Pentecostal Theological Seminary Receives $1.25 Million Lilly Grant
Cleveland, TN–Pentecostal Theological Seminary (PTS) has received a $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the “Flourishing Congregational Life” (FCL) project. The project is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative.
The aim of the initiative is to “encourage the flourishing of congregations by helping them deepen their relationships with God, enhance their connections with each other, and contribute to the vitality of their communities and the world.”
FCL will offer assessment tools for participating congregations, helping ministry leaders and their congregants review and reflect on how their missional vision can be faithfully re-imagined and realigned with the new and emerging issues, concerns, and trends facing the churches in North America. Eligible congregations will come from the following Pentecostal denominations: Church of God, Church of God of Prophecy, and Church of God in Christ. The pastors and select lay leaders of the participating congregations will be invited to an in-person conference designed to help them re-strategize and develop new (or renewed), actionable plans for congregational ministry. The conference will be followed by subsequent monthly consultations for the next five months, helping congregations implement the newly designed ministry plans.
FCL will underscore the “power of dialogue” among ministry leaders and their congregants, the process of discerning assessment and reflection on current practices of congregational ministry, and implementation of deliberate and deliverable actions to enhance the congregational ministries in the contemporary context. With the goal of developing 22 cohorts of 10 congregations each, FCL will involve up to 220 local congregations at the conclusion of the five-year grant period.
Noting the significance of this project, Dr. David S. Han, the project’s executive director, commented, “the project will strengthen to bridge seminary education with various ministries of local churches, making tangible impact to effect flourishing congregational life. The interactions between the seminary (PTS) and the local churches rooted in the Pentecostal tradition are going to help not only the ministry practitioners and lay leaders participating in the project, but they will also enrich the seminary’s curriculum; what we learn through the project will be reflected upon and implemented as the seminary, in an ongoing way, goes through the process of its curriculum revision”.
Dr. Michael L. Baker, PTS President, affirmed, “Pentecostal Theological Seminary is delighted to receive the compelling grant from Lilly Endowment establishing the Flourishing Congregational Life (FCL) project. This initiative will engage congregations of the Church of God, Church of God of Prophecy, and the Church of God in Christ with focus upon connecting seminary education with various local church ministries encouraging the flourishing of congregational life. Throughout the project, the objective is to generate synergy in the Pentecostal tradition that will strengthen relationships with God and one another, magnify efficacy of congregational ministries, and heighten missional effectiveness of congregations and the seminary impacting the world.”
PTS is one of 238 organizations that has received implementation funding through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. Reflecting a wide variety of Christian traditions, the organizations represent mainline Protestant, evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox, peace church and Pentecostal faith communities.
“Congregations play an essential role in deepening the faith of individuals and contributing to the vitality of communities,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “We hope that these programs will nurture the vibrancy and spark the creativity of congregations, helping them imagine new ways to share God’s love in their communities and across the globe.”
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a 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. While those gifts remain the 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 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 diverse religious traditions by supporting fair and accurate portrayals of the role religion plays in the United States and across the globe.
(Source: Pentecostal Theological Seminary)
