Chicago, January 13, 2026, Jan. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- North Park University (NPU) has received an $8,184,203 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. for its seminary, North Park Theological Seminary, to launch One Covenant Community, a collaborative project that aims to cultivate pastoral leadership across the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) by strengthening vocational discernment, theological education, credentialing, and lifelong support.
The project is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, which supports theological schools in the United States and Canada in responding to their most pressing challenges. The NPU grant is one of 45 to be awarded in a competitive round of funding to support theological schools in their work with other seminaries; colleges and universities; and church-related organizations.
One Covenant Community will unite every major Covenant entity involved in congregational leadership development and support. Partner organizations include all 11 ECC regional conferences, as well as groups such as Serve Clergy and Serve Locally, Centro Hispano de Estudios Teológicos (CHET), Alaska Christian College, Minnehaha Academy, Midtown Leadership Institute, Mission Springs and Covenant Harbor Camps, the Mosaic Commission, and the Association of Covenant Spiritual Directors. These partners will support church leaders with continuing education; strengthen partners’ institutional capacity; and foster Covenant identity, unity, and belonging.
Lilly Endowment launched the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative in 2021. Since then, it has provided grants totaling more than $700 million to support 163 theological schools in efforts to strengthen their own educational and financial capacities and to assist 61 schools in developing large-scale collaborative endeavors.
About 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 about religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United State and around the globe traditions in the United States and across the globe.
About North Park University and North Park Theological Seminary
North Park University is city-centered, intercultural, and emerging as the model for Christian higher education in 21st-century America. Its seminary, North Park Theological Seminary, provides a holistic theological education that prioritizes compassionate dialogue, contextual learning, and spiritual health. Follow NPU on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Follow NPTS on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Ellen Almer North Park University 312-543-8505 eaalmerdurston@northpark.edu
