The Iona Collaborative at Seminary of the Southwest is thrilled to announce the recipients of micro-grants through its Locally Grown Leaders program, made possible by the generosity of Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of its Ministry in Rural Areas and Small Towns Initiative.
Through Locally Grown Leaders, 19 grantees from 21 Episcopal dioceses will receive grants of up to $25,000 per year for the next five years, along with site visits and personalized support from the Locally Grown Leaders staff team. Areas of focus include curriculum design, diocesan school planning and evaluation, and student assessment protocols—all aimed at fostering local formation, student success, and the vitality of small congregations.
The Rev. Canon Terri Bays, PhD shared:
As a micro-grant recipient, the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana School for Faith and Ministry (ESFM) plans to adapt our current model of traditional coursework in areas such as Scripture, Church History, Theology, Liturgy and Pastoral Care. The goal of these adaptations is for ESFM to become a center for the types of learning communities that not only sustain but grow the faith of our people. Our first area of focus is to provide students with the means for growth in self-awareness as learners before they confront the full curricular demands of the traditional curriculum. The second is to expand our curriculum, providing courses aimed at deeply necessary but spiritually neglected ministries. We envision a space where growth in the kind of thoughtful and nuanced faith which continues to draw people to the Episcopal Church is available to all the baptized, not only to those with the time and money to attend a residential seminary. We envision a community where deacons and lay leaders join their priests in fostering such faith within the parish. We envision them taking that faith with them into a world where ministry informed by such faith is badly needed.