For more than 20 years, Luther Seminary has made a strong case that ministry with young people is a theological task. A new, $1.196 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. will move this work deeper into the congregational practice of children’s ministry in the years to come.
Led by Andrew Root, Luther Seminary’s Carrie Olson Baalson Chair of Youth and Family Ministry, the grant project seeks to advance and accelerate a theological turn in children’s ministry. The project intentionally moves beyond technique-based resources to center the personhood and vocation of the children’s minister, focusing on children’s ministry not just as a programmatic activity but as a place where God is encountered and lives are transformed.
“The real drive of the grant is to communicate that children’s ministers are ministers,” said Root. “In bringing faith practices and teaching children to pray, they are doing something fundamentally theological—something that deeply reflects who God is, what the church is, and what it means to be human.”
Luther Seminary’s project is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative. The aim of this national initiative is to support faith-based organizations as they help children grow in faith and deepen their relationships with God. Luther Seminary is one of 170 organizations funded through three rounds of the initiative, which was launched in 2022.
Through ministry cohorts, development of a core text, dissemination of practical resources, and conversations with children’s ministers nationwide, the project will articulate a distinct case for the theological significance and shape of children’s ministry. Luther Seminary will draw on the strength of its partnerships and alumni network to complete the project, distribute its findings, and amplify its impact. Kansas City-based Youthfront, which serves thousands of churches, youth, and families, will serve as a key partner in translating the theological work into practice by convening large conversations about children’s ministry as a theological task.
“Without attention to the person and the practice of the children’s minister, children’s ministry has been too often seen as tertiary, even as lightweight, ecclesial work. It is not,” said Root. “Our deepest hope with this project is to change imagination around divine action as it relates to the practice of children’s ministry.”
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
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.
About Luther Seminary
Luther Seminary educates leaders for Christian communities across the country and around the world. An innovator in theological education, the seminary is committed to exploring leading-edge approaches for Christian ministry, proclamation, and faith formation in a rapidly changing world. As one of the seven seminaries in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Luther Seminary has educated more than one-third of ELCA pastors, lay professionals, and leaders of many global Lutheran and ecumenical churches.