Date: December 9, 2025
ALEXANDRIA, Va. December 9, 2025 – Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) has been awarded a $5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help revitalize faith by sharing personal narratives. The grant, which is the largest in the Seminary’s history, is funded through Lilly Endowment’s National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life.
The funding will support Stories of Hope and Renewal, a five-year collaboration between VTS’ Lifelong Learning department, Future of Faith, and denominational leaders from The Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The project aims to help Christians present authentic, contextual witness, countering incomplete public narratives that portray Christianity as dying, scandal-ridden, or irrelevant.
Building on the data-supported conviction that people are transformed by seeing themselves reflected in trustworthy spiritual stories told by relatable narrators, the initiative will collect narratives about how people have come to know and love God through local faith communities. These stories will be shared at local festivals and through an online repository, a book, social media, and a podcast developed for a spiritually open audience to help inspire others to seek a relationship with God.
A key part of VTS’ role in the project will be creating resources to equip institutional leaders with the theological and practical tools they need to harness stories for public witness and Christian formation. These efforts aim to help leaders understand both how and why storytelling is central to the Christian life.
The Rev. Kyle Oliver, EdD, project director for Stories of Hope and Renewal, said: “Stories change us. They help us see ourselves reflected in someone else’s struggles, hopes, and encounters with grace. Faith leaders from every tradition need to listen and speak in new ways. Now is an ideal time for the Church to focus on how ordinary people and communities describe their encounters with God in Christ. I’m delighted that our Lifelong Learning team and their partners are devoting themselves to these urgent questions of evangelistic and Christian formation.”
“Our work at Future of Faith has uncovered thousands of everyday stories about people whose lives have been shaped in meaningful ways by their faith communities. These stories have stayed hidden for too long, even though they strengthen neighbors’ bonds, encourage curiosity about faith, and reveal the vitality inside local communities,” said Josh Packard, co-founder, Future of Faith. “This collaborative, ecumenical project creates the infrastructure to make those stories visible at both the local and national levels and we couldn’t be more proud to be involved.”
VTS is one of 60 organizations from across the United States that have received grants through the initiative since 2024. The groups include media organizations, denominational judicatories, church networks, publishers, educational institutions, congregations and other nonprofit charitable organizations.
The aim of Lilly Endowment’s National Initiative on Christian Faith and Life is to help organizations identify, produce, and share with a wide variety of audiences compelling stories that portray the vibrancy and hope of Christian faith and life.
Notes to editors:
For media inquiries, please contact Nicky Burridge, Senior Vice President for Communications and Institutional Advancement at Virginia Theological Seminary and The General Theological Seminary.
Tel: (703) 461-1782
Mobile: (703) 300-2876
Email: [email protected]
Photo caption: The ecumenical planning grant team for Stories of Hope and Renewal meets on retreat in Colorado. Pictured (from left): Dr. Josh Packard, Iain Chester, Megan Bissell, The Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, DMin, and The Rev. Nikki Collins (not pictured: Dr. Lisa Kimball).
About Virginia Theological Seminary:
Virginia Theological Seminary was founded in 1823 and has a long tradition of shaping faithful women and men, lay and ordained, for leadership in The Episcopal Church and beyond. It is the strongest seminary in the Anglican Communion and provides more than 25 percent of the clergy of The Episcopal Church.
About Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary:
The mission of the Department of Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary is to connect, nurture, and highlight communities of faithful practice. It is a multi-faceted department grounded in theology and research-based practices to provide transformation learning for courageous leadership in a changing church.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.:
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based 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. Although the gifts of stock remain a 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 founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A primary aim of its grantmaking in religion is to deepen the religious lives of Christians, principally by supporting efforts that enhance congregational vitality and strengthen the leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment values the broad diversity of Christian traditions and endeavors to support them in a wide variety of contexts. The Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding about religion by encouraging fair, accurate and balanced portrayals of the positive and negative effects of religion on the world and lifting up the contributions that people of all faiths make to our greater civic well-being.
About Future of Faith:
Future of Faith equips ministries with research and resources to do relational ministry at scale. Our tools and resources support future connections to faith life by fostering Sacred Listening, gathering information with wonder and curiosity, and building meaningful relationships. We are committed to elevating the work of others who are listening deeply and building the pathway to the future of faith.