North Park University said it has received an $8,184,203 grant from Lilly Endowment to support North Park Theological Seminary in launching One Covenant Community, a collaborative initiative designed to cultivate pastoral leadership across the Evangelical Covenant Church by strengthening vocational discernment, theological education, credentialing pathways and long-term support for church leaders.
The university said the project is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, a program aimed at helping theological schools in the United States and Canada respond to pressing challenges facing ministry preparation and institutional sustainability. North Park’s award is one of 45 grants in a competitive funding round intended to support work carried out in partnership with other seminaries, colleges and universities, and church-related organizations.
According to the announcement, One Covenant Community will bring together major Covenant entities involved in congregational leadership development and support. Partner organizations include all 11 ECC regional conferences, along with Serve Clergy and Serve Locally, Centro Hispano de Estudios Teológicos (CHET), Alaska Christian College, Minnehaha Academy, Midtown Leadership Institute, Mission Springs and Covenant Harbor Camps, the Mosaic Commission, and the Association of Covenant Spiritual Directors. NPU said the coalition will provide continuing education opportunities for church leaders, strengthen the institutional capacity of partner organizations, and foster Covenant identity, unity and belonging across the denomination.
Lilly Endowment launched the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative in 2021 and has since awarded more than $700 million to support 163 theological schools in efforts to strengthen educational and financial capacity, as well as to assist 61 schools pursuing large-scale collaborative endeavors, according to the release.
North Park University described itself as a city-centered, intercultural institution and said its seminary, North Park Theological Seminary, offers a holistic theological education emphasizing compassionate dialogue, contextual learning and spiritual health.
