Author

Christi O. Brown

Pastoral associate for young adults

Christi O. Brown is a pastoral associate at First Presbyterian Church in Spartanburg, S.C. She is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). From 2008 to 2011, she served as a managing director at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity focusing on constituent development and thematic programs, including training for adaptive leadership and judicatory networking. An industrial engineer, Brown is a graduate of Wofford College, Clemson University and Princeton Theological Seminary.

Scars of hope

Everyone has scars and scar stories that are reminders of our wounds. But the scars of Christ are scars of hope, signs that God is with us through all things, says Christi O. Brown.

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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