Grantee Directory

The Catalyst Initiative, a program of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, inspires and empowers local churches to thrive in mission and ministry by partnering with their communities in life-changing ways. The Baltimore-Washington Conference connects 603 diverse churches in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and the panhandle of West Virginia. Its mission is to inspire and equip these local faith communities to develop disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world so that more “transformed lives transform lives.” The Catalyst Initiative is designed to complement that mission and vision. Propelled by a shared foundational doctrine to live out a love of God and a love of neighbor, it enables leaders from 100 churches to receive and extend grace in ways that create wellness, justice, hope, and vitality. Reflecting the racial and economic diversity of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, the initiative includes thriving congregations, united by a desire for spiritual growth, an eagerness for change, and a mandate to serve their community and world. Using a cohort model, the Catalyst Initiative provides participating congregations with resources, including: powerful diagnostic and self-reflection tools to understand the church and community they serve; a combination of digital and in-person training sessions that call on best practices for church growth, innovation, and community development; mentoring and peer-learning opportunities; and creative evaluation measurements to ensure that sound theory results in effective action. This initiative enables churches to claim a holy imagination, