BU School of Theology Receives $1 million to Build a Support Network of New England Churches
Lilly Endowment Grant will help combat loneliness among church leaders and provide seminarians with contextual education opportunities
Churches may never regain the central position in the center of American culture they once enjoyed, but a new Boston University School of Theology program seeks to help New England congregations work better together and provide more effective ministry. Photo by donwhite84/Pixabay
BU School of Theology Receives $1 million to Build a Support Network of New England Churches
Lilly Endowment Grant will help combat loneliness among church leaders and provide seminarians with contextual education opportunities
The white church steeple is an iconic marker of many New England main streets. But inside many churches, congregations have been declining in numbers and influence for decades. This can leave clergy feeling isolated and under-resourced in their ministry efforts.
A new Boston University School of Theology initiative seeks to give churches across the region a boost of hope by convening groups of ordained and lay leaders to share resources and feel more connected. The New Wineskins Network, funded with a $1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow initiative, will create small groups of church leaders from congregations across New England, with support from School of Theology students, staff, and faculty, to address contemporary challenges facing congregations and their local communities. The name is derived from a passage in the Bible, Mark 2:22, where Jesus tells a crowd that new wine cannot go into old wineskins—a parable often used to encourage innovation in the church.
The School of Theology (STH) is among 163 seminaries and theological schools across the country that have been awarded Pathways grants since 2021 to strengthen and connect a broad swath of Christian churches. The network, which is being implemented by the School of Theology’s Office of Contextual Education, is also seen as a way to strengthen the contextual education landscape for students seeking internships and fellowships in area congregations.BU Today spoke with the program’s co-principal investigators—Anastasia Kidd, a lecturer and director of contextual education at the School of Theology, and Chad Moore, STH’s director of enrollment—about how they envision the New Wineskins Network serving New England congregations.
Q&A
with Anastasia Kidd and Chad Moore
BU Today: What is the current state of the mainline church in this region, and how did it get here?
Anastasia Kidd: The mainline Protestant church (including BU’s affiliation, the United Methodist Church) has been shrinking in membership for a long time here in New England. Pastors and scholars have debated “why” for decades with no single answer emerging. Lots of generational and societal shifts have moved people away from joining congregations, just as folks are less likely to join other community organizations nowadays. It’s common to hear people say they reject organized religion altogether, opting instead for more individual spiritual practices. This worries churches, of course. But looking at society, people are still longing to make meaning of their lives, and belong to something larger than themselves, and serve their communities. The question for today is how can churches respond to those instincts, meet local needs, and allow innovative ministries to emerge. The existential threat brought on by shrinking membership is prompting many congregations in this area to rethink their practices, and that’s a good thing. The church has survived every age by becoming relevant in people’s lives over and over again. Which is why I think this time in New England churches is actually quite exciting.
BU Today: How did the concept for a network of churches come to be?
Kidd: Contextual education, or field education, has always been part of STH’s curriculum. We place students in congregations and non-profits to help them practice being religious leaders. In doing so, the seminary has cultivated a vast network of local pastors, organizations, and activists doing incredible work in their communities. As my colleague Rev. Nikki Renée and I visited these learning sites, we saw how many were tackling similar ministry challenges. We’d ask, “Did you know Reverend so-and-so down the street is working on that same issue?” And they wouldn’t. Or we’d meet an alumna whose church just transformed its building into a community center, then another just beginning that same journey, and we’d think, “They should talk!” The Lilly Foundation’s planning grant allowed us to start making those connections in earnest. And in our listening sessions with churches and students, though many expressed anxieties about the future of New England churches, they also shared ideas and laughed and realized how much ministry they shared in common—things like food justice work, youth ministries supporting queer and trans teens, immigration services—and they were doing them within just a few miles of one another but feeling under resourced and alone in the struggle. The idea of a network emerged naturally, with the hope that STH could draw upon its existing ConEd and alumni networks to help ministries in the area collaborate and support one another in addressing the big challenges many are facing.
One of the biggest problems religious leaders deal with, for themselves, but also for their congregations, is loneliness. People are just really lonely, and one of the ways to break through that and to find new sources of hope is to make new friends. We want to foster friendships and ministry collaborations that serve those who serve others.
Moore: One of the biggest problems religious leaders deal with, for themselves, but also for their congregations, is loneliness. People are just really lonely, and one of the ways to break through that and to find new sources of hope is to make new friends. We want to foster friendships and ministry collaborations that serve those who serve others. This also helps our students in their preparation for ministry, because future religious leaders need to be able to collaborate and not think of ministry as so siloed as it has been, whether denominationally or regionally. We see this happening naturally with our students in the ways they network beyond traditional boundaries or affiliations and seek to serve in both religious and secular settings. This new network can create opportunities for students to have internship experiences in the depth of ministry that happens in the New England region and also create new networks among ministers wrestling with similar kinds of problems. We imagine our students, then, bouncing between multi-site contextual education placements, seeing how multiple organizations are addressing the same urgent questions and ministry concerns, and reflecting back to those ministries how their approach mirrors or differs from others in the region.
BU Today: What impact do you hope the New Wineskins Network will have had on New England churches at the end of this five-year grant?
Anastasia Kidd: I would really love for the churches in our network to feel more connected to one another across denominations and regions, sharing ideas and resources, then celebrating and learning from each other’s successes. I’d love for them to feel really equipped and energized in ministry instead of fearing the future. Maybe there’s even a new ministry or two that arise through these collaborations—who knows? We just want to amplify the good that’s already happening in local churches, to create a sense of abundance and connection instead of scarcity and isolation. Maybe five years from now more congregations and pastors feel hopeful that the work of cutting-edge ministry doesn’t fall on them alone, but on a wider network across New England. It’s exciting to think of our students being formed for future ministry in that hopeful environment.
Moore: In five years, the grant will have allowed us to bring clergy, congregants, nonprofit organizers, seminarians, seminary faculty, alumni, denominational leaders, and others together for a host of events—retreats, learning labs, conferences, programs, and even just casually connecting over a shared meal. We can’t wait to see what comes from these gatherings, and don’t want to be too prescriptive in imagining what’s to come, because new ministry needs and opportunities are always arising. But it would truly be so great if a sense of confidence emerged from all involved. To encounter that confidence would be transformational, I think, for congregations and students and all of us looking for ways to walk alongside people in compassionate companionship here in New England and beyond.