Recently, Mission Alive attended the Empower & Equip Workshop, an invitation-only workshop for recipients of a Lilly Endowment, Inc. grant through Pepperdine University. Twenty-five universities, seminaries, and nonprofit organizations participated. The purpose of the workshop was to review the grant guidelines and develop a sense of community around our work to advance rural and small-town churches.
Pepperdine University’s Mike Cope and his team direct the project in partnership with Abilene Christian University, under the leadership of Carson Reed.
Perhaps most inspiring are the broad and creative ways in which grant recipients are working to support and equip vocational and lay leaders in rural and small-town churches. One recipient has organized multiple cohorts of ministers within their region, leading often-isolated churches to an opportunity for mutual wisdom and support. York University has developed the Equip Conference to provide needed resources, especially to smaller churches. As we have shared, our focus is to launch the Rural and Small Town Initiative to start five new innovative faith communities in rural and small towns. Three were launched in 2025 and our goal is to start at least one in 2026 and one in 2027.
Please join us in praying for all the recipients of the Empower & Equip grant from Pepperdine University and we ask that you pray especially for Mission Alive. If you or someone you know is sensing God’s stirring to start something new and creative in a rural or small-town community, we’d love to talk. To learn more click HERE
