The Lake Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has received a $1.2 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help nurture children in worship and prayer.
Debbie Michel
October 24, 2024This initiative is in collaboration with Illinois, Indiana, Lake Region, Michigan and Wisconsin conferences.
The program is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative, a national initiative designed to help Christian congregations more fully and intentionally engage children in intergenerational corporate worship and prayer practices.
The central goal of this program is to integrate worship and prayer into children's lives in an intergenerational worship setting. The Lake Union Conference believes that children were not meant to be mere observers of church worship but should be active participants, expressing their childlike faith in creative ways designed to enhance their love for God. This new initiative will support multicultural churches congregations by providing culturally intelligent resources and workshops specifically designed to assist children's ministry leaders in welcoming and including children in their worship and prayer experiences.
Leading the initiative is Lake Union Vice President for Multicultural Ministry Carmelo Mercado and his administrative assistant, Magaly Torres.
“We are thrilled about the collaboration between the Lake Union and our conferences to launch this new resource,” said Mercado.” We look forward to its potential impact in fostering a culture of inclusivity and participation within worship settings, where children feel valued, respected and encouraged to engage in worship, strengthening their connection to God and their faith community.”
The Lake Union Conference is one of about 60 organizations funded through the latest round of the initiative. It represents and serves 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, 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.”
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.
1. Who will be the beneficiaries of this program?
“Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer” is a pilot program designed to enhance the spiritual lives of children through intergenerational worship and prayer in our multicultural immigrant/refugee churches and their communities within our Lake Union territory.
2. Who can participate in the program?
This initiative will be designed as a partnership with Lake Union, the children’s ministry leaders, and the multicultural ministry leaders of the five conferences. We will work with the local conferences to create an application process for churches interested in participating and provide information associated with the application as soon as possible.
3. How long will this initiative last?
The program is designed to be implemented over five years, with the (intention of extending) to many other churches beyond the pilot phase.
Debbie Michel is editor of the Lake Union Herald.
