The Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment has announced ninety-two grants totaling nearly $93 million in support of efforts to help congregations across the United States strengthen their ministries.

Awarded through the endowment's Thriving Congregations Initiative, the grants will support, over the next three to five years, the work of individual congregations as well as colleges and universities, theological schools, denominational agencies, and other faith-based organizations working with thousands of congregations across the country. Organizations receiving grants will use them to help congregations gain clarity about their values and mission, explore and better understand the communities they serve, and draw on their theological traditions as they adapt to meet changing needs, including challenges and opportunities created by the COVID-19 pandemic and demographic shifts.

Recipients include Augsburg University (Minneapolis, Minnesota); Convencion Bautista Hispana de Texas (San Antonio, Texas); the Dakota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church (Mitchell, South Dakota); Hood Theological Seminary (Salisbury, North Carolina); Marquette University (Milwaukee, Wisconsin); and the Mere Christianity Forum (Travelers Rest, South Carolina). In addition to a project grant, Duke University (Durham, North Carolina) will receive a grant of $3.79 million to coordinate the initiative. 

"In the midst of a rapidly changing world, Christian congregations are grappling with how they can best carry forward their ministries," said Christopher Coble, the endowment's vice president for religion. "These grants will help congregations assess their ministries and draw on practices in their theological traditions to address new challenges and better nurture the spiritual vitality of the people they serve."

For a complete list of grant recipients, see the Lilly Endowment website.