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Cultures of Call Grant Recipients as of Jan 2010...

Through Cultures of Call grants, the Fund for Theological Education provides financial support to congregations and church-related organizations for activities and practices that help them become communities of call. Funds are used to foster practices that support vocational formation in general, and the call to ministry, in particular.

Interested prospects will submit a Letter of Intent that outlines a proposal idea for exploring one or two of the four VoCARE practices areas. Depending on the quality and readiness of the expressed intent, applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal during the Spring or Fall award cycles. Deadlines are February 2nd and September 1st, respectively, for each of these funding periods. All applicants will receive notification of their grant status within six weeks of each deadline for full proposals.

Letters of Intent will:

• C – Creating space for the exploration of Christian vocation;
• A – Asking self-awakening questions;
• R – Reflecting Theologically on self and community; and
• E – Establishing Vocation Enriched opportunities.

We imagine each of these practices to be operative in a culture of call. In your thinking about a grant project, however, one of them will likely come to the fore as a way of encapsulating your intent, of being most aptly descriptive of your entry point to increasing your capacity as a calling congregation. We expect that focusing your efforts through a particular pathway of practice will provide the means for enacting aspects of each of these practices

Potential grantees should be able to articulate:

• Why they have chosen a particular practice (i.e., what are the leverage points in the congregation that give way to one of the four C.A.R.E. practices in their program, though the others may be more subtly operative);
• How they are going to focus and use the chosen practice in the life of their congregation during the grant period;
• What specific congregational activities that embody a particular practice they will take up to facilitate nurturing vocation with young people; and
• How they will know that what they are doing is making a difference in the life of the congregation toward the nurture of call in young people.

To learn more about VoCARE practices CLICK HERE. The bibliography to this document can be found HERE.

• Demonstrate how a proposal will support a culture of call within the congregation through the engaged practice or practices; or
• Demonstrate how practices, in the case of partnerships among congregations or the partnership of a congregation with any church-related organization, will develop or create and strengthen the partners’ capacity to nurture vocation and the call to ministry.

Cultures of Call Grants support projects that:

• Focus on youth and young adults in a specific, local context that is decidedly inter-generational and non-isolative from the rest of the community.
• Foster new efforts to explore vocation and the call to ministry, with the aim of expanding the community's capacities and commitment beyond the grant period. Offer engagement over a significant period of time, rather than focusing on a single event.

Cultures of Call grants do NOT typically support:

• Salaries, stipends or operating expenses beyond those specifically required by the proposed project;
• Projects depending primarily on "outside experts" (the engagement and expertise of the congregation are the desirable emphases for any proposal); and
• The costs of group travel far from home.

PLEASE NOTE: In the case of any adopted practice, there is a necessary engagement of some form of theological reflection in the context of that practice.

FTE/Calling Congregations awards up to eight grants in an award cycle. Congregations or organizations awarded will be required to attend a special Grantees Meeting July 8th and 9th, 2010 (for the Spring 2010 cycle) for an introduction to and conversation with FTE/Calling Congregations staff, for conversation with other new grantees and to receive their awards. Awards are in the range of $5,000-$10,000.

To see a list of grant recipients and their project descriptions, from 2007 to the present, CLICK HERE

Potential applicants are invited to consult with Jim Goodmann, director of the Cultures of Call grants program, regarding the suitability of project idea. CLICK HERE for information about our grants or call Jim at 404.727.1415 for an initial conversation.

Letters of intent may be submitted via email to Jim Goodmann or by mail to:

Grants to Congregations
The Fund for Theological Education
825 Houston Mill Road, Ste 100
Atlanta, GA 30329

If you have any questions, please call 404-727-1415 or email Jim Goodmann.