January 8, 2025
The Wheaton College Billy Graham Center (WCBGC) has received a $5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support the expansion of the WCBGC Rural Church Institute. Lilly Endowment made the grant through its Ministry in Rural Areas and Small Towns Initiative, which is providing resources to help churches in rural areas and small towns enhance the vitality of their ministries and strengthen the leadership of the pastors and lay leaders who guide them.
The funding will expand the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center’s work helping rural churches reach their communities with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Building on its research-based work in revitalizing local church evangelism, the grant will support the expansion of pastor cohort programs tailored to the unique needs and opportunities of rural ministries. The program will also provide accessible and affordable training for rural church pastors in essential ministry skills like preaching and mental health counseling.
This grant builds on the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center’s strengths as a central convener for evangelism leadership. Through the grant, WCBGC will contribute $3.1 million toward a diverse and multidenominational network of leaders already serving rural pastors. Together, they will multiply the impact of the Center’s programs and impact.
“Our founder’s vision for the Graham Center is to equip every believer, everywhere, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. With 47 percent of U.S. churches in rural settings, this grant enables us to serve the heroic pastors and leaders serving in these communities,” said Andy Cook, the Center’s executive director. “Our prayer is that a new generation of rural Americans discover and embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
“This generous grant is a major milestone for the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center in advancing our evangelistic mission,” said Dr. Philip Ryken, Chair of the WCBGC Board and President of Wheaton College. “These programs will marry Wheaton’s evangelistic passion to our commitment to trusted research and ministry innovation to serve faithful pastors in rural communities all across the country.”
The Wheaton College Billy Graham Center is one of 20 organizations across the United States receiving grants through the initiative. The others include colleges and universities, denominational agencies, church networks, and parachurch organizations.
“Our hope is that these grants will provide much-needed resources and support to rural and small-town churches to help them address their challenges and enhance and extend the many ways that they serve their communities,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion.
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.