Baylor Receives $5M Lilly Endowment Grant for Storytelling Initiative

Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-709-5959
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Baylor University has received a $5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. for “The Whole Body Project: Flourishing Together in Faith and Life.” The project is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life, which seeks to help organizations identify, produce and share compelling stories about ways that Christians from many different backgrounds and in a broad range of settings are living vibrant lives of faith and engaging in acts of love and service for others.

Housed in the Baylor Center for Disability and Flourishing, “The Whole Body Project” will highlight the powerful stories of faith and mutual flourishing that emerge when people with and without disabilities or mental health challenges move from exclusion and isolation to true belonging through shared worship, learning, service, leadership and life together. Individuals living with disabilities or mental health challenges are members of nearly one in every three families and often struggle to fully belong within the church. Yet they bring invaluable gifts that enrich its life and witness. 

“The stories from ‘The Whole Body Project’ will portray the goodness and hope of Christian faith and life by highlighting faith communities that invite the whole Body of Christ to envision and practice a more accessible and connected common life.” - Erik W. Carter, Ph.D.

“The stories from ‘The Whole Body Project’ will portray the goodness and hope of Christian faith and life by highlighting faith communities that invite the whole Body of Christ to envision and practice a more accessible and connected common life,” said Erik W. Carter, Ph.D., The Luther Sweet Endowed Chair in Disabilities in the Moody School of Education, executive director of the Baylor Center for Disability and Flourishing and a leading scholar on disability and faith.

“Through a first-of-its-kind national campaign – rooted in research, supported by deep partnerships and sustained through practical resource pathways – we will inspire and equip tens of thousands of church leaders, members and families to reimagine and pursue faithful life together,” Carter said. “We are grateful for the support from Lilly Endowment as we embark on this important work to proclaim the power and beauty of the Whole Body of Christ.”

The unique five-year storytelling project aims to:

• Identify compelling and transformative stories from diverse Christian communities in which belonging is not only valued but practiced, leading to mutual renewal, discipleship and holistic transformation.
• Produce high-impact, multi-format stories and resources, including a documentary-style film, digital shorts, and podcasts.
• Share these stories broadly through a national social impact campaign.
• Resource congregations through the online Belonging Hub, including reflection tools, learning pathways, small-group tools and ministry-specific guidance developed from best practices to help individuals and churches take faithful next steps.

Collaborating across the University

A distinctive feature of “The Whole Body Project” is its cross-university collaboration that engages members from colleges, schools, centers and institutes across Baylor in common work around a shared vision.

Alongside Carter, the project is co-led by Rev. Jason Le Shana, Ph.D., director of the Baylor Collaborative on Faith and Disability, and Dustin D. Benac, Th.D., director of the Program for the Future Church at George W. Truett Theological Seminary and clinical assistant professor of philanthropy and organizational studies in the Office of Engaged Learning in the College of Arts & Sciences. 

Additional contributors will include faculty and staff from the Dunn Center for Christian Music Studies, the Center for Church and Community Impact, the Institute for Faith and Learning, George W. Truett Theological Seminary and an array of other departments and programs across Baylor.

The project also will include an external advisory council to speak into the overall concept, strategy and rollout of the project; a storytelling team to implement the creative direction of the project; and a resource creation team to lead the design, planning and production of resources.

Uniting research and mission

Leveraging Baylor’s unique position as a Christian Research 1 university along with influential Baylor centers leading other Lilly Endowment-funded projects that engage thousands of congregations, “The Whole Body Project” aligns with the University’s Baylor In Deeds strategic plan, including growing research on disability and flourishing.

“This project aligns seamlessly with Baylor's guiding motto – Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana, Pro Mundo – which expresses our longstanding commitment to faithfully serve the Church, our communities and the world,” said President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D. “We are thrilled to leverage our world-class interdisciplinary research with congregations, including multiple Lilly Endowment-funded initiatives, to inspire and equip communities of faith nationwide towards deeper collective life, belonging and faithful witness.”

Community-centered and collaborative by design, “The Whole Body Project” will elevate and celebrate the many beautiful stories of ordinary churches embodying God’s love in extraordinary ways, where every part is seen, receives care and is invited to belong, including those with disabilities and mental health challenges.

“When we lift these stories up, we bear witness to the truth of the Gospel and invite others to do the same. When we tell these stories together, we invite the whole Body to live more faithfully, receiving the gifts of God and helping the Church live more fully,” Carter said.

ABOUT LILLY ENDOWMENT

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly, Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. Although the Endowment maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana, it also funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion.  A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding about religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and diverse religious communities play in the United States and around the globe.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.

ABOUT THE MOODY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

For more than 100 years, the Moody School of Education has advanced Baylor University’s mission across the globe while preparing students for a range of careers focused on education, leadership and human development. With more than 70 full-time faculty members, the School’s growing research portfolio complements its long-standing commitment to excellence in teaching and student mentoring. Baylor’s undergraduate program in teacher education has earned national distinction for innovative partnerships with local schools that provide future teachers deep clinical preparation. Likewise, the Moody School of Education’s graduate programs have attained national recognition for their exemplary preparation of research scholars, educational leaders, innovators, and clinicians. Visit the Moody School of Education website to learn more.