Author
Julia Duin
Journalist
Julia Duin is a Newsweek contributing editor for religion. She was previously an assistant national editor and religion editor for The Washington Times for 14 years. She specializes in coverage of interesting women in religion, such as her award-winning profile of Nadia Bolz-Weber in the December 2014 issue of More magazine; her nearly 6,000-word profile on President Trump’s adviser Paula White in the Washington Post Sunday Magazine in November 2017; and her piece on Delilah Rene, a radio host with 8 million weekly listeners, for the Seattle Times in April 2019.
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