Calvin Receives $500k from Lilly Endowment

November 23, 2005 == MEDIA ADVISORY

The Lilly Vocation Project at Calvin College has received an infusion of funds
that will allow the program to flourish well into the future.

Calvin will receive $499,979 from the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment as
part of Lilly's Programs for the Theological Exploration of Vocation.

In 2001, Calvin received a $2 million grant from Lilly that began the program
and will carry it through 2006. That grant was one of 88 totaling $176.8
million that Lilly gave out in 2000, 2001 and 2002 to colleges and universities
across the country.

The new grant will begin in January 2007 and sustain the program for 2 1/2
years, until the end of Calvin's fiscal year in 2009. The new money will help
Calvin continue its efforts to build an understanding of and commitment to
vocation for all college students and to strengthen the college's work with
students interested in church-related ministry.

"It's a very welcomed support of what we're doing at Calvin," says Shirley
Roels, director of the Lilly Vocation Project. "We are addressing some very
important issues and this money will help us continue what we're doing, refine
some things and expand our programs."

Roels says the big questions being addressed at Calvin are significant both
for people on campus and for audiences well beyond Calvin.

"All denominations," she says, "are facing ministry leadership shortages - all
denominations. Obviously this has a pretty significant impact on the future of
the Christian church in North America. The challenges in terms of the needs of
the church are not going to go away. What we are doing at Calvin is helping to
address that challenge."

For the full story see http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2005_06/lilly.htm

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Received on Wed Nov 23 16:11:09 2005