CTCNA Nurturing Children Initiative
We're excited to introduce you to the CTCNA Nurturing Children Initiative funded through Lilly Endowment’s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative. The Nurturing Children Initiative is an opportunity to address a pain point in the churches we serve: roughly 50% of students leave church after they graduate high school. We believe a key to reversing this trend is returning to the church’s historic tradition of intergenerational worship (“ancient”) combined with multi-sensory innovation (“future”).
The initiative will focus on church plants and young churches (less than 10 years old), because these churches—which are often lean and adaptive—are well positioned to develop patterns of ministry from the beginning that create meaningful experiences of worship and prayer for children—by listening to the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of their youngest members.
CTCNA is excited to empower our diverse congregations to welcome children and develop intergenerational and multi-sensory practices that nurture faith among children ages 0-12.
City to City North America is one of 91 organizations funding through the latest round of the initiative. They represent and serve congregations in a broad spectrum of Christian traditions, including Catholic, mainline Protestant, evangelical, Orthodox, Anabaptist and Pentecostal faith communities. Several organizations are rooted in Black Church and Hispanic and Asian American Christian traditions.
“Congregational worship and prayer play a critical role in the spiritual growth of children and offer settings for children to acquire the language of faith, learn their faith traditions and experience the love of God as part of a supportive community,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “These programs will help congregations give greater attention to children and how they can more intentionally nurture the faith of children, as well as adults, through worship and prayer.”
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. The principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of diverse religious traditions by supporting fair and accurate portrayals of the role religion plays in the United States and across the globe.
