Garrett Wins Million-Dollar Grant to Nurture Leaders
October 24, 2025
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary has received a grant of $1,000,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support the Rueben P. Job Institute for Spiritual Formation in its efforts to offer pastoral leaders comprehensive leadership formation for a swiftly evolving religious landscape. The funding will foster spiritually grounded, justice-oriented, compassion-infused, and technologically fluent pastoral ministry that strengthens churches and heals communities.
The program, “Flourishing Together: Supporting Clergy and Congregations in a Rapidly Changing World,” is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, which is intended to help theological schools across the United States and Canada strengthen their educational and financial capacities to prepare and support pastoral leaders for Christian congregations, both today and into the future.
“The church needs leaders who pair creativity and competence with a deep grounding in God’s love and justice,” says President Javier A. Viera. “I’m deeply grateful that the Lilly Endowment will help Garrett offer resources that pastoral leaders need to thrive. The Job Institute’s unique blend of skill training, cohort learning, and personal support cultivates ministry that’s ready for this moment.”
“Flourishing Together” will work in stages, building resilient and interwoven networks. “Over the course of five years, the project will engage diverse constituencies—including seminary students, clergy of color, white clergy, women clergy of color, district superintendents, alumni, and ministry leaders navigating AI. Each group will participate in three integrated components: tailored webinar series, specialized restorative retreats, and an annual Leadership Summit,” says project director Dr. Rolf Nolasco. “Together, these components provide holistic formation that is accessible, relational, and deeply responsive to the spiritual, social, and technological demands of contemporary ministry.” Nolasco serves as the Rueben P. Job Professor of Pastoral Theology and Spiritual Formation, as well as the director of the Rueben P. Job Institute for Spiritual Formation.
“This project is a direct response to the urgent and multifaceted challenges revealed through extensive needs assessments we conducted last Spring semester. It addresses burnout, trauma, and isolation through trauma-informed leadership training, restorative retreats, spiritual practices, and peer-based support. It also advances racial literacy and cross-cultural competency by centering justice-rooted formation and collaborative dialogue across differences,” declares Nolasco. “Recognizing the accelerating influence of AI and digital technologies, the project will equip participants with ethical and theological tools for tech-integrated ministry, while intentionally supporting the leadership and resilience of historically marginalized pastors and students.”
Meeting and resourcing pastoral leaders where they are, while also curating opportunities for deeper connection, has become a hallmark of the seminary’s approach. “Students attend Garrett from across the United States and around the world, so we’ve designed curricula and pedagogies that offer robust education while helping leaders stay present and accountable to the communities they serve,” explains Academic Dean Jennifer Harvey. “’Flourishing Together’ offers an exciting new chapter in this effort, dramatically expanding who can access these life-sustaining skills and networks.
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary is one of 163 theological schools that have received grants since 2021 through the Pathways initiative. Together, the schools serve a broad spectrum of Christian traditions in the U.S. and Canada. They are affiliated with evangelical, mainline Protestant, nondenominational, Pentecostal, Orthodox, Catholic, Black church, Latino, Asian American, Indigenous and historic peace church traditions.
“Theological schools have long played a central role for most denominations and church networks in preparing and supporting pastoral leaders who guide congregations,” said Christopher L. Coble, the Endowment’s vice president for religion. “These schools are paying close attention to the challenges churches are facing today and will face in the foreseeable future. The grants will help these schools engage in wide-ranging, innovative efforts to adapt their educational programs and build their financial capacities so they can better prepare pastors and lay ministers to effectively lead the congregations they will serve in the future.”
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private 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. A 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 religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United State and around the globe.
About Garrett Seminary
Garrett Seminary is a graduate school of theology, ministry, and public service committed to forming courageous leaders in the way of Jesus who cultivate communities of justice, compassion, and hope. Offering a full range of masters and doctoral degrees, as well as certificates, licensing, and lifelong learning programs, Garrett prepares religious leaders and social impact innovators for service in the church and the world. The seminary is home to major research centers and institutes that advance scholarship, resource congregations and organizations, and convene global conversations on faith and social transformation. Located on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, since 1853, and historically related to the United Methodist Church, Garrett stands as a vital hub of research, training, and equipping—serving churches, communities, and social impact organizations around the world with intellectual rigor, spiritual depth, and transformative vision.
Website: www.garrett.edu