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Chicago (ELCA)-JB – Lilly Endowment Inc., Indianapolis, awarded grants of up to $2 million each to 39 four-year church-related liberal arts colleges to implement programs that help prepare a new generation of leaders for church and society. Four of the colleges are affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
In a separate program, the Endowment awarded grants of up to $30,000 each to 135 congregations in its National Clergy Renewal Program. Twenty-six ELCA congregations were among the recipients.
Lilly Endowment is a private philanthropic foundation founded by the Lilly family in 1937. Both sets of grant awards were announced in November.
The four ELCA colleges that received grants in Lilly Endowment's "Program for the Theological Exploration of Vocation" are Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill., $2 million; Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash., $1,998,714; St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., $1,998,020; and Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, $2 million.
The grants were awarded to colleges which devised programs that encourage students to reflect on how their faith commitments are related to their career choices and what it means to be "called" to lives of service, according to a Nov. 21 Lilly Endowment news release. The program also provides opportunities for students to explore the rewards and demands of Christian ministry and consider church ministry as a career choice, the release said.
This year's grants -- the third year in which the Endowment awarded its theological-vocation grants -- totaled $76.8 million. In 2001, similar grants of nearly $2 million were awarded to three ELCA colleges -- Augsburg College, Minneapolis; Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., and Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. In 2000, the ELCA's Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn., received a theological-vocation grant, as did Valparaiso University, an independent Lutheran university in Valparaiso, Ind.
"The Endowment's grant-making in religion is focused heavily on attracting a new generation of talented ministers for congregations," said Craig Dykstra, Lilly Endowment vice president for religion. "Church-related colleges play a big role in this task. They provide the environment in which young people explore future possibilities. These grants help colleges strengthen this important work."
Over the course of the initiative, more than 400 schools were invited to submit or submitted proposals for the theological-vocation grant programs, Dykstra said.
The ELCA Division for Higher Education and Schools (DHES) had no direct involvement in writing or evaluating Lilly Endowment grant applications, said Arne Selbyg, DHES director for colleges and universities. However, "we constantly talk with the colleges about how their focus on vocation is one way to honor their Lutheran heritage and serve their students," he said.
Two years ago, at an annual conference organized by DHES on "The Vocation of a Lutheran College," representatives from Gustavus Adolphus and Valparaiso spoke about their Lilly Endowment grants, Selbyg said.
Lilly Endowment's National Clergy Renewal program awards congregations grants of up to $30,000 each to plan a program of renewal for their pastor(s) and themselves.
Grants for this years' program total $3.5 million and were distributed among congregations representing 15 Christian denominations and traditions, according to a Nov. 26 Endowment news release. Congregations may use up to $10,000 of the amount to pay for pastoral services in the pastor's absence and for expenses related to a congregation's own renewal, the release said.
"We hope to strengthen the efforts of today's excellent pastors, because it is no secret that pastors who have reconnected themselves to the passions that led them to the ministry in the first place are more likely to lead healthy and vibrant congregations," Dykstra said.
ELCA congregations receiving clergy renewal grants are:
+ Celebration Lutheran Church, Peoria, Ariz., $27,472.
+ Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Saratoga, Calif., $16,218.
+ All Saints Lutheran Church, Aurora, Colo., $20,372.
+ Faith Community Lutheran Church, Longmont, Colo., $29,785.
+ Lamb of God Lutheran Church, Fort Myers, Fla., $25,827.
+ Peace Lutheran Church, Palm Bay, Fla., $29,899.
+ Resurrection Lutheran Church, Franklin Park, Ill., $30,000.
+ Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, Jacksonville, Ill., $29,300.
+ Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Des Moines, Iowa, $25,573.
+ Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Lawrence, Kan., $24,538.
+ St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Arlington, Mass., $28,685.
+ Zion Lutheran Church, Blackduck, Minn., $29,902.
+ Bethel-Trinity Lutheran Church, Bovey, Minn., $14,512.
+ Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church, Mountain Iron, Minn., $22,333.
+ Bethany Lutheran Church, Nevis, Minn., $23,974.
+ Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, Lincoln., Neb., $15,400.
+ Lutheran Church of the Nativity, Arden., N.C., $29,971
+ St. Philip Lutheran Church, Raleigh, N.C., $30,000.
+ Olivet Lutheran Church, Fargo, N.D., $29,962.
+ Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church, West Chester, Pa., $16,350.
+ St. Andrew Lutheran Church, Charlestown, R.I., $30,000.
+ Celebration Lutheran Church, Mount Juliet, Tenn., $30,000.
+ Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, Seattle, $14,450.
+ Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, Vancouver, Wash., $30,000.
+ Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Charleston, W. Va., $28,993.
+ Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Eagle River, Wis., $27,560.