporting pastoral leaders.
• Design and implement plans to launch new and/or strengthen current projects to address their key challenges and opportunities and to make their institutions more educationally effective and financially viable for the continued preparation and support of pastors and congregational lay ministers into the future.

The following funding opportunities are available:

Individual School Grants

ATS-accredited theological schools that did not receive Phase 2 grants in the previous round of Pathways are invited to apply for grants of up to $1 million each to strengthen their institutional financial and educational capacities to prepare and support pastoral leaders for the long term.

Eligible theological schools may request from the Pathways coordination program assessment and planning grants of up to $50,000 each, which will be awarded on a non-competitive basis, to engage in conversations about the leadership needs of congregations, explore insights emerging from theological schools participating in the first round of Pathways, assess and design capacity-building projects to strengthen their financial operations and educational programs, and prepare proposals for Individual School Implementation Grants. The final submission deadline for assessment and planning grants is January 31, 2025.

Eligible theological schools may then submit proposals to the Endowment for Individual School Implementation Grants of up to $1 million each, which will be awarded on a competitive basis, that may be used for up to a five-year period to execute their plans. Applications for implementation grants are due by May 15, 2025.

The Endowment anticipates awarding Individual School Implementation Grants totaling up to $50 million and announcing these funding decisions in the fall of 2025.  

Follow the link below to learn how to apply for planning grants, to access the Individual School Implementation Grants Request for Proposals and submission materials, and to submit an implementation grant proposal through the online application form. Visit Individual School Grants page

Large-scale Collaboration Grants

All eligible ATS-accredited theological schools are invited to apply for grants of up to $10 million each to support large-scale collaborative endeavors that will 1) strengthen the institutional financial and educational capacities of the collaborating organizations to prepare and support pastoral leaders into the future, and 2) offer compelling and sustainable models that, if successful, could be adopted by other theological schools and collaborating organizations.

Interested theological schools may submit concept papers that provide initial descriptions of potential large-scale collaborations that would strengthen their collective institutional capacities to advance the initiative’s aim. Concept papers must be submitted by March 5, 2025. 

The Endowment anticipates inviting up to 35 theological schools that submit the most compelling concept papers to submit proposals for large-scale collaboration grants of up to $10 million each that may be used for up to a five-year period to develop and execute their proposed plans. The invited theological schools will receive planning grants of up to $50,000 each to assist them in designing their large-scale collaborations and preparing proposals for implementation grants. Large-scale collaboration proposals are due by August 15, 2025.

 The Endowment anticipates awarding Large-scale Collaboration Grants totaling up to $250 million and announcing funding decisions for these grants in December 2025.

Follow the link below to access the Large-scale Collaboration Grants Request for Proposals and submission materials, and to submit a concept paper through the online application form. Visit Large-scale Collaboration Grants page

Questions
Please email pathways@lei.org.