University of the Ozarks has received a $966,099 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., to help establish the Thriving Rural Congregations Program to support rural Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations within the Presbytery of Arkansas.
The program is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. The aim of the initiative is to encourage the flourishing of congregations by helping them deepen their relationships with God, enhance their connections with each other, and contribute to the vitality of their communities and the world.
The new program will work in tandem with the University’s existing Thriving in Rural Ministry Program, which was established on campus in 2020 through a previous grant of $997,322 from Lilly Endowment. The Thriving in Rural Ministry Program supports pastors of rural and minority-serving Presbyterian Churches throughout Arkansas.
Building on relationships formed through this program, the Thriving Rural Congregations program will seek to collaborate with congregations to develop resources, renew congregations’ theological identity, and build bridges between congregation and the University campus. The program will emphasize a holistic approach, according to the Rev. Phillip Blackburn, director of the Thriving in Rural Ministry Program at Ozarks.
“The Thriving Rural Congregations program will enable us to expand our work with PC (USA) congregations in the Presbytery of Arkansas by focusing on the congregants themselves,” Blackburn said. “The program will seek to form geographical cohorts of rural congregations that, in collaboration with University of the Ozarks staff and one another, will work to revitalize their theological foundations. I am beyond excited to expand the work we have already begun, and I believe this grant will pave the way to an entirely new means of support for and initiative within PC (USA) churches in the Presbytery of Arkansas.”
Blackburn said that engaging in the traditional six “Great Ends of the Church,” as articulated in the PC (USA) Book of Order, congregations will “contextualize their core Presbyterian beliefs within their congregation’s practices, ministries and broader community.”
As part of this new program, some congregations will be invited to host a student intern from the University and the collaboration will involve University staff and students visiting participating congregations and participating congregations visiting the University. The churches will incur no expenses in participating in the program.
University President Richard Dunsworth said the student internship component of the new program is, in a way, a return to the University’s roots within the Presbyterian Church.
“In earlier eras, Ozarks students spread throughout rural Arkansas to serve congregations as preachers and worship leaders,” Dunsworth said. “While building on these roots, Thriving Rural Congregations will update them for the modern era, utilizing the gifts and talents of the existing student population.”
University of the Ozarks is one of 105 organizations that has received grants though a competitive round of the Thriving Congregations Initiative. Reflecting a wide variety of Christian traditions, the organizations represent mainline Protestant, evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox, peace church and Pentecostal faith communities.
“Congregations play an essential role in deepening the faith of individuals and contributing to the vitality of communities,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “We hope that these programs will nurture the vibrancy and spark the creativity of congregations, helping them imagine new ways to share God’s love in their communities and across the globe.”
U of O has been affiliated with the Presbyterian Church since its establishment in 1834 in Cane Hill, Arkansas.
“Given our heritage as a Presbyterian institution of higher learning, it was important to the leadership of University of the Ozarks to support Presbyterian congregations in the Presbytery of Arkansas in this season,” Blackburn said. “Cultivating a two-way-street between the rural parish and this institution creates exciting new opportunities for growth, collaboration and renewal for both the congregations and the University itself.”
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of diverse religious traditions by supporting fair and accurate portrayals of the role religion plays in the United States and across the globe.
Topics: Chapel, Community Service