December 4, 2025
Kairos University is grateful to share that we have received a grant of $10 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of its Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative. This grant initiative represents a significant investment in the future of pastoral formation across North America.
We give thanks to God for the opportunity to participate in this important work. As noted in Lilly Endowment’s public announcement, it enables us to join with a wide network of schools, churches, denominations, and ministry organizations to strengthen the preparation and support of pastoral leaders in ways that are both sustainable and deeply rooted in the life of the Church. In fact, the Endowment awarded forty-five grants ranging from $2.5 million to $10 million dollars. These grants will help schools share resources, expand access to pastoral formation, develop new pathways for ministry preparation, and explore large-scale approaches to educational and financial sustainability across the system of theological education.
The Vision of the Novare Project
Our project, titled Novare, grows from more than a decade of our collaborative work among seminaries, Bible colleges, Christian universities, denominations, and faith-based networks. Novare is designed as a large-scale, non-geographically bound collaboration that helps organizations envision, create, and live into alternative futures of theological education. Rather than focus on a single institution, Novare engages the system of theological education as a whole. It is rooted in the belief that theological schools, churches, and denominations are interconnected and interdependent. Their ability to prepare and support pastoral leaders grows when they work together toward a shared purpose.
Three Cascading Objectives
The Novare Project is structured around four interconnected aims that will guide our work over the next several years.
- Developing 3,000 faithful stewards. This involves strengthening the reach and depth of pastoral formation by working with congregations, denominations, and schools to create high-quality and accessible pathways of pastoral development. These pathways will honor the diverse contexts and traditions represented in the collaborative community.
- Fostering generous collaboration. We will cultivate a resilient and sustainable ecosystem of theological education in which theological schools, colleges and universities, churches, networks, and denominations can share learning, resources, and practices. Already, 55 collaborators have agreed to participate in this ecosystem through the Novare Project. In addition to this group of collaborators, Kairos University’s network of 70+ partner organizations will join us in this work.
- Cultivating thriving communities of formation. This involves helping organizations build their capacity for adaptive change so they can live into new operational and educational models. We will work with collaborators to solve some of the most important challenges facing theological education.
- Imagining new pathways. By providing resources, experiences, and support that enhances the health and vitality of communities of formation, the project will be a collaborative effort in shaping new pathways for the future of theological education in North America. Our work in this area will take shape through the Novare Center for Organizational Formation, a new center that will be established at Kairos University.
Together, these form a comprehensive vision for long-term impact. They emphasize pastoral formation, collaboration, and organizational capacity as essential components of a renewed system of theological education.
A Collaborative Effort for Collective Impact
We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in this new chapter of the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative. Lilly Endowment’s investment affirms the vital role that theological schools play in preparing pastoral leaders and highlights the importance of collaborative work across the Body of Christ. We look forward to joining with our partners as we seek to strengthen the system of theological education and support the formation of leaders who will serve the Church with wisdom, humility, and faithfulness.
