The Church of All Nations, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregation in Columbia Heights, MN, a Minneapolis suburb, is one of five congregations to receive a $10,000 Cultures of Call grant from The Fund for Theological Education, headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

The grant was awarded for the church’s “Discerning Vocations Together,” a program that integrates a resident internship program with congregational life, creating new opportunities for congregation members and resident interns to discern vocations together through forums, group meetings and community service.

FTE will award nearly $50,000 to five initiatives selected from proposals nationwide. The programs, to be implemented over the next 18 months, represent congregations in six different denominations.

The investment is part of an ecumenical Calling Congregations initiative designed by FTE to equip churches and church-related organizations to play active roles in fostering vocational discernment among young men and women — and to support those considering pastoral ministry as a profession.

Congregations across North America are seeking new ways of cultivating and calling talented young leaders for the future as fewer students entering theological schools today do so with the aim of one day serving a local congregation as a pastor.

Calling Congregations seeks to establish a national network of 500 congregational and church-related partners committed to the cause of raising future pastoral leaders. It offers regional workshops; a national conference; teaching tools; Web-based resources and up to 40 fellowships annually which match a congregation’s financial support toward tuition and expenses for a young church member’s first year of seminary.

With these awards, FTE reaches a milestone of $400,000 in Cultures of Call grants since launching the program with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. in 2007.

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