Catholic Information Center awarded $1.25 million grant to support new initiative

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 6, 2024

Contact: Mark Mann, director of programming & institutes mmann@catholicinformationcenter.org

Catholic Information Center awarded $1.25 million grant to support new initiative

The grant is the largest amount possible

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—The Catholic Information Center (CIC) has received a significant grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Thriving Congregations Initiative to launch and support the CIC’s new initiative, Formed as Disciples, Prepared for Mission. This new effort builds on the success of their current Leadership Formation Institutes.

Through the Formed As Disciples, Prepared for Mission initiative, pastors and their staff can undergo an assessment which will show where existing ministries can be strengthened, where new opportunities exist and how to invigorate parish life amidst rapid social and cultural changes. Parishioners ready to exercise greater service will then be invited to participate in the Catholic Information Center’s Leadership Formation Institute, which equips participants to implement new ministry projects under the direction of their pastor.

The five-year, $1.25 million grant will:

• assist parish pastors and their staff in forming healthy, faith-filled lay leaders engaged in building up their parish and the wider community.
• enable nearly 300 lay people to participate in the Leadership Formation Institute—deepening their relationship with God, making connections with other parishes, and contributing to the flourishing of their       communities and the wider world.
• offer mini grants to support parish projects created by Leadership Institute

Lilly Endowment designed the Thriving Congregations Initiative to support organizations in the United States that work with congregations to develop new or strengthen existing programs to help better understand the changing social and cultural contexts in which they serve; gain clarity about their values and mission in light of these changes; and draw upon Christian practices that are rooted in the congregations’ theological or ecclesial traditions to adapt and strengthen their ministries.

“We believe that the parish is still an essential way for people to find spiritual support and strengthen their Catholic faith as a way of life today,” said Paulist Father Dat Tran, executive director of the CIC. “This initiative represents a very different way of being church. In collaboration with their pastors, this process opens new possibilities for the laity to exercise leadership from the ‘bottom up’ – and outward. We are very grateful for the Lilly Endowment’s support in funding this initiative.”

The Catholic Information Center is one of more than 238 organizations that have received implementation funding through the Thriving Congregations Initiative since the initiative began in 2019. Reflecting a wide variety of Christian traditions, grantees represent mainline Protestant, evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox, peace church, and Pentecostal faith communities.

# # #

About the Catholic Information Center

The Catholic Information Center (CIC) offers a deeper awareness of the Catholic faith for believers and invites seekers from other faiths or no faith at all to an understanding of the teachings and way of life of the Catholic Church.

The CIC has been an integral part of downtown Grand Rapids since 1947 when the Paulist Fathers opened it on Monroe Avenue. The Center moved to Ionia Ave. in 1964 and then to Cathedral Square Center in 2008. With the move to Cathedral Square Center, the CIC was able to more closely collaborate with the Diocese of Grand Rapids on evangelization and outreach initiatives through in-person programming and virtual programming that reaches people across the country. The Paulist Fathers, who still run the CIC today, also minister at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew. For more information about the Catholic Information Center, visit catholicinformationcenter.org or check out our Facebook page.

About the Paulist Fathers

The Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle (The Paulist Fathers) is a community of Catholic priests that seeks to share the Good News of Jesus Christ to people beyond the Church’s walls, and to accompany Catholics who feel apart from the Church. Paulists navigate and build bridges between the spiritual and the secular to meet every person wherever they are in their journey of faith. One of the many things the Paulist Fathers are known for is their Busted Halo ministry, which helps young adults better understand their Catholic faith. For more information about the Paulists, visit their website Paulist.org.

About Lilly Endowment Inc.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private 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 community development, education, and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown of Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.

A 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.