Concordia Seminary, St. Louis has received a $762,497 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the Children in Worship Initiative.

Funding for this grant has been made available 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 Seminary’s new Children in Worship Initiative focuses on the unique ways in which children grow in and articulate their faith, especially through the church’s worship,” said Concordia Seminary President Dr. Thomas J. Egger. “We are deeply grateful to Lilly Endowment for making the initiative possible so we can assist future pastors and deaconesses, teachers, music leaders and parents as they teach the Christian faith to children and influence future generations.”

Concordia Seminary’s primary emphasis in the utilization of this grant will be educating church leaders in the theology and practice of faith formation, and providing them with resources to guide children in their spiritual growth, with particular attention to the cultivation of children’s spirituality through liturgy and music.

“With our church body’s heritage of teaching children in its churches and schools, the Seminary is poised to offer learning opportunities that focus on the spiritual formation of our children through worship and singing,” said Dr. Sam Eatherton, who serves as kantor and the Kreft Professor for Music Arts at the Seminary and who will oversee activities related to the grant. “Our prayer is that the pastors, teachers, lay leaders and children of our Synod will grow in their understanding and appreciation of the formative power of Lutheran worship.” 

The Seminary is one of 91 organizations receiving funding through the latest round of Lilly Endowment’s grant awards through this initiative.

“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.”

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 Concordia Seminary

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). To learn more, visit csl.edu.