December 5, 2025
Lexington, KY – BSK Theological Seminary has received a grant of $7 million from Lilly Endowment Inc.
The project is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative. This initiative is designed to help theological schools across the United States and Canada as they prioritize and respond to the most pressing challenges they face as they prepare pastoral leaders for Christian congregations both now and into the future. The grant to BSK Theological Seminary is one of 45 that was approved in this competitive round of funding to support theological schools as they lead large-scale collaborations with other seminaries, colleges and universities, and other church-related organizations.
The grant will fund “Tending: A Ministry of Learning,” a groundbreaking initiative that provides non-credit theological education resources to congregations and their leaders. This collaborative effort brings together a diverse network of partners, including Pacific School of Religion, Eden Theological Seminary, Good Faith Media, Baptist News Global, Tisby Media, the National Baptist Convention of America, and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (Global, Kentucky, Virginia, and Florida & Caribbean Islands).
Through this partnership, Tending aims to create a sustainable, technology-driven ecosystem for lifelong learning, equipping multi-vocational and lay pastoral leaders with accessible, high-quality resources tailored to the needs of modern congregations.
“Congregational leadership—whether staff ministers, committee chairs, finance teams, or other groups—benefits greatly from theological education,” said David Cassady, President of BSK. “This initiative will deliver seminary-crafted resources directly to churches, empowering leaders to strengthen their ministries.”
Lilly Endowment launched the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative in 2021. Since then, it has provided grants totaling more than $700 million to support 163 theological schools in efforts to strengthen their own educational and financial capacities and to assist 61 schools in developing large-scale collaborative endeavors.
About Lilly Endowment
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, the Endowment 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. 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 about religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United States and around the globe.
About BSK
BSK Theological Seminary forms daring faith leaders for a changing world. Through graduate degree programs and non-credit educational experiences, BSK provides accessible, high-quality theological education to equip church leadership for a remarkable season of change. Learn more at BSK.edu.
Contact:
Erica Whitaker Anthony Everett
Email: erica.whitaker@bsk.edu Email: anthony.everett@bsk.edu
Phone: (859) 320-1031 Phone: (859) 788-3069
