Evangel University Receives Additional $250,000 Grant from Lily Endowment

Evangel University (EU) in Springfield, Missouri, has been awarded a $250,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to supplement its Compelling Preaching Initiative efforts.

The Compelling Preaching Initiative is a Lilly Endowment grant-funded project facilitated through the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, the embedded seminary of the university, and coordinated through AGTS’ Center for Biblical Preaching.

The goal of the initiative is to train and resource ministers within the Assemblies of God (AG) denomination with relevant and biblically-based education and resources to meet the needs of the 21st century Church.

This is the fourth grant from Lilly Endowment that EU has received in the past two academic years to advance ministerial training. The grants collectively total $7.3 million.

Robert Eby serves as the director for the Cordas C. Burnett Center for Biblical Preaching and leads the grant efforts.

“Lilly Endowment has again demonstrated its extraordinary commitment to the transformative impact of preaching,” said Eby. “This supplemental funding allows us to develop additional training materials quickly that we can distribute to pastors and leaders across the country.”

Lilly Endowment launched the Compelling Preaching Initiative in 2022 because of its interest in supporting projects that help to nurture the religious lives of individuals and families and foster the growth and vitality of Christian congregations in the United States.