Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded a grant to Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary of $10,564,149 to support the work of The Louisville Institute through 2006. Generously supported since 1990 by several previous grants from the Endowment, the Louisville Institute seeks to enrich the religious life of American Christians and to encourage the revitalization of their institutions, by bringing together those who lead religious institutions with those who study them so that the work of each might inform and strengthen the work of the other.

News of the grant was announced by Dr. John W. Kuykendall, Interim President of Louisville Seminary, Dr. James W. Lewis, Executive Director of The Louisville Institute, Dr. William Brosend, the Institute’s Associate Director, and Dr. Milton J Coalter, the moderator of the Institute’s Board of Directors.

Since 1990, the Louisville Institute has made nearly 1,000 grants totaling more than $16.5 million. The current grant will enable The Louisville Institute to expand its grantmaking and convening work with pastoral leaders and scholar-educators in religion and theology for the good of the church and North American society. In particular, the Institute will be able to increase substantially the number of grants available to pastoral leaders and to make possible more opportunities for meaningful collaboration between academics and religious leaders.

“The Louisville Institute supports scholar-teachers who care deeply about the well-being of the church and puts them face-to-face with some of the country’s best pastors,” said Craig Dykstra, Endowment vice president for religion. “As these talented people work ever more closely together, new opportunities emerge for the renewal of America’s churches. Invigorating American churches with talented pastors and vibrant congregations is a major goal of the Endowment.”

According to President Kuykendall, “The Louisville Institute’s commitment to bring pastors and academics together for the good of the churches is a real asset to Louisville Seminary and, even more importantly, to the broader world of American religious life. We are deeply grateful for the Endowment’s support of this good work.”

The Louisville Institute offers funding through six competitive grant programs and a General Grant program.

The Sabbatical Grants for Pastoral Leaders program provides pastors and other religious leaders with sabbatical periods of six, eight, or twelve weeks for prayer, study, renewal, and reflection on their vocations and ministries.

The Christian Faith and Life Grants program supports sabbatical research projects designed to make more accessible to religious believers the themes of Christian faith in relation to the realities of their contemporary lives. Both pastors and academics are eligible to apply.

The Religious Institutions Grants program supports research projects designed to encourage reflection on the nature of and challenges to religious organizations and institutions in the contemporary world. Both academics and pastors are eligible to apply.

The Summer Stipend program supports both pastors and academics engaged in summer research projects on issues of interest to the Louisville Institute, especially Christian faith and life, religious institutions, and pastoral leadership.

The Dissertation Fellowship program supports the final year of Ph.D. or Th.D. dissertation writing for students engaged in research on projects of importance to American religious life.

The First Book Grant Program for Minority Scholars assists junior, non-tenured religion scholars of color to complete a major research project on an issue in American Christianity related to the priorities of the Louisville Institute.

The Louisville Institute’s General Grant program offers modest grant support to a limited number of individual and collaborative projects on current program priorities of the Louisville Institute.

To receive further information about The Louisville Institute, please contact the Institute at the address below.

The Louisville Institute
1044 Alta Vista Road
Louisville, KY 40205
Telephone: 502-895-3411 x 487
Fax: 502-894-2286
E-mail: info@louisville-institute.org
louisville-institute.org