Memphis Theological Seminary (MTS) has received a $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the House of Black Church Studies at MTS.
MTS president Jody Hill said, “With the addition of the House of Black Church Studies, Memphis Theological Seminary can now celebrate that we have houses of study dedicated to equipping leaders in our student body’s three largest congregational settings: the African American Church; the Cumberland Presbyterian Church; and the Methodist Church.”
The House of Black Church Studies will enhance MTS’s capacity to carry forward its efforts to prepare and support pastors and congregational lay ministers primarily of the African-American Baptist and Pentecostal traditions to serve their local congregations.
The project is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative. It is a three-phase initiative designed to help theological schools across the United States and Canada as they prioritize and respond to the most pressing challenges they face as they prepare pastoral leaders for Christian congregations both now and into the future.
Dr. Karren Todd, program director for the House of Black Church Studies, says, “As an alum of MTS, I am excited to be a part of this new and necessary work for the Black Church. Our mission is to ensure an ongoing commitment to enrich the work and witness of Memphis Theological Seminary as a theological and spiritual resource for the Black Church Context.”
Lilly Endowment launched the Pathways initiative in January 2021 because of its longstanding interest in supporting efforts to enhance and sustain the vitality of Christian congregations by strengthening the leadership capacities of pastors and congregational lay leaders.
“Theological schools have long played a pivotal role in preparing pastoral leaders for churches,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “Today, these schools find themselves in a period of rapid and profound change. Through the Pathways Initiative, theological schools will take deliberate steps to address the challenges they have identified in ways that make the most sense to them. We believe that their efforts are critical to ensuring that Christian congregations continue to have a steady stream of pastoral leaders who are well-prepared to lead the churches of tomorrow.”