Author
Janice Virtue
Janice Virtue is a former executive director of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity who had previously served 10 years as associate dean for continuing education at Duke Divinity School. In that position, she oversaw the creation and development of an array of pastoral learning programs, including the Royce & Jane Reynolds Program in Church Leadership, the Duke Youth Academy for Christian Formation and Courage to Serve. She has long experience with a variety of Lilly Endowment programs and with program design and delivery. Before coming to Duke, Virtue was director of Perkins relations at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. She is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, and continues to provide leadership training in several United Methodist conferences. She has a master of divinity from Perkins School of Theology and a master of business administration from Indiana University.
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