Lilly Endowment Inc.’s expanded Pathways for Tomorrow initiative will offer up to $325 million to help theological schools accredited by the Association for Theological Schools collaborate and innovate. The Rev. Dr. Jo Ann Deasy of ATS, who oversees the Pathways coordination work, offers insights on what Pathways has accomplished so far and what could be ahead.

The Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri, is using Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative grants to create new ways for people from underserved communities to get a theological education. In this episode, the Rev. Drs. Sergio Navarrete and Darin Poe discuss how the school is using innovative, bilingual, and online programs to try to equip a new generation of ministry leaders. They talk about how they're addressing leadership shortages in churches with programs that blend mentorship, affordability, and relationships to educate and empower students to fulfill their callings.

Eden Theological Seminary President the Rev. Dr. Deborah Krause and Vice President for Institutional Advancement the Rev. Dr. Mary Schaller Blaufuss discuss how the 175-year-old seminary is moving into a new model of education. Using a Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative grant, the seminary has formed a network of other likeminded seminaries to offer classes to students, as well as provide a range of non-degree classes for ministers. They discuss how they do the work and how it's reaching new audiences.

Seminaries are People Too: Mindsets that make or break institutional change

The Rev. Dr. David Vásquez-Levy, president of the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, discusses how the school is using its Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative grant to create a new ecosystem that includes not just technology but also efforts to reconsider educational modes and methods. The school's programming includes a stackable curriculum and challenges traditional standards.

The Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative was designed by Lilly Endowment Inc. to create ways for theological schools in North America to train and support ministers for Christian churches. The Rev. Dr. Jo Ann Deasy, director of institutional initiatives of the Association of Theological Schools, and Amy Kardash, president of the In Trust Center for Theological Schools, discuss key findings and themes. ATS and the In Trust Center are co-coordinating the initiative.

NAIITS, an Indigenous Learning Community, is using Pathways for Tomorrow grants to explore ways to decolonize theology and provide trauma-informed education for the Indigenous community. Shari Russell, the director of NAIITS, and Mike Hogeterp, lead facilitator, discuss the project and the ways they're approaching the work ahead.

McCormick Theological Seminary is using a Lilly Endowment Inc. Pathways for Tomorrow grant to explore how to help people heal from trauma. The Heart-Work Rising Trauma Healing Initiative is exploring theological education that will help students to be trauma-informed. The Rev. Dr. Stephanie Crumpton and Dr. Jina Kang discuss the impact of trauma-informed education, the integration of restorative justice and biblical interpretation, and the transformative potential for theological institutions.

You can find episodes about the Pathways for Tomorrow initiative curated here.

At China Evangelical Seminary North America (CESNA), leaders are looking at ways to engage leaders and congregants of immigrant churches. They've done so with new programming aimed at helping congregations, including a Center for Public Theology. Drs. Frank and Anita Liu, leaders at CESNA, explain how they're doing that with a Pathways for Tomorrow grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

The Academy for Jewish Religion received a grant in Lilly Endowment Inc.'s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative and used the money to make a series of explanatory videos about Judaism. Ora Horn Prouser, Ph.D., the CEO and academic dean of the Academy for Jewish Religion, discusses how the project, "Mosaic Religion and the Religious Mosaic," contributes to theological education.

Hood Theological Seminary is using a Lilly Endowment Pathways for Tomorrow grant to educate students and alumni about financial planning, expand curriculum, and create anti-racism education. Hood's Dr. Karen Owens and John Everett discuss how they're working in the seminary, with alumni, and the community to accomplish the seminary's goals.