The In Trust Center for Theological Schools has received two grants from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help fund coordination of its Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative.

The In Trust Center started working with the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) in January 2022 as a co-coordinator of the intiative. The work will continue over the life of the initiative. The three-phase initiative is designed to help theological schools prioritize and respond to their most pressing challenges as they work to prepare pastoral leaders for Christian congregations.

ATS and the In Trust Center will partner to provide resources and research, and they will convene the grantees to provide a learning community to help encourage innovation and collaboration.

The first In Trust Center coordination grant came as part of the second phase of the initiative during which the Lilly Endowment announced additional grants to 105 ATS-accredited schools. The grants range from $500,000 to $1 million, and the schools that received them reflect the broad spectrum of Christian traditions in North America. The third and final phase of the initiative, which provided between $5 million and $8 million, will allow schools to create innovative partnerships. Both phases of funding were completed in 2022.

Read more, including a list of grantees and an FAQ, at lillyendowment.org

To connect with the In Trust Center and ask about how we can help, click here to email us. 

ATS, the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) is the coordinator of the grant. You can find the ATS website here. You can reach Jo Ann Deasy, the ATS director for the Pathways coordination program, here.

Below, you'll find a list of curated resources.

News about the Pathways Initiative

There are several big themes in the 105 proposals that were awarded grants in phase two of the Pathways Initiative. You can find out more here in this story in In Trust magazine. 

See an overview of the Pathways Initiative and the goals of the program in this magazine piece.

The Winter 2023 issue features an overview of every Pathways Phase 3 grant.

A Phase 2 grant provides a way that a Roman Catholic school is training lay Latino ministers for the Church. It's in the Spring 2023 magazine.

PODCAST

The In Trust Center's Good Governance podcast provides interviews with leaders in theological education and is a good way to keep up with the Pathways Initiative. You can find recent episodes on:

An overview and update on themes and trends in the Pathways Initiative. Go to Episode 40 in which Amy Kardash and Jo Ann Deasy discuss details with Matt Hufman.

The CHANGE Initiative is a program funded in Phase 3 designed to help interested schools better focus on mission by providing business services. It's in Episode 43.

About the In Trust Center's role

In Trust Center President Amy Kardash discusses the work of the In Trust Center and outlines how it will help in the Pathways initiative in this video from January 2022:

Storytelling for grantees

Matt Hufman,  vice president for communication of the In Trust Center, provides a framework to give grantees a way to tell their story to anyone, including students, faculty, denominational officials, and donors. Watch the video, from March 2022, here:

Sustainability for schools

David Rowe, an AGB Consulting group leader and coach of the In Trust Center's Wise Stewards Initiative, led a series of webinars on sustainability for theological institutions.  Watch the on-demand webinars here. 

For more

You can find more webinars including on change management and institutional transformation here.

Contact us here for more information.