GARRETT-EVANGELICAL RECEIVES $1.25 MILLION RENEWAL GRANT FOR MINISTRY FOCUS WITH YOUNG ADULTS new focus, which centers the spiritual lives and yearnings of young adults. In phase two, Garrett-Evangelical will focus on sharing the seven themes uncovered with a broader audience while continuing to partner with six of the original congregations to disseminate learnings and further develop young adult leaders. Specifically, Garrett-Evangelical will:
Recognizing the outstanding contributions made in helping congregations strengthen their ministries and outreach to younger adults, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary has received a renewal grant in the amount of $1.25 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. The “Holy Yearning, Holy Listening, Holy Partnerships” project, established in 2017, was formed out of the Lilly Endowment’s Young Adult Initiative, which aims to help congregations develop and strengthen congregational ministries that build relationships with young adults, nurture their religious lives, and foster their engagement with religious communities. Since 2017, GarrettEvangelical has received $2.75 million from the Lilly Endowment Inc. to focus on this important work. For the past five years, Garrett-Evangelical has embarked upon a bold initiative to help congregations design and launch new ministries that would attract young adults – a population that congregations often struggle to reach. The project has been led by its director, Reverend Dr. Reginald Blount (G-ETS 2005), who also serves as the Murray H. Leiffer Associate Professor of Formation, Leadership, and Culture at GarrettEvangelical, and associate director Dr. Jennifer Moe (G-ETS 2019), and supported by a team of widely respected scholars and researchers. Through deep and intentional listening in a series of interviews with young adults, seven themes emerged and a curriculum for training teams at thirteen congregations was created. What resulted at the congregational level was new experiences and events, new ministries, new spaces, and an entirely 14 AWARE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
• Inform congregations, judicatories, and other collaborative partners of the themes, proven practices, and key insights gleaned from our congregations who participated in the work in phase one. This will include partnering with Garrett-Evangelical’s department of Lifelong Formation in producing podcasts, webinars, open online courses, and more. • Support, cultivate, and empower the theological and leadership development of young adults. This work will be done in collaboration with the seminary’s faculty and course offerings, the department of Field Education, and community partnerships. Blount and Moe will continue to serve as director and associate director respectively of this project. “We are confident phase two of this work will have a far-reaching impact on young adults, our organizational and congregational partners, and the Garrett-Evangelical community,” said Blount. “We will consider phase two to be of great success if we have extensively expanded our congregational reach and assisted them in developing and improving their ministries with young adults, cultivated a new cadre of young public theologians committed to putting their faith into action, and contributed to a seminarywide culture shift that builds on its expertise advocating for and ministering with young adults.” The aim of the Lilly Endowment’s Young Adult Initiative is to establish innovation hubs that will assist congregations in launching innovative ministries that nourish and encourage the spiritual and religious lives of young adults, particularly between the ages of 23 and 29. Garrett-Evangelical is one of twelve innovation hubs the Lilly Endowment helped to establish.
