Strengthening the Work of the Church

Baylor received two significant grants from the Lilly Endowment aimed at equipping churches to serve the needs of their communities and congregations. The first, a $5 million grant, is “The Whole Body Project: Flourishing Together in Faith and Life.” The project is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life, which seeks to help organizations identify, produce and share compelling stories about ways that Christians from many different backgrounds and in a broad range of settings are living vibrant lives of faith and engaging in acts of love and service for others.

Housed in the Baylor Center for Disability and Flourishing, “The Whole Body Project” will highlight the powerful stories of faith and mutual flourishing that emerge when people with and without disabilities or mental health challenges move from exclusion and isolation to true belonging through shared worship, learning, service, leadership and life together.

“Through a first-of-its-kind national campaign, we will inspire and equip tens of thousands of church leaders, members and families to reimagine and pursue faithful life together,” said Erik Carter, Ph.D., The Luther Sweet Endowed Chair in Disabilities in the Moody School of Education, executive director of the Baylor Center for Disability and Flourishing and a leading scholar on disability and faith. “We are grateful for the support from Lilly Endowment as we embark on this important work.”

The second, a $9.76 million grant, will launch and provide financial support for the innovative Ministry for Life initiative at Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. 

The Ministry for Life initiative is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, which is designed to help theological schools across the United States and Canada as they prioritize and respond to the most pressing challenges they face while preparing pastoral leaders for Christian congregations. The grant to Baylor is one of 45 approved in this competitive round of funding to support theological schools as they lead large-scale collaborations with other seminaries, colleges and universities, and church-related organizations. 

“We are beyond grateful for this opportunity to build upon the work of teaching and encouraging those with a call to ministry by developing new collaborative degrees and academic certificates, mentoring young people drawn to ministry leadership and walking alongside pastors already serving for the long haul,” said Angela Reed, Ph.D., associate dean of academic affairs, associate professor of practical theology and director of spiritual formation at Baylor’s Truett Seminary.