The Lilly Endowment, now recognized as America’s largest private foundation, announced that it awarded $649 million in grants to 93 religious organizations to help prepare future pastors and elevate narratives about Christian life.
More than $416 million of the total was awarded to 45 seminaries in the U.S. and Canada through the Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative.
The Initiative launched in 2021 that “aims to help theological schools in the United States and Canada strengthen their abilities to prepare ordained and lay pastoral leaders for Christian churches now and into the future.”
Christopher L. Coble, the foundation’s vice president for religion, emphasized the significance of theological education in a statement last week. “Theological schools play a vital role in preparing and supporting pastoral leaders for Christian congregations,” he said.
“We believe that one of the most promising paths for theological schools to carry forward their important missions and enhance their impact is to work collaboratively with other schools, as well as congregations and other church-related organizations. By doing so they can strengthen their collective capacities to prepare and support pastoral leaders for effective congregational service now and in the future.”
Since the initiative began in 2021, the Endowment has distributed over $700 million to 163 theological schools to strengthen financial sustainability, enhance educational programs, and encourage collaborative models. This year’s grants ranged from $2.5 million to $10 million.
A number of institutions received the maximum $10 million award, including Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Biola University, Bethany Theological Seminary, Bexley Seabury Seminary, Campbell University, Concordia Seminary, Eden Theological Seminary, Emory University, Fuller Theological Seminary, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Grace Mission University, Howard University, Indiana Wesleyan University, North American Baptist Seminary at Kairos University, LOGOS Evangelical Seminary, Loyola University of Chicago, Luther Seminary, Mount Angel Abbey, New Brunswick Theological Seminary, Pacific School of Religion, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Roberts Wesleyan University, Saint John’s University, Santa Clara University's President-Board of Trustees of Santa Clara College, Southeastern University, Union Presbyterian Seminary and Wesley Biblical Seminary.
Baylor University received just under $10 million, along with Covenant Theological Seminary, Fresno Pacific University, Grand Canyon University, Northwest College and Seminary (Northwest Baptist Theological College and Seminary), Northwest Nazarene University, Trinity Anglican Seminary (Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry), and Vancouver School of Theology. The Atlantic School of Theology received the smallest award at $2.5 million.
Beyond seminary funding, the Endowment also awarded 48 grants totaling more than $232 million through its National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life.
The Initiative, which “seeks to help organizations identify, produce and share compelling stories about ways that Christians from many different backgrounds and in a broad range of settings are living vibrant lives of faith and engaging in acts of love and service for others,” began in December 2024, when 12 organizations received initial support.
The foundation’s website notes that J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons, Eli and J.K. Jr., founded it in 1937 to advance “religious, educational or charitable purposes.”
Lilly Endowment’s ability to award large grants comes from its ownership of 92.5 million Eli Lilly shares, a company that recently became the world’s first $1 trillion pharmaceutical firm. This surge in value allowed the Endowment to surpass the Gates Foundation as the nation’s largest private foundation in 2024.
