Harding University has received a grant of $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment to help establish the Christian Workers Institute.
The program, which will be directed by the Harding School of Theology (HST), is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, which is intended to help theological schools across the U.S. and Canada strengthen their educational and financial capacities to prepare and support pastoral leaders for Christian congregations now and into the future.
Harding School of Theology will use this grant to create the Christian Workers Institute, a project whose central purpose is to train and equip church leaders to grow in spiritual maturity, engage their local neighborhoods, and build unity among congregations.
Pastoral and lay leaders will have opportunities to take not-for-credit courses that prepare them for effective ministry in a variety of areas. The funding will support the institute for five years as it becomes self-sustaining through investments from individual congregations.
“The Christian Workers Institute is an exciting initiative that will empower HST to do even better what it has done so well for more than seven decades: To serve and equip the church,” said Dr. Peter Rice, dean of Harding School of Theology. “We have high hopes that this new institute will benefit both HST and the churches it serves not only for the next five years but for decades to come.”
Harding School of Theology is one of 163 theological schools that have had their programs funded since 2021 through the Pathways initiative. Together, the schools serve a broad spectrum of Christian traditions in the U.S. and Canada.
They are affiliated with evangelical, mainline Protestant, nondenominational, Pentecostal, Orthodox, Catholic, Black church, Latino, Asian American, Indigenous and historic peace church traditions.
“Theological schools have long played a central role for most denominations and church networks in preparing and supporting pastoral leaders who guide congregations,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “These schools are paying close attention to the challenges churches are facing today and will face in the foreseeable future. The grants will help these schools engage in wide-ranging, innovative efforts to adapt their educational programs and build their financial capacities so they can better prepare pastors and lay ministers to effectively lead the congregations they will serve in the future.”