Grant Opportunity for Congregations

We thank God for a gift of $1,000 provided by a retired pastor and his wife. This gift is intended to encourage WELS pastors to partner with their lay leaders as they study and grow together. The possibilities are multiple. It could address youth ministry or outreach ministry or leadership or collaboration between neighboring congregations, etc., but does desire for there to be collaboration between pastor(s) and lay members. The grant could go to an individual congregation or to a group of congregations working together. We may grant all $1,000 to one proposal, or may split it into two $500 grants, depending on proposals received. Please note that while purchasing equipment or marketing materials are important for furthering the mission of your church, this grant is not designed to help with those purchases.

Using the form below, Grow in Grace invites written proposals that would briefly describe:

  • the ministry challenge or opportunity in the congregation or circuit which the grant could (help to) address;
  • how it would enable pastor(s) and lay leaders to grow together in carrying out gospel and ministry; and
  • how the grant would be spent

Below is an example of a previous winner’s submission:

The challenge which we face is showing our leaders the opportunity they have as leaders in the congregation. Lay leaders often see their positions as burdens rather than opportunities to serve God with specific skill sets God has given them.
Each year we have a Councilmen’s Conference. In this time we gather the circuit’s laymen and pastors to discuss, review, and learn the positions of the church.
This money would be spent to obtain a presenter. The cost of providing a presenter is often high, due the miles a presenter must come. A fixed budget is not set.

To be considered, proposals need to be submitted by 11:59 pm, CST, October 31, 2023. The continuing education committee of the WLS faculty will evaluate the proposals and award the grants. The congregations whose proposals are awarded the grants will be notified by the end of November. Brief descriptions of the winning proposals will be shared in a subsequent Grace Notes.

Please complete the form below. Concise, descriptive responses are appreciated.

[everest_form id=”53822″]

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