Youth Ministry receives grant

Participants high-five one another during the 2022 LCMS Youth Gathering in Houston. LCMS Youth Ministry has received a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. for practicing healthy youth ministry. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) has received a $250,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support efforts to help member congregations develop effective ministry for youth. The grant was awarded through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. The aim of the initiative is to encourage the flourishing of congregations by helping them deepen their relationships with God, enhance their connections with each other, and contribute to the vitality of their communities and the world.

In 2016, LCMS Youth Ministry launched a multi-year study on millennials and the church. In 2020, a summary of the study, Relationships Count: Engaging and Retaining Millennials, was released in e-book and paperback formats. From that research and conversations around it, additional resources were developed, including a book, Seven Practices of Healthy Youth Ministry. The LCMS, as a confessional Lutheran church body, holds to the Word of God as the center of its doctrine and practice. Its approach to youth ministry reflects the conviction that when that Word is shared through intentional, Christ-centered relationships, lives are changed.

The grant will support a new program called “Practicing Healthy Youth Ministry,” which will begin by creating a network of 35–40 facilitators across the LCMS. The facilitators will receive training and then, during a five-year period, will work to build intentional relationships with youth ministry practitioners and LCMS districts and congregations in order to share research, strategies and resources for a relationship-based approach to youth ministry.

Congregations will be invited to reflect on their ministries to young people, recognizing strengths and exploring opportunities for growth. Best practices will be identified and shared across congregations, and the wisdom gained will be used to help inspire congregations to sharpen their mission to serve young people and families and to create or enhance youth ministry resources. The ultimate goal is to encourage healthy and thriving youth ministries that lead to the retention of young people in the church. Dr. Mark Blanke, professor emeritus and director of the Institute for Religious Education at Concordia University Nebraska, Seward, Neb., will serve as the project’s contracted coordinator and will support the facilitators in their work.

The Rev. Dr. Mark Kiessling, director of LCMS Youth Ministry, said, “We are thankful to God that LCMS congregations intentionally care for young people in their churches and schools. This focus fits well with Lilly Endowment work to support healthy congregations and the passing of the faith to the next generation. This grant will help fund opportunities for youth ministry practitioners and congregations to learn from each other, build a network for mutual sharing and support, and provide resources to congregations that will help them make lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.”

If you or your congregation is interested in being involved in the “Practicing Healthy Youth Ministry” program, please sign up here.

Posted Jan. 7, 2025