St. Tikhon’s Seminary Awarded $920K Lilly Endowment Grant

St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary. Photo: stots.edu

WAYMART, PA — St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary has received a $920,107 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to establish its new Sowing for Plentiful Harvests program, part of the Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative supporting theological schools across the United States and Canada.

According to a release from the seminary, the program — titled, "Sowing for Plentiful Harvests: Multiplying Vocations Regionally in a Season of Vocational Need" — aims to address the growing shortage of ordained vocations in the Orthodox Church in North America. It seeks to expand access to the seminary’s Master of Divinity program through four areas of development: strengthening the revised core curriculum, launching a diocesan satellite Master of Divinity extension, creating a pre-seminary preceptorship system, and bolstering chaplaincy training through the Institute for Clinical Pastoral Education.

Archpriest John Parker, Dean of St. Tikhon’s Seminary, noted the urgency of the initiative, stating, “the Orthodox Church in North America is growing rapidly as the apostolic witness is shared. This growth requires growing pastors and institutions that can serve those who are hungry and waiting for the Word. This program is water, spirit, and fertile soil for that growth.”

St. Tikhon’s is among 163 theological schools awarded Pathways Initiative grants since 2021, spanning Orthodox, Catholic, evangelical, mainline Protestant, Pentecostal, and culturally distinct Christian traditions across the U.S. and Canada.

Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion, emphasized the importance of strengthening pastoral formation, saying, “Theological schools have long played a central role for most denominations and church networks in preparing and supporting pastoral leaders who guide congregations… The grants will help these schools engage in wide-ranging, innovative efforts to adapt their educational programs and build their financial capacities so they can better prepare pastors and lay ministers to effectively lead the congregations they will serve in the future.”

Previously, UOJ reported that the OCA had released updated data on the age of active priests and projections related to ordinations, retirements, and parish growth across the Church.

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