Marquette receives $500,000 grant to create new pastoral leadership program for early career clergy

MILWAUKEE – Marquette University has received a $500,000 grant to develop a pastoral leadership program for early career clergy. The five-year grant was awarded by the Lilly Endowment Inc., which supports the causes of religion, community development and education.

The new program is designed to equally address the personal faith formation of ministers and their vocations as leaders in the wider community where faith and culture often collide. Nominations for participants will begin mid-February, with the first cohort set to start in June. Dr. Susan Mountin, director of a Marquette program for the spiritual and professional development of faculty called Manresa for Faculty, will direct this new project.

“We will be recruiting and developing a cohort of 10 pastoral leaders from various Christian faiths, who will meet quarterly to engage in deep learning and understanding of issues like education; race and segregation; immigration; poverty and economic inequality; and health care,” Mountin said of the program.

“It is our privilege to work with pastors who are proven leaders, and we hope Marquette’s launch of this program will strengthen churches and clergy from many Christian traditions,” said Stephanie Russell, vice president for mission and ministry at Marquette. “Dr. Mountin has successfully led partnerships between Marquette and Lilly Endowment in the past, and she comes well prepared to make a strong and positive impact on the experience of the participants.”

As director of Manresa for Faculty, Mountin oversees an initiative that supports the exploration and deepening of the role of faculty in a Jesuit Catholic institution. She has served as a campus minister and an adjunct faculty member since 1977.

About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family — J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons J.K. Jr. and Eli –through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. However, 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.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.