There are many young people in our communities today that have vast potential to go into Christian ministry. However, many do not understand calling or all the opportunities of ministry. The Fund for Theological Education (FTE) is seeking to remedy this by offering competitive grants from $5,000-$12,000 to programs that will help youth better understand the call to ministry and spark interest in it.
By 2009, they would like to have over 500 partners to help further their goal of reaching young people. This grant program is part of the Calling Congregations initiative. “Calling Congregations is a national, ecumenical effort to encourage and equip churches to play a leading role in the vocational discernment of young men and women-and to increase the number of gifted young people considering ordained ministry as a profession,” according to CR Newswire.
These grants will support projects up to 18 months long that expand a sense of calling to ministry among youth. "These grants support innovative ways in which congregations embrace responsibility for the conversation about vocation and inspire a new generation to explore discernment of their call," said Jim Goodmann, FTE Calling Congregations regional director and grant program administrator. "Finding those who will lead the church tomorrow begins with offering space for that conversation today with the young people in our midst."
FTE is well on its way towards accomplishing this goal with their many workshops, conferences, teaching tools, fellowships, and scholarships. They support youth from all backgrounds. For more information on The Fund for Theological Education, visit www.thefund.org The next deadline for letters of intent is September 8, 2008; information about this process is available at www.thefund.org/programs/congregations_grants .
Jessica High is a Research Assistant at Christian Foundation Grants (www.christianfoundationgrants.com) which is subscription database of foundations that provide grants to faith based organizations. iDonate.com is a website (www.iDonate.com) that allows ministries to receive non cash gifts online.