A learning resource for Christian leaders and theirA 5-minute video by Houston filmmaker Marlon F. Hall offers a glimpse into this innovative ministry, which is based in deep listening, prayer and openness to the Holy Spirit.
Ben Smith, a volunteer with the Fondren Apartment Ministry. Photo by Mark Mulligan
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The church is located in one of the most multicultural cities in America, yet the congregation was not as engaged with its diverse neighbors as it could have been. That changed when they hired an associate pastor to live in intentional community in apartments three miles and a whole world away.
The oldest Black congregation in Chicago restores its historic building while reaching out as history is made in the city today.
Link to author Celeste Kennel-Shank
A missiologist, a religion journalist and a church researcher write about one of the largest American churches in the 1960s in an excerpt from a recent book.
New Orleans churches and community centers are being outfitted with backup and solar power to create a microgrid for residents during the city’s frequent outages. But that’s not the only value they offer.
Link to author Delaney Dryfoos
A painting must be created on canvas sturdy enough to support it. Likewise, congregations and organizations need a solid foundation if their ministries are to flourish, writes a director of programs and grants for Leadership Education at Duke Divinity
Link to author Mycal X. Brickhouse
While the Bible encourages us to be hospitable to strangers, the possibilities can be frightening. Some churches provide models for bringing people together beyond weekly services or liturgical ties.
Link to author Sarah E. Forsyth
Pastors share what they’ve learned about their congregations, about the work of the church and about themselves five years after the pandemic forced most to close their doors.
Link to author Edie Gross
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