Institutional Partners
Marquette University
Marquette University is a Catholic, Jesuit university located near the heart of downtown Milwaukee that offers a comprehensive range of majors in 11 nationally and internationally recognized colleges and schools. Marquette focuses on student success and immersive, personalized learning experiences encourages students to think critically and engage with the world around them. When students graduate with a Marquette degree, they are truly prepared and called to Be The Difference.
This initiative builds on a faith-filled partnership between Lilly Endowment and Marquette University that spans more than two decades. In 2018, Marquette received a grant through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving in Ministry initiative to help support Christian pastors in congregational ministry. The first Lilly Endowment grant, in 2000, focused on Christian vocation in the context of the community and the efforts of Marquette’s Office of Mission and Ministry programs, Pastoral Leadership in Cultural Context and Companions in Ministry.
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 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 diverse religious traditions by supporting fair and accurate portrayals of the role religion plays in the United States and across the globe.
Lilly Endowment programs at marquette
Pastoral Leadership
in a cultural context
Pastoral Leadership in a Cultural Context is a two-year, cohort-based leadership program for early career pastors, associate pastors, and congregational pastoral ministers. The program brings together an ecumenical group of pastoral leaders for quarterly two or three day "summits" that address key issues and concerns arising from the intersection of faith and culture while also providing training and practice in Ignatian Spirituality for one's own personal, spiritual health.
Summits feature presentations from local business leaders, civic leaders, and selected faculty/experts for a time of rich conversation and education. Also included are leadership development techniques and strategies targeted specifically to the challenges of contemporary cultural issues. These summits provide time for community building, mutual support and the sharing of diverse experiences and ideas.
Companions in Ministry
Companions in Ministry (CiM) is an ecumenical support program that brings together Christian pastors and ordained deacons from diverse denominations, ethnicities, cultures, ages, and socio-economic backgrounds. The program provides opportunities for pastors to build peer relationships and accompany one another in their ministries. CiM aims to improve their sense of well-being spiritually and professionally, and to foster a supportive, ecumenical ministry network in southeast Wisconsin.
CiM is an outreach of Marquette University’s commitment to community engagement for social responsibility, building a more inclusive culture, and the formation of minds and hearts. Participants learn elements of Ignatian Spirituality and Shared Inquiry - a discussion methodology from the Great Books Foundation. The program is named “Companions” in keeping with a centuries-long Jesuit/Ignatian tradition, and the model of accompaniment and seeking God in all things
Faithform
In the summer of 2023, Marquette University received a $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to establish the program, “FaithForm.” The five-year grant will help Marquette further engage its extensive network of community relationships with area congregations to help parents, caregivers and congregational leaders explore effective ways to pass on the Christian faith in an increasingly secular world with modern questions.
The grant is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Christian Parenting and Caregiving Initiative. The aim of the initiative is to help parents and caregivers share their faith and values with their children.
Participating congregations
group one
First United Methodist Church
West Allis, WI
Trinity Episcopal Church
Wauwatosa, WI
group two
First Congregational Church
Port Washington, WI
First Congregational United Church of Christ
Lake Geneva, WI
Incarnation Lutheran Church
Milwaukee, WI
Martin Luther Lutheran Church
Milwaukee, WI
St. Olaf Lutheran Church
Rubicon, WI
United Church of Christ Williams Bay
Williams Bay, WI
