Author
Christena Cleveland
Independent scholar
Christena Cleveland is an independent scholar and the founder and director of the Center for Justice + Renewal. She was an associate professor of the practice of reconciliation at Duke Divinity School from 2015 to 2019. She is a social psychologist, author and speaker, and is the author of "Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart", a 2013 Leadership Journal Book Award winner. In 2014, Christianity Today named her one of “33 Under 33” (millennials leading the next generation of Christian faith) and JET magazine identified her one as of five “online shepherds to follow.” She earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. from the University of California Santa Barbara.
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