The Christian Faith and Life Grant Program is undertaken in cooperation with Lilly Endowment, Inc., as part of its Christian Faith and Life Initiative. The initiative seeks to support efforts 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 and to describe more fully how the Christian faith is actually lived by contemporary Christians of various ages, circumstances, and traditions.

The  Christian Faith and Life Grant Program seeks to:

• Identify pastors and academics already working on these issues,

• Encourage others to develop research projects that would advance our thinking in this area, and

• Generate a broader conversation in the American academic and church communities about the nature of and challenges to Christian faith and life in the contemporary world.

Eligibility

The Christian Faith and Life Grant Program is open to both academic and pastoral leaders. Applicants must have earned the terminal degree in their chosen vocation (e.g. M.Div., Ph.D., Th.D.) and must demonstrate a capacity to complete the proposed project in a timely fashion. 

The Christian Faith and Life initiative is concerned principally with understanding and enriching contemporary religious life by an appreciative recovery and critical re-appropriation of the riches of the Christian tradition. Applicants for projects of a more historical nature should make a clear case for the contemporary implications of their research. Conversely, applicants focusing on contemporary religious life should clearly relate their research to the history of Christian faith.

Applicants may not submit applications to more than one Louisville Institute grant program within the same grant year (June 1-May 31).

Application and Selection Procedure

Application materials for the Christian Faith and Life Grant Program may be requested from the Louisville Institute or downloaded from this web site.  All materials must be postmarked no later than November 15, each year.  Recipients will be notified in late February, and awards must be used during the following academic year.

Applications include:

•  Applicant Information and Project Summary Form,

• Narrative statement of approximately 5-7 pages (double-spaced and typed in a 12 point font, 2000 word limit) that succinctly describes the proposed research project and explains its relationship to the goals of the Christian Faith and Life initiative,

• Selective bibliography (2-3 pages double-spaced),

• Detailed budget and budget narrative. A document entitled, Guide for Budget Preparation, including sample budgets, is available on this web site or by mail,

• Copy of your current Curriculum Vitae or résumé (no more than 4 pages), and

• One letter of recommendation.

Please submit one copy of the complete proposal, using paper clips, without the use of staples and mail to the office of the Louisville Institute by the appropriate deadline. These materials, except for the Applicant Information and Project Summary Form (if submitted online) and the letter of recommendation, should be assembled in the order listed above.  The letter of recommendation should be sent by the writer directly to the Louisville Institute by the application deadline.

Awardees will be chosen by a selection committee including at least two members of the Board of the Louisville Institute and two other persons familiar with the goals of the Christian Faith and Life Initiative. Applications will be judged according to the extent to which they: 1) propose a coherent, persuasive, and intellectually promising research project, and 2) address the goal of the Christian Faith and Life initiative to make more accessible to religious believers the themes of Christian faith in relation to the realities of their contemporary lives.

Duration of Award and Stipend

Research periods supported by this grant may range from nine weeks to nine months. The grant amount requested should not exceed $40,000.  Normally, the Louisville Institute will pay the grant directly to the institutions of those selected. The Louisville Institute allows up to 10 percent indirect costs based on the total direct costs of the project.

Conditions

Although the Christian Faith and Life Grant program has no residence requirement, all grantees are expected to participate in one consultation at the Louisville Institute in the year of their award or the year immediately following. Travel and lodging expenses for this meeting will be covered by the Louisville Institute. 

Academic applicants eligible for a sabbatical leave and/or a release from all teaching responsibilities during the grant year should indicate that fact in their proposal. Academic applicants who are not so eligible should indicate in their proposals how they plan to devote sufficient time to the proposed project. In many cases, for example, this may require a course buyout or some other reduction in teaching load.