The Center for Faith and Justice is honored to serve as a key partner in a collaborative project awarded a $5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment. As part of the National Faith Storytelling Initiative, this effort builds on a theological framework we have cultivated for many years, centered on the pluriformity of the Gospel endings, to launch FIRE: Multivocal Expressions of Faith.
FIRE seeks to challenge one-dimensional narratives of the spiritual life by amplifying diverse and vibrant expressions of faith that reflect the fullness of the Good News. In a culture where Christianity is often portrayed through narrow or exclusionary lenses, FIRE reclaims a richer story illuminating the plurality of gospel witness through multimedia storytelling that connects, inspires, and transforms.
At the heart of FIRE is a fresh engagement with the four gospel endings as living metaphors for the life of faith: John’s call to Follow, Matthew’s invitation to Invite, Luke’s reminder to Remain, and Mark’s courage to Embrace. Together, these four endings shape our vision for four-dimensional storytelling, supporting a creative ecosystem that reflects the vibrancy, diversity, and theological depth of Christian life in all its forms.
We are especially grateful to the Riverside Church in the City of New York, a historic congregation long at the forefront of progressive reform in American Christianity and a vital partner of the Center for Faith and Justice in recent years. As Senior Minister Rev. Adriene Thorne reflects, “I am delighted to deepen the powerful connection between Riverside Church and the Center for Faith and Justice. Through this partnership, we are not only sharing stories of Christian vitality and hope, we are shaping a public witness rooted in the courageous love and justice of Jesus. In these treacherous times, I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from one another and to tell another Christian story – one that connects our communities across distance, grounded in a shared commitment to faith that expands the narrative.”
To receive first notice about applications for storytelling cohorts or registration for the gatherings, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the official press release below.
The Riverside Church Receives $5 Million Grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. for National Faith Storytelling Initiative
The Riverside Church in the City of New York has received a grant of $5 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life 2025. The grant will support FIRE: Multivocal Expressions of Faith, a five-year project that will expand how Riverside gathers, forms, and shares stories of Christian faith and life.
The Riverside Church is one of 60 organizations from across the United States that have received grants through the initiative since 2024. The group includes media organizations, denominational judicatories, church networks, publishers, educational institutions, congregations, and other nonprofit charitable organizations.
FIRE is designed to strengthen Riverside’s longstanding commitment to justice-centered, multivocal storytelling. The project’s central goal is to illuminate how faith takes shape in real lives today and to amplify diverse Christian voices from across the country. Key activities will include creating a dedicated storytelling studio at Riverside; forming FIREstarter cohorts exploring gospel-rooted storytelling; hosting bi-coastal Spark Labs in partnership with Rev. Dr. Peter Choi, Executive Director at the Center for Faith and Justice in San Francisco, and First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley; producing a 12-episode docuseries following real faith journeys; and launching FIRE Digital, an online platform to share thousands of stories.
“Riverside has always believed that stories shape faith, courage, and community,” said Rev. Adriene Thorne, Senior Minister of The Riverside Church. “This grant allows us to deepen that work and widen the circle of voices heard in the national conversation about Christian faith. We are grateful for this investment and excited to begin.”
The aim of Lilly Endowment’s National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life is to help organizations identify, produce, and share with a wide variety of audiences compelling stories that portray the vibrancy and hope of Christian faith and life.
About Lilly Endowment Inc. Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic 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 and maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A primary aim of its grantmaking in religion is to deepen the religious lives of Christians, principally by supporting efforts that enhance congregational vitality and strengthen the leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment values the broad diversity of Christian traditions and endeavors to support them in a wide variety of contexts. The Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding about religion by encouraging fair, accurate and balanced portrayals of the positive and negative effects of religion on the world and lifting up the contributions that people of all faiths make to our greater civic life.