5 Baptist schools among Lilly grant recipients – Baptist News Global

In a landmark move signaling a profound commitment to the future of American faith communities, the Lilly Endowment Inc. has announced the latest recipients of its Thriving Congregations Initiative, awarding a staggering $133 million to 105 organizations across the nation. Among these distinguished grantees are five prominent Baptist-affiliated theological schools, each poised to leverage this significant funding to equip pastors and lay leaders for the complex challenges of 21st-century ministry. This major investment underscores a strategic effort to foster innovation, resilience, and vitality within local churches, providing a critical lifeline at a time of significant cultural and religious change.

The grants, each valued at up to $1.25 million, will empower these institutions to develop and implement ambitious, multi-year programs designed to help congregations adapt, grow, and deepen their community engagement. For the Baptist seminaries selected—Campbell University Divinity School, Central Baptist Theological Seminary, McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University, and Wake Forest University School of Divinity—this represents a monumental opportunity. They will now spearhead projects aimed at everything from revitalizing rural churches and navigating post-pandemic worship to fostering social justice and developing the next generation of pastoral leaders.

The Lilly Endowment’s Vision: A Deeper Look at the Thriving Congregations Initiative

The Lilly Endowment, an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation, has a long and storied history of supporting religious, educational, and community development causes. Its Thriving Congregations Initiative, launched in 2019, is one of its most ambitious undertakings, rooted in the belief that vibrant congregations are essential for healthy communities. The initiative operates on a simple yet powerful premise: to help American Christian congregations flourish, the organizations that prepare and support their leaders must be equipped with the resources to innovate.

This latest round of funding, part of the initiative’s 2023 phase, represents the culmination of a highly competitive selection process. Hundreds of organizations, including seminaries, universities, dioceses, and other faith-based non-profits, submitted detailed proposals outlining their strategies for strengthening local churches. The 105 selected organizations demonstrated a clear understanding of the contemporary challenges facing congregations and presented compelling, context-specific plans to address them.

“Congregations play an essential role in enriching the lives of individuals and contributing to the vitality of their communities,” Christopher L. Coble, the Endowment’s vice president for religion, stated in a press release. “We are pleased to support the work of these organizations as they design and implement programs to help congregations strengthen their ministries and thrive in a changing world.”

The initiative encourages a relational approach. Rather than a top-down model, grantees are expected to build cohorts of local congregations, fostering peer learning, mentorship, and collaborative problem-solving. This structure allows pastoral leaders to share best practices, find solidarity in their struggles, and pilot new forms of ministry with the guidance and support of the host institution. The focus is not on a one-size-fits-all solution but on cultivating an ecosystem of learning and adaptation that can be tailored to the unique needs of each church and its surrounding community.

Spotlight on the Baptist Recipients: Five Schools, Five Visions for Renewal

The inclusion of five institutions rooted in the Baptist tradition is significant. These schools, while sharing a common heritage, represent a diverse spectrum of Baptist life and are geographically dispersed across the South and Midwest. Their selection highlights the vital role that theological education plays in shaping the future of one of America’s largest and most influential Protestant denominations. Each school will use its grant to launch a unique program reflecting its institutional strengths and regional context.

Campbell University Divinity School: Ministering to Main Street and Rural Routes

Located in Buies Creek, North Carolina, Campbell University Divinity School has long been recognized for its commitment to preparing ministers for service in the Carolinas and beyond, with a particular strength in rural and small-town ministry. Its Lilly Endowment grant will likely be used to create a program focused on the unique challenges and opportunities facing these congregations.

Churches in rural areas often contend with aging populations, economic decline, and the exodus of young people to urban centers. Yet, they remain crucial anchors of community life. Campbell’s initiative, which could be called something like “The Rural Resilience Project,” will probably equip pastors with skills in bi-vocational ministry, community economic development, and creative uses of church property. The program will likely establish cohorts of pastors from across the region, providing them with training in grant writing, digital outreach to connect with dispersed members, and strategies for building ecumenical and civic partnerships to address local needs like food insecurity or lack of access to healthcare.

