University of the Ozarks has received a grant of $500,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc., to support the continuation of the Arkansas Presbytery Thriving in Ministry program, which is a part of the University’s Town Square Collaborative.
Lilly Endowment made the grant through its Thriving in Ministry initiative, which supports a variety of religious organizations across the nation as they create or strengthen programs that help pastors build relationships with experienced clergy who can serve as mentors and guide them through key leadership challenges in congregational ministry.
The Arkansas Presbytery Thriving in Ministry program at U of O was established in 2021 through an initial gift of nearly $1 million from Lilly Endowment to assist and support rural pastors within the Arkansas Presbytery in areas such as launching new churches and serving small membership churches.
Going forward, the Thriving in Ministry program within the Town Square Collaborative will support pastors and church leaders throughout the Presbytery of Arkansas.
“We are delighted to receive an additional support from Lilly Endowment to continue the work of this program,” said Rev. Phillip Blackburn, director of the Town Square Collaborative. “Our work with congregational leaders in the Presbytery of Arkansas will continue for another five years, and we will be able to apply the many lessons learned. Clergy and church leaders need support, and I am honored to be at an institution which recognizes their important contributions and seeks to support them going forward.”
Ozarks has received more than $6 million from the Lilly Endowment since 2020 for a series of related programs and initiatives aimed at providing resources to help churches in rural areas and small towns, including the Ministry in Rural Areas and Small Towns Initiative in 2023 which helps rural churches embrace their calling as anchor institutions within their communities. Together, these gifts are housed within the Town Square Collaborative (www.townsquareco.org).
Lilly Endowment is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly & Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment 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.
Although the Endowment maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana, it also funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion. While the primary aim of its religion grantmaking focuses on strengthening the leadership and vitality of Christian Congregations in the United States, the Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding of about religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the contributions that people of all faiths and various religious communities play on the United States and around the globe.
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