Pepperdine University has been awarded a $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to launch the Compelling Preaching Initiative. The initiative supports ministers as they share the gospel with diverse audiences in engaging ways.
The Compelling Preaching Initiative is part of the Lilly Endowment’s longstanding interest in supporting projects that help to nurture the religious lives of individuals and families and foster the growth and vitality of Christian congregations in the United States.
“Through workshops, personal mentoring, podcasts, newsletters, and training videos, we want not only to recruit and train a new generation of preachers but also to help current ministers become more effective in their sermons and messages,” Mike Cope, director of ministry outreach at Pepperdine said in a press release.
Pepperdine University is one of 32 organizations receiving funding in an invitational round of grants for the Compelling Preaching Initiative.
“We are excited about the work that these organizations will do to foster and support preaching that better inspires, encourages, and guides people to come to know and love God and to live out their Christian faith more fully,” Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion said in the press release. “Their programs will serve a significant number of aspiring and current preachers who are working to reach and engage increasingly diverse audiences both within and beyond congregations.”