Spokane Standard

The Whitworth University Office of Church Engagement is pleased to announce it has been awarded a nearly $1.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to fund the Grounded Faith Initiative, a collaboration with the Parish Collective.

The Parish Collective is a growing collective of churches, missional groups, faith-based organizations and community development associations that are rooted in the neighborhood and linked across cities.

The purpose of this initiative is to connect established neighborhood congregations with young adults who feel a vested interest in the same neighborhoods. The hope is these relationships will provide vocational discernment and mentorship to young adults, out of which will emerge innovative ministries to serve communities.

The innovation hub will consist of groups of three churches in five cities across the United States. This multi-city, multiyear process will identify, connect and launch new ventures of young adults with the support of neighborhood-rooted congregations. 

Congregations will be selected by a team that includes the program director and Parish Collective and OCE staff. This group will collaborate to ensure that congregations possess the right attributes and represent a diverse sampling across denominational, geographic, ethnic and cultural difference. 

The OCE will work closely with the staff of the Parish Collective, including Executive Director Tim Sorens and Program Director Lauren Goldbloom ’19, a Whitworth alumna and member of the OCE’s Resilient Church project. 

“The OCE is thrilled to work on this new young adult initiative in partnership with Parish Collective,” says Mindy Smith, Whitworth’s director of church engagement. “There is no better time for us to be cultivating new and innovative ways to make the church accessible to young people. We are excited for another opportunity to pour into churches in the Spokane community and around the country, all led by Whitworth alum Lauren Goldbloom, a dear friend of the OCE. We are so eager to learn together for the future of God’s church.”

Lilly Endowment, based in Indianapolis, is one of the nation’s largest private philanthropic foundations. Founded in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family, it supports the causes of religion, education and community development.

Original source can be found here.