Central Baptist Theological Seminary: Forging Connections in a Diverse World

Situated in Shawnee, Kansas, Central Baptist Theological Seminary has a distinguished history of championing social justice, global missions, and women in ministry. With a diverse student body and a global reach, Central is well-positioned to address the need for congregations to become more inclusive and culturally competent. Its program will likely focus on helping churches navigate the complexities of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic diversity within their communities.

Titled perhaps “The Crossroads Initiative,” Central’s project could involve creating learning communities for pastors and lay leaders focused on intercultural communication, trauma-informed ministry, and public advocacy. The seminary could leverage its expertise in theological reflection on justice to help congregations engage in difficult but necessary conversations about their history and their role in promoting reconciliation and equity. This grant will enable Central to provide practical tools for churches seeking to move beyond mere tolerance to become genuine communities of belonging for all people.

McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University: An Urban Laboratory for Faith in Action

Based in the sprawling metropolis of Atlanta, Georgia, McAfee School of Theology is immersed in an urban context brimming with both immense challenges and incredible opportunities. The school has a reputation for combining rigorous academic training with hands-on ministry experience. Its Lilly-funded project will almost certainly focus on urban ministry, empowering congregations to be forces for positive change in a complex city environment.

A potential program, “The Atlanta Collaborative for Thriving Congregations,” could partner with a diverse group of city churches to tackle issues like affordable housing, refugee resettlement, and youth violence prevention. McAfee would serve as a hub, providing theological resources, leadership training, and a network for collaboration. Pastors in the program might learn about asset-based community development, non-profit management, and how to build partnerships with city government and other secular organizations. The grant will allow McAfee to transform Atlanta into a living laboratory where innovative models of urban ministry can be developed, tested, and shared.

George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University: Cultivating Leadership and Theological Depth

As part of a major research university in Waco, Texas, Truett Seminary is known for its strong academic programs and its commitment to providing a robust theological education. Truett’s initiative will likely emphasize deep theological reflection and the cultivation of resilient, adaptive pastoral leadership. In a religious landscape often marked by shallow theology and polarized discourse, Truett’s program will aim to help pastors ground their ministry in a rich, thoughtful faith.

The “Pastoral Leadership for the Common Good” program, for instance, could bring together cohorts of Texas pastors for intensive retreats, advanced coursework, and mentorship from seasoned ministry practitioners and Baylor faculty. The curriculum might focus on topics such as Christian ethics in the public square, the theology of work and economics, and spiritual formation for a lifetime of ministry. By investing in the intellectual and spiritual lives of pastors, Truett aims to create a ripple effect, fostering congregations that are not only active in their communities but are also places of deep spiritual and theological maturity.

Wake Forest University School of Divinity: Justice, Healing, and Public Theology

Wake Forest University School of Divinity in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is recognized for its ecumenical spirit, its commitment to social justice, and its forward-thinking approach to theological education. The school attracts students from a wide variety of denominational backgrounds and emphasizes the connections between faith, health, and public life. Its program will likely equip congregations to be agents of healing and justice in a fractured world.

A program like “The Healing Congregations Project” could focus on training pastoral leaders in areas such as mental health awareness, restorative justice practices, and environmental stewardship. Wake Forest could leverage its university connections, particularly with the Wake Forest School of Medicine, to provide cutting-edge resources on the intersection of faith and well-being. Pastors would learn how to create ministries that address community trauma, advocate for public health, and lead their congregations in becoming sanctuaries of holistic healing for individuals and society.

The Critical Context: Why This Investment Matters Now More Than Ever

The Lilly Endowment’s massive investment is not happening in a vacuum. It is a direct and strategic response to a confluence of trends that are reshaping the American religious landscape and creating unprecedented pressures on local churches and their leaders.

Navigating the Post-Pandemic, Post-Christendom Landscape

The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a massive accelerant for changes that were already underway. It forced every congregation to become a digital ministry overnight, raising long-term questions about the nature of community and worship. Post-pandemic, churches are grappling with inconsistent attendance, volunteer burnout, and the challenge of ministering to a “hybrid” congregation of both in-person and online participants.

More broadly, these challenges are set against the backdrop of “post-Christendom”—the reality that Christianity no longer holds a privileged or central place in American culture. Decades of data show a steady decline in church membership and a corresponding rise of the “nones,” those who claim no religious affiliation. Political polarization has also created deep fissures within congregations, making the pastor’s role as a unifier more difficult than ever. In this environment, the old models of ministry are no longer sufficient. Churches cannot simply open their doors and expect people to come; they must learn to be more agile, entrepreneurial, and deeply engaged with the specific needs of their neighbors.

The Evolving Role of the Pastor and the Seminary

The job description for a pastor has expanded dramatically. Today’s pastoral leaders are expected to be not only preachers and theologians but also non-profit CEOs, community organizers, social media managers, fundraisers, and mental health first responders. The emotional and spiritual toll of this multifaceted role is immense, contributing to high rates of burnout and clergy leaving the profession.

This reality places immense pressure on theological schools to adapt their curricula. A traditional education focused solely on biblical languages, theology, and church history is no longer enough. Seminaries must now integrate practical training in leadership, administration, finance, and digital communication. The grants from the Thriving Congregations Initiative directly fund this necessary evolution, enabling schools like the five Baptist recipients to build programs that bridge the gap between ancient wisdom and contemporary practice, preparing leaders who are theologically grounded and practically equipped for the realities of modern ministry.

The Baptist Identity and the Future of the Church

For the Baptist institutions receiving these grants, this funding provides an opportunity to lean into the strengths of their tradition while adapting to new realities.

A Tradition of Autonomy Meets a Collaborative Future

A hallmark of Baptist life is the principle of local church autonomy, which affirms that each congregation is self-governing and independent. While this has fostered a spirit of freedom and local ownership, it can also lead to isolation. The cohort-based model of the Lilly Endowment’s initiative is particularly well-suited to the Baptist context. It respects the autonomy of each church while creating a formal structure for collaboration, mutual support, and shared learning. It allows congregations to benefit from the resources of a major seminary without ceding their local authority, fostering a sense of connection that is often desperately needed.

Showcasing the Diversity of the Baptist Witness

The five schools selected—Campbell, Central, McAfee, Truett, and Wake Forest—represent a thoughtful, engaged, and collaborative stream of Baptist life. They are often associated with organizations like the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship or the Alliance of Baptists, which emphasize education, social justice, and ecumenical partnership. The funding of these particular institutions sends a powerful message about the kind of congregational life the Lilly Endowment seeks to foster: one that is intellectually curious, socially conscious, and committed to the common good. These programs will not only strengthen individual churches but will also amplify a vital and compelling expression of the Baptist witness in the 21st century.

Looking Ahead: The Ripple Effect of a Transformative Grant

The announcement of these grants is not an end point but a beginning. Over the next five years, these five Baptist schools, alongside the other 100 recipients, will launch their programs, gathering pastors, testing new ideas, and meticulously documenting their findings. The knowledge generated will extend far beyond the participating congregations, providing invaluable insights for the broader American church.

The success of these initiatives will be measured not just in numbers—attendance figures or balanced budgets—but in stories of transformation. It will be seen in the pastor who avoids burnout because of a supportive peer network, the rural church that discovers a new mission in serving its aging community, the urban congregation that becomes a hub for racial reconciliation, and the suburban church that learns to welcome its increasingly diverse neighbors.

The Lilly Endowment’s $133 million investment is a profound act of hope. It is a wager on the resilience of the local church and a vote of confidence in the institutions tasked with training its leaders. For the five Baptist seminaries at the heart of this story, it is a call to action—a mandate to innovate, to collaborate, and to equip a new generation of leaders to guide their congregations not just to survive, but to thrive.