Samford University has received a grant of $5 million—the largest single grant in the university’s 183-year history—from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Ministry in Rural Areas and Small Towns Initiative. The grant will support the work of Samford’s Center for Congregational Resources, which provides services to help congregations become thriving ministries. The aim of Lilly Endowment’s initiative is to provide resources to help churches in rural areas and small towns enhance the vitality of their ministries and strengthen the leadership of the pastors and lay leaders who guide them.
Samford University’s Center for Congregational Resources intends to develop the Equipping the Called Leadership Program to help Christian churches cultivate the spiritual formation of congregants and function as anchor institutions that strengthen their local communities. Content for this program will be developed in partnership with Samford scholars who have expertise in theological education, practice of ministry, physical and mental health education, business administration and community development.
“This impactful gift from Lilly Endowment, implemented through the work of the Center for Congregational Resources and Samford faculty, provides resources to help rural and small-town churches and ministries thrive,” said Dave Cimbora, Samford’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. “By partnering in the training of ordained and lay leadership, we foresee this new program invigorating churches to deepen collaborations across their communities.”
Samford University is one of 20 organizations from across the United States receiving grants through the initiative, including colleges and universities, denominational agencies, church networks, and parachurch organizations, among others.
“Our hope is that these grants will provide much needed resources and support to rural and small-town churches to help them address their challenges and enhance and extend the many ways that they serve their communities,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic 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. Although the gifts of stock remain a 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 founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.
A primary aim of its grantmaking in religion is to deepen the religious lives of Christians, principally by supporting efforts that enhance congregational vitality and strengthen the leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment values the broad diversity of Christian traditions and endeavors to support them in a wide variety of contexts. The Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding about religion by encouraging fair, accurate and balanced portrayals of the positive and negative effects of religion on the world and lifting up the contributions that people of all faiths make to our greater civic well-being.
