The Center for Youth Ministry Training has received a $1,249,965 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the Benediction Project.

The program is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative, a national initiative designed to help Christian congregations more fully and intentionally engage children in intergenerational corporate worship and prayer practices.

The Benediction Project

Founded in 2006, the Center for Youth Ministry Training (CYMT) equips youth ministers and faith communities to develop innovative, effective, and theologically informed ministries so that youth may experience the love and grace of Jesus Christ. During the past 18 years, CYMT has equipped more than 250 youth and children’s ministers and some 200+ churches to create life-changing ministries.

The Benediction Project responds to a crucial shift in how younger generations experience the sacred, recognizing that sacred moments increasingly occur outside traditional places of worship. The project aims to equip children and parents to recognize the sacred in all facets of life, utilizing stories of the Christian tradition. The project will accomplish this by:

  • Employing a Seek, Show, and Tell methodology, we will encourage children to seek God both within and outside the church, cultivating a weekly rhythm of noticing the divine in their lives. By equipping parents with tools and prompts, the project empowers families to explore God’s presence in everyday moments, fostering spiritual growth within the home.
  • The Benediction Project reshapes worship by incorporating children’s experiences and observations from Seek, Show, and Tell into weekly Sunday rituals. 

The project seeks to nurture a deeper connection to God that extends far beyond the church walls by equipping leaders and parents with methods, tools, resources, and curriculum.

“Recognizing families’ limited time at church, the project focuses on integrating sacred encounters from the other 166 hours of the week. The Benediction Project empowers children and families to encounter the divine in all aspects of life.”

Rev. Dietrich Kirk, CYMT Executive Director

The Center for Youth Ministry Training is one of 91 organizations that have received funding through the latest round of the initiative. They represent and serve congregations in a broad spectrum of Christian traditions, including Catholic, mainline Protestant, evangelical, Orthodox, Anabaptist and Pentecostal faith communities. Several organizations are rooted in Black Church and Hispanic and Asian American Christian traditions.

“Congregational worship and prayer play a critical role in the spiritual growth of children and offer settings for children to acquire the language of faith, learn their faith traditions and experience the love of God as part of a supportive community,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “These programs will help congregations give greater attention to children and how they can more intentionally nurture the faith of children, as well as adults, through worship and prayer.”

About Lilly Endowment Inc

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, 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. The 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.