BWC's $1.25 million Lilly grant nurtures children through worship and prayer
The Baltimore-Washington Conference has received a $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to establish a ministry to help churches creatively and fully integrate children, ages 3-12, into weekly worship experiences.
This initiative, called the Constellation Project, will transform how children engage in worship and prayer. It is also expected to make congregations more inclusive, vibrant, and intergenerational.
By empowering children to be active participants in church, and providing churches with resources, training, and opportunities to experiment with innovative ways to engage children in worship and prayer, this new ministry initiative will foster a deeper sense of belonging and spiritual growth for people of all ages, enrich the entire community, and build a constellation of worshippers.
The grant is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative. The aim of the national initiative is to support faith-based organizations as they help children grow in faith and deepen their relationships with God.
The Baltimore-Washington Conference is one of 170 organizations funded through three rounds of the initiative, which was launched in 2022.
With the grant, local church leaders, parents, and grandparents will have the chance to discover innovative ways to engage children in worship and prayer, design worship services that are inclusive and engaging for all ages, and transform the conference into a place where children of all ages are valued.
This fall, conference leaders will listen to children, parents, and leaders as they share what is working and not working with children’s ministries in their congregations. Those who are interested will be invited to engage in immersion experiences with Bright Light churches that are already successfully engaging children in intergenerational worship and to join Co-Laboratories (Co-Labs) to collaborate and share creative ideas and experiences.
Everyone is also encouraged to save the date of June 27, 2026, for an Intergenerational Worship Forum, in which experts will share best practices and new ideas for engaging children in worship and offer opportunities for collaboration between churches.
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. 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.