The Duke Endowment in Charlotte, North Carolina, has announced twenty-four grants totaling more than $8 million to United Methodist organizations in the state.

Awarded through the endowment's Rural Church program, the grants include $250,000 to the Hinton Rural Life Center to strengthen its missionary outreach in rural churches; $151,000 to the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church to train church leaders through language and cultural immersion activities; $329,174 to UNC Charlotte to examine rural-urban connections for economic renewal; and $226,533 to Duke University to adapt a stress management training program for clergy and plan its delivery and evaluation.

The endowment's Rural Church program focuses on enhancing congregational vitality, deepening spiritual formation, and fostering community impact. Candidates for grants include United Methodist churches that serve rural North Carolina communities, the North Carolina and Western North Carolina conferences and districts of the United Methodist Church, and Duke University Divinity School.