Wesley Seminary, Marion, Indiana, received a grant from the Lilly Endowment for $1.25 million, aimed at empowering Latino congregations for contextual missional engagement. This grant will build on the seminary’s strong connection with Spanish-speaking congregations and lead three cohorts of 12 churches through a process of leadership development, group research and Spirit-led discernment to address a specific challenge in their community.
Even now, as Wesley Seminary representatives sift through applications, they have been struck by how churches have been reckoning with diverse problems that uniquely face their communities. Once churches are selected, initial ideas of how their congregations might lean in to cultivate responses to those challenges are offered and developed based on community data research.
As the grant team moves forward with these cohorts, their hope is that the ideas each church generates will be refined, sharpened and re-drafted. Congregations will continue to mull over their initial ideas and do some deep listening work, after which they will submit to a process of research-based review, receive project management and leadership training and given feedback that will refine their project. Then, each church will be unleashed to pursue their project in their community.
One of the grant’s main premises is that churches can be listening, learning and problem-solving institutions in our communities.
“If we believe the gospel, we believe God has good news for pretty much everything: parenting situations — marital problems — job questions — people should go to the church to find answers on how to become a better parent and spouse, or coworker or friend,” reflected Reverend Arlynn Ellis, project director for Thriving Hispanic Congregations at Wesley Seminary. “The church’s job is to listen; and in the process, we enrich everything, because that’s what it means to be a light!”
Congregations selected for this program will receive (in addition to their leadership and project management training) initial funding of $3,000 to $12,000 for their project and will be coached on developing a sustainability plan to keep the project going after the grant ends. The fact that Wesley Seminary will be involved in the entire process — encouraging, guiding, convening and shepherding congregations — is a tremendous gift as the seminary presses into its educational emphasis in and for the local church.
Reflecting on the potential impact of this grant, Reverend Dr. Yamil Acevedo, executive vice president of Wesley Seminary said, “We are thrilled to embark on this transformative journey, bolstered by the Lilly Endowment’s support. This grant will propel our efforts to foster innovative, contextually engaged ministries that resonate deeply within Latino/a communities, paving the way for dynamic and sustainable growth and significant missional engagement.”
As Rev. Ellis reflects on how this might shape these congregations’ missions, she shared, “I try to foresee what’s going to happen in each community: to see how churches get involved in the community, rather than waiting for people to come into the church. We can create fun events, but the church should figure out a way to enter into the community through the needs the community has. We can be a light in our communities and not expect people to come to us for light … I’m excited about the transformation. It excites me to hear their dreams, to hear their needs and understand how we can help find solutions!”
For more stories of congregation-rooted innovation, visit wesleyan.org/news.
Rev. Ethan Linder is the pastor of discipleship at College Wesleyan Church in Marion, Indiana, and contributing editor at The Wesleyan Church’s Education and Clergy Development Division.
