"O sing to the Lord a new song." - Psalm 96:1

Recognizing the importance and necessity for busy pastors to have an opportunity to take an extended break for renewal and refreshment, Lilly Endowment in 2000 introduced a new competitive grants program. The program awards grants to congregations that offer a program for the renewal of their pastor and, at the same time, give the congregations themselves an opportunity to better themselves as vital places of worship and mission.

In the National Clergy Renewal Program, the Endowment annually provides as many as 120 grants of up to $45,000 each directly to Christian congregations for the support of a renewal program for their pastor. The master of divinity degree is the basic minimum educational requirement to apply for a grant. Deadlines for proposals are generally in May, with announcements of recipients generally made by October.

At the center of the congregation is the pastor. Spiritual guide, scholar, counselor, preacher, administrator, confidant, teacher, pastoral visitor and friend, a pastor has a privileged position and performs many roles. In season and out, a pastor is called upon to lead communities to the life-giving waters of God.

The job is demanding, and pastors perform their duties among a dizzying array of requests and expectations. Congregations are not always easy places, and the responsibilities can sometimes wear down the best pastors. It is not a job for the faint-hearted, but requires a balance of intelligence, love, humility, compassion and endurance. Most importantly, it demands that pastors remain in touch with the source of their life and strength. Like all people of faith, good pastors need moments to renew and refresh their energies and enthusiasm to determine again "what makes their hearts sing."

Lilly Endowment seeks to strengthen congregations by providing an opportunity for pastors in 49 states to step away briefly from the persistent obligations of daily parish life and to engage in a period of renewal and reflection. Renewal periods are not vacations, but times for intentional exploration and reflection, for drinking again from God's life-giving waters, for regaining the enthusiasm and creativity for ministry. The Endowment administers a separate program for Indiana congregations. 

Life-giving experiences - strengthening relationships, renewing a sense of call, meeting and serving neighbors in a new way, finding joy and purpose in a simplified life, traveling to new lands and unfamiliar territory, creating opportunities where members of the congregation can exercise their gifts for ministry - all are common themes of the program. Profound discoveries that pastors and their congregations describe as "life-changing events" occur as they participate in this program.

Since 2000 the Endowment has invested nearly $29 million in this program for more than 700 congregations and their pastors. For a review of the program, click on the following links:

• 2000 Recipients
• 2001 Recipients
• 2002 Recipients
• 2003 Recipients
• 2004 Recipients
• 2005 Recipients
• 2006 Recipients
• 2007 Recipients

The program director for this grant is Jean M. Smith, 317/916-7302.

For more information, click here.