Congregational Development, in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, is about creating new places for new people through new faith expressions and renewing and revitalizing existing faith communities. By being relevant and vital, our goal is to touch more lives and draw more people to Christ. Our primary purpose is not to help churches grow, but rather we seek to help them reach more people with the good news of the Gospel, to grow more people as gifted and called disciples of Jesus, and to send more people into the world to love and serve God and their neighbors in all they do.
The grants are designed to help leaders and congregations more effectively make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Through the Unified Funding Task Force, grants for New Faith Expressions and Strategic Growth Initiatives are provided on a limited basis. Grants can be awarded by the taskforce only when your process has been planned and approved as outlined in the grant application.
Click HERE for a video guide to navigating this application portal.
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Congregational Development Grants
Fall deadline (2024) – October 1
Spring deadline (2024) – April 1
Read and review carefully the guidelines for the grant you will be requesting as the titles and descriptions have changed.
New Faith Expressions Grant - This grant is for the establishment of new congregations or for existing congregations who want to start a new campus/satellite location. This would include Strategic Relaunches and Vital Mergers.
Strategic Growth Initiative- This grant is for existing churches/faith communities who want to accomplish one or more of the following:
Create a ministry that reaches new people
Create a ministry that develops new and existing leaders
Create a ministry at that identifies, nurtures and trains the next generation of leaders
Create a ministry that multiplies the congregation's impact beyond the walls of the Church
Create a ministry that includes strategic partnerships with other Congregations (i.e. Cooperative Parishes, Clusters, etc.)
Micro-Grant to Reach New People
The Baltimore Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church is committed to reaching New People in New Places through new faith expressions. These new people already live around our local churches and in our communities and we seek to reach them where they are, either in physical or digital places. To this end we are offering a non-renewable grant for up to $5,000 for you to launch your new faith expression.
The Baltimore Washington Conference defines a New Faith Expression as an innovative and contextual faith community that is in-tune with our changing culture and is developed with those who are not yet a part of a church in mind.
A New Faith Expression must meet the following criteria:
They gather NEW people: This is not about bringing already churched people together in a new way. They should be designed to give unchurched and de-churched people a fresh experience of Christian community.
They meet regularly. It should be at least monthly, but preferable weekly. These are not one time outreach events. The purpose is to foster relationships and create community, which requires people to be together on a regular basis.
They relate to a United Methodist entity, a campus ministry, a local church, a District or the Conference. Most New Faith Expressions will break the mold of typical forms of church, but they are still a part of the Body of Christ. With that in mind, we want to create a supportive connection so that the institution can feed the NFE and not to funnel new members to the local church and feed the institution.
They form disciples using a variety of methods that are appropriate for the context. Disciple making is at the core of our mission and will be at the core of what we start.
Funding Information, Affiliation Requirement, and Exclusions
Spring application funding will start in July and Fall application funding will start in January. To qualify for funding, the applicant must be a United Methodist local church, a district, or region, conference committee or other affiliated organization of the Baltimore-Washington Conference.
Congregational Development grants are not available for the purchase of land or building or the remodeling of existing buildings.
Congregational Development Grants
Congregational Development, in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, is about creating new places for new people through new faith expressions and renewing and revitalizing existing faith communities. By being relevant and vital, our goal is to touch more lives and draw more people to Christ. Our primary purpose is not to help churches grow, but rather we seek to help them reach more people with the good news of the Gospel, to grow more people as gifted and called disciples of Jesus, and to send more people into the world to love and serve God and their neighbors in all they do.
The grants are designed to help leaders and congregations more effectively make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Through the Unified Funding Task Force, grants for New Faith Expressions and Strategic Growth Initiatives are provided on a limited basis. Grants can be awarded by the taskforce only when your process has been planned and approved as outlined in the grant application.
Click HERE for a video guide to navigating this application portal.
______________________________________________________________________________
Congregational Development Grants
Fall deadline (2024) – October 1
Spring deadline (2024) – April 1
Read and review carefully the guidelines for the grant you will be requesting as the titles and descriptions have changed.
New Faith Expressions Grant - This grant is for the establishment of new congregations or for existing congregations who want to start a new campus/satellite location. This would include Strategic Relaunches and Vital Mergers.
Strategic Growth Initiative- This grant is for existing churches/faith communities who want to accomplish one or more of the following:
Create a ministry that reaches new people
Create a ministry that develops new and existing leaders
Create a ministry at that identifies, nurtures and trains the next generation of leaders
Create a ministry that multiplies the congregation's impact beyond the walls of the Church
Create a ministry that includes strategic partnerships with other Congregations (i.e. Cooperative Parishes, Clusters, etc.)
Micro-Grant to Reach New People
The Baltimore Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church is committed to reaching New People in New Places through new faith expressions. These new people already live around our local churches and in our communities and we seek to reach them where they are, either in physical or digital places. To this end we are offering a non-renewable grant for up to $5,000 for you to launch your new faith expression.
The Baltimore Washington Conference defines a New Faith Expression as an innovative and contextual faith community that is in-tune with our changing culture and is developed with those who are not yet a part of a church in mind.
A New Faith Expression must meet the following criteria:
They gather NEW people: This is not about bringing already churched people together in a new way. They should be designed to give unchurched and de-churched people a fresh experience of Christian community.
They meet regularly. It should be at least monthly, but preferable weekly. These are not one time outreach events. The purpose is to foster relationships and create community, which requires people to be together on a regular basis.
They relate to a United Methodist entity, a campus ministry, a local church, a District or the Conference. Most New Faith Expressions will break the mold of typical forms of church, but they are still a part of the Body of Christ. With that in mind, we want to create a supportive connection so that the institution can feed the NFE and not to funnel new members to the local church and feed the institution.
They form disciples using a variety of methods that are appropriate for the context. Disciple making is at the core of our mission and will be at the core of what we start.
Funding Information, Affiliation Requirement, and Exclusions
Spring application funding will start in July and Fall application funding will start in January. To qualify for funding, the applicant must be a United Methodist local church, a district, or region, conference committee or other affiliated organization of the Baltimore-Washington Conference.
Congregational Development grants are not available for the purchase of land or building or the remodeling of existing buildings.