Author

Lillian Daniel

Senior minister, First Congregational Church, Dubuque, Iowa

The Rev. Lillian Daniel is the senior minister of First Congregational Church in Dubuque, Iowa. Before that, she served as senior minister of the First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn, Ill., in suburban Chicago. Her latest book is "Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don't Belong To: Spirituality Without Stereotypes, Religion Without Ranting." She also is the author of “Tell It Like It Is: Reclaiming the Practice of Testimony,” and chapters in “Anxious about Empire” and “From Nomads to Pilgrims: Stories from Practicing Congregations.” A frequent contributor to Christian Century, Daniel has also written for publications including Books and Culture, Leadership, The Journal for Preachers and The Biblical Preaching Journal. She has taught preaching at Yale Divinity School and Chicago Theological Seminary.

Busy, busy, busy

The story of Mary Magdalene at the tomb illustrates the importance of taking the time to live as we say we want to live, Lillian Daniel says in an Easter sermon.

Money off the shelf

Early in her ministry, Lillian Daniel finds that she has intense anger about money, but no place, in her vocational life, to express it. She writes about her experience in the book, “This Odd and Wondrous Calling: The Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.”

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Lilly Endowment Inc. announces Exploring Christian Practices Initiative

The Exploring Christian Practices Initiative aims to multiply opportunities and increase access to settings that help individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds explore and engage in Christian practices to address their spiritual interests and questions, find and build community with others, nourish their religious lives and grow in faith. 

In this open and competitive initiative, the Endowment invites charitable organizations to submit proposals for grants of up to $2.5 million each that may be used for up to a five-year period to develop new and/or enhance existing programs that present promising strategies for advancing the aim of the initiative and provide compelling and thoughtful responses to its guiding questions. The Endowment anticipates awarding approximately 60 grants and announcing grant awards in December 2026.

The Endowment will host four virtual information sessions (February 17, 19, 24, and 25) to discuss the Exploring Christian Practices guidelines for submitting a proposal. An Interest Form and Letter of Interest are due March 25, 2026. Complete proposals are due May 18, 2026.

Learn More and register for information sessions