Funding Missional Innovation
in our Parishes for the
Renewal of Northwestern Ohio and the World
Spirit of the Grant
Make disciples who recognize the needs of their community and are encouraged to respond with creativity and a passion to serve.
Equip leaders with the resources to be imaginative in outreach.
Strengthen parishes through original projects that reach beyond our church buildings and address the needs of our community in this time.
Nurture new and adaptable ways for the people of Northwestern Ohio to be in community.
All applicants should
imagine the needs of their community
through these four lenses.
Outreach Re-imagined
Jesus provided food for the hungry and also advocated for a world in which everyone would always have their fill. What does it look like for us to reimagine outreach ministries through the lens of relationships and support that break cycles and renew our communities? These projects will beimagined in partnership with folks engaged by the ministry. Renewed ministry models will be oriented beyond collection and distribution, growing relationships, and providing opportunities for lasting change.
Neighbor Love
Our neighborhood is where we are called to care for God’s people. In collaboration with neighbors who are not a part of the applying organization or congregation, projects will dream up a way to connect, resource, and celebrate the unique context of their neighborhood, and the people who live there. Proposals should be specifically designed to the great gifts and needs of the local community.
Youth + Young Adult
Empowerment
Young people are an important part of our communities. Proposals will imagine providing space and encouragement for young people within a specific community and be developed in conjunction with the youth / parents / families who will be the focus of the project. Projects can support youth of any age, engaging with a local daycare, or even supporting college students or young adults in the community.
Seeding Future Growth
Funding for these grants has been made possible through generous donors just like you. Together these gifts have made $60,000 available for supporting innovative projects during this Spring 2022 round of Imagining Renewal Microgrants. We pray that this generosity will seed further generosity from those who value this ministry and have experienced its impact on their community.
Each awardee organization will be asked to prayerfully consider how in the future they may aspire to join in this generosity and give back to the Imagining Renewal Fund. Microgrant recipients are asked to aspire to give back at least 10% of the grant monies awarded in the year following the completion of their proposed project. This donation could be provided by donors within the awardee’s community inspired by the impact of their project, by a fundraiser they organize, or by funds that the awardees have the ability to designate. A concern over being able to donate back to the fund should not deter any individual or organization from proposing their project and does not have any bearing on eligibility.
Additionally, it is a high value of this initiative to imagine what each project could grow into in the future. We do not do this work alone. Each application is required to have two co-creative leaders engaged in the design and implementation of the proposed project. This may be a pastor and lay person, a staff member and client, a youth and an adult, a family and a teacher or any combination of ways that we walk through the world together in our communities. Coaches will ask about the specific dynamics of these teams, as heathy discipleship is collaborative and an important part of sustainable ministry.