Author

Justin Coleman

Senior pastor, University United Methodist Church

The Rev. Justin Coleman is the senior pastor of University United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Prior to that he served as chief ministry officer of the United Methodist Publishing House in Nashville, Tennessee and as lead pastor of the Gethsemane Campus of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston. A native of Houston, he is a graduate of Southern Methodist University in Dallas and Duke Divinity School. Coleman has also served as a pastor with the SMU Wesley Foundation and in other college and youth ministry programs and is a member of the Ekklesia Project. Coleman serves on the Advisory Council of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.

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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