INDIANAPOLIS — The Lilly Endowment has announced $57.9 million in grants to religious-affiliated organizations involved in its “Sustaining Pastoral Excellence” program.
The program creates projects to allow Christian ministers to foster ongoing biblical study, theological reflection and spiritual renewal as well as opportunities for mutual support among clergy. Awards range from slightly more than $250,000 to $2 million to Catholic and Protestant organizations across the country.
More than 700 institutions applied to participate in the program, which awarded 47 grants. For example, the American Baptist Churches USA Ministers Council has received a grant of almost $2 million to develop “collegial covenant groups” among its clergy and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will use a similar sum to develop “peer learning networks” to help ministers who are new to the field or in rural settings.
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