Grant Supports New Religious Studies Effort at Taylor

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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA $600,000 grant from the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. will help launch a new summer theological program at Taylor University. The initiative will bring 32 high school students to the Upland campus for three weeks for religion classes, ministry career studies and mentorship opportunities.
The program will be funded for four years and is part of the endowment’s High School Youth Theology Institutes initiative, which includes more than 80 other institutions throughout the country.
Program Director Mike Severe said "confronting high school students with the most important questions of our time enables them to see that their lives matter and that what they know truly does make a difference. Through this Institute, national and congregational partners will select young people who not only show promise for ministry and leadership, but who come from economically and educationally challenged areas. They will be invited to join a unique program – one informed by insights from a dozen Endowment-funded initiatives that will allow them to engage Scripture and theological texts, encounter contemporary challenges intellectually and experientially, and explore religious and ministry vocations."
The program will run from July 11-29.