Since 1990, the Louisville Institute has consistently supported academic research and other projects undertaken in the interest of strengthening North American church life. The focus of that work, however, and the particular grant programs offered have shifted from time to time. The following grant programs have been discontinued.

Click the grant program title to view grants awarded in these discontinued programs.

CHRISTIAN FAITH & LIFE

From 1996-2009, the Christian Faith and Life Grant Program supported research projects by academics and pastors that attempted to bring the resources of the ethical, liturgical, and doctrinal wisdom of the Christian faith into closer relation to the daily lives of practicing Christians, describe more fully how the Christian faith is actually lived by contemporary Christians of various ages, circumstances, and traditions, and make more accessible to religious believers the themes of Christian faith in relation to the realities of their contemporary lives.

CHRISTIAN FAITH & LIFE TEACHING TEAM

From 1996-1998, the Christian Faith and Life Teaching Team Grant Program supported teaching teams that included both a pastor and a teaching theologian who developed and taught in both congregational and academic settings a course of study exploring a basic theme or themes of historic Christian faith in a way that made it more accessible in the everyday lives of contemporary church members.

COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY TEAM (CIT)

From 2014 – 2021, Louisville Institute’s Collaborative Inquiry Team (CIT) program supported teams of pastoral leaders and academic researchers who committed to explore together “a living question” of vital importance to church and society. Each team designed a research plan to create a “third space” bridging church and academy, inviting participants to share power, responsibilities, and ownership of the process.

GENERAL GRANT

From 1990-2009, the Louisville Institute’s General Grant Program supported a limited number of individual and collaborative projects undertaken by pastors, academics, and religious institutions. Grants varied in size and covered a wide range of projects related to the priorities of the Louisville Institute. Some grants, for example, covered the costs of convening discussion groups of pastoral leaders and academics while others enabled an academic to pursue (sometimes with pastoral colleagues) a research project of particular interest to the church.

PASTORAL LEADERSHIP

From 2007-2009 the Pastoral Leadership Grant Program supported research and reflection by pastors and academics on the conditions of contemporary Christian ministry, the nature of contemporary pastoral leadership in light of those conditions, and the character of pastoral excellence.

RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

From 2001-2009 the Religious Institutions Grant Program supported research projects by academics and pastors studying how the religious core of an institution orients and shapes its mission and contemporary practice, the impact of the institutional field within which religious organizations live, the mutual interaction of religious institutions and American society, and religious institutional leadership.

PROJECT GRANT FOR RESEARCHERS (PGR)

From 2010-2024, Louisville Institute’s Project Grant for Researchers (PGR) provided grants of up to $30,000 to support scholarly research projects about Christian faith and life, the practice of ministry, religious trends and movements, Christian and other faith-based institutions, and religion and social issues. Of particular interest to the Louisville Institute were projects that demonstrated a bridge between academic scholarship and the life of the church in North America.

SABBATICAL GRANTS FOR PASTORAL LEADERS

From 1994-2011 the Sabbatical Grants for Pastoral Leaders Grant Program provided pastoral leaders the opportunity to step out and step back from the pace and pressures of ministry. During a season of personal renewal, study, and reflection pastoral leaders embraced the gifts of time and Sabbath for their lives and ministries. As clergy had the opportunity for learning, growth, and recreation they also learned the habits and practices that sustain them in and for meaningful ministry.

SABBATICAL GRANT FOR RESEARCHERS (SGR)

From 2010-2024, Louisville Institute’s Sabbatical Grant for Researchers (SGR) provided grants up to $40,000 to support academic sabbatical projects about Christian faith and life, the practice of ministry, religious trends and movements, Christian and other faith-based institutions, and religion and social issues. Of particular interest to the Louisville Institute were projects that demonstrated a bridge between academic scholarship and the life of the church in North America.

SUMMER STIPEND

From 1991-2009 the Summer Stipend Grant Program offered grants to academics and pastors engaged in summer research projects pertaining to American Christianity, especially those related to the priorities of the Louisville Institute: Christian faith and life, pastoral leadership, and religious institutions.