Clearing the Way for Grace
Bridging the Gap between Practice and Theory to Nurture Children through Worship and Prayer
Thriving Congregations Initiative
The Godly Play Foundation has received a grant of $1,250,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support Clearing the Way for Grace: Bridging the Gap between Practice and Theory to Nurture Children through Worship and Prayer, a project of the Center for the Theology of Childhood.
The program is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative. The aim of the national initiative is to support faith-based organizations as they help children grow in faith and deepen their relationships with God.
“Clearing the Way for Grace” is divided into two components. The first component is supporting practitioners by expanding on our Godly Play liturgical lessons to use with children twelve years and younger, providing Godly Play infused liturgical resources for communal worship, offering congregational toolkits including assessments for engaging children in worship and prayer, and providing grants for congregations desiring to expand their support for children in worship and prayer grounded in a Godly Play approach. The second component is supporting scholarship through open-access publications (both peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed), hosting lecture series’ and gatherings, supporting research circles, and matching students and junior scholars with mentors, ensuring that those engaged in children’s ministry have access to the most up to date research regarding the challenges they encounter as they nurture the faith of children.
Dr. Cheryl Minor, the Director of the Center for the Theology of Childhood and Grant Director, writes, “In our conversations with practitioners in children's ministry and clergy, we know they are longing for evidence-based practices and access to research to guide their path forward. With this grant funding, we will ensure that happens as we expand the work the Center has been doing for over thirty years. This is an important extension of the life and work of Jerome Berryman, which has already had an enormous impact on the lives of children worldwide.
The Godly Play Foundation is one of 170 organizations funded through three rounds of the initiative, which was launched in 2022. The grants are funding efforts to help organizations that serve congregations in a broad spectrum of Christian traditions develop new and/or enhance existing programs as they design worship services and prayer practices that more intentionally and fully engage children.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private philanthropic 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. The 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.
CONTACT INFORMATION
For more information about this grant, contact Cheryl Minor, Director for the Center for the Theology of Childhood.