LCMS receives grant for nurturing young faith in worship

Jan. 10, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Rev. Sean Daenzer

Director, LCMS Worship

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

888-THE LCMS (843-5267)

worship@lcms.org

LCMS receives grant for nurturing young faith in worship

Lilly Endowment Inc. gives $750,000 to support the Synod’s efforts to help member congregations engage children in worship, prayer

ST. LOUIS — The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) has received a $750,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support efforts of member congregations to nurture the faith of young people through worship. 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 LCMS mission “vigorously to make known the love of Christ by word and deed within our churches, communities and the world” is carried out through its mission priorities. The LCMS Office of National Mission (ONM) is responsible for the support and resources of 22 domestic ministry areas that especially serve congregations and schools of all 35 LCMS districts. Under the leadership of the ONM, LCMS Worship Ministry advocates for and supports Word and Sacrament ministry, which is the beating heart of God’s mission in every congregation as God’s people seek to “let the Word of Christ dwell … richly” in their midst (Col. 3:16).

Under the direction of LCMS Worship, the goal of this grant program is to equip and empower LCMS congregations to think intentionally about nurturing the faith of children through their direct, active participation in corporate worship and to grow in their appreciation of this powerful, inclusive and rich Christian context. This project will engage the diverse insights of children, parents, theologians and trained educators in the LCMS to develop in-context resources and training materials, working with the Synod’s districts and congregations to multiply skills and knowledge to impact their front-line ministry. As the program proceeds, expanding cohorts of Worship Practitioners will explore, develop and refine in-context, intergenerational pilot projects around three multi-sensory focal centers of Lutheran worship practice: 1) Hearing and singing in the balcony and pew; 2) Care through beauty and touch from the sacristy; and 3) Movement and ritual in the chancel.

Woven throughout these efforts will be a focus on gathering knowledge, sharing skills and exploring strategies not only to engage children of all abilities in vibrant corporate worship, but especially to recognize corporate worship and multi-sensory service as opportunities for spiritual care, growth in discipleship and leadership development in congregations. Worship practitioners from the project will gather to inspire and share with others at the 2027 Institute on Liturgy, Preaching and Church Music as session and service leaders, inviting others to join. The knowledge and approaches garnered will be developed into training materials and attendant resources to be made widely available. The program will also lift up the agency of children in worship at the Synod’s conventions.

The LCMS is one of 91 organizations receiving funding through the latest round of the initiative, including Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. The organizations 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, 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.”

The Rev. Sean Daenzer, director of LCMS Worship, said, “Christ creates saving and living faith even in infants through Holy Baptism and His Word. Our Lutheran Divine Service is already, by its nature, thoroughly participatory, and many congregations also include children in musical or ritual leadership. I’m excited through this initiative to focus the experience and wisdom of our musicians, lay leaders and pastors for the good of the wider church. ‘Involvement’ is only the tip of the iceberg. These are opportunities to strengthen relationships in the Body of Christ, form children in their faith, and stimulate their maturity in Christian truth and love for a future as adult Christians, parents and even church workers.”
Download press release

About Lilly Endowment Inc.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private 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. A 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.

About The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (lcms.org)

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, with more than 1.7 million baptized members in some 5,800 congregations coast to coast, is a mission-oriented, Bible-based, confessional Christian denomination headquartered in St. Louis. Through acts of witness and mercy, the church carries out its mission worldwide to make known the love of Jesus Christ.