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"We believe that their efforts are critical to ensuring that Christian congregations continue to have a steady stream of pastoral leaders who are well-prepared to lead the churches of tomorrow."
So says a vice president for religion at the Lilly Endowment, a private philanthropic foundation that last year awarded $96 million to more than 200 seminaries across the country in an effort to help them "remain viable and better prepare Christian clergy for the future," per a press release.
The Pathways for Tomorrow initiative, which covers 234 institutions in all, aims to recruit more diverse students, expand hybrid and online course offerings, and make theological education more affordable, accessible, and financially sustainable, per the Washington Post.
"The established educational strategies and financial structures that many theological schools have relied on for the last several decades are under severe strain," a Lilly Endowment rep tells the Post.
Frank Yamada, president of the Association for Theological Schools, which is overseeing the grants, says the initiative is "really, really timely" at a time when many seminaries are struggling with declining enrollment, flat or declining enrollment, and "rapid and profound" social change.
The first phase of the initiative awarded planning grants of up to $50,000 to the institutions, and $82 million more recently went to 84 theological schools to implement new projects.
Several grants of
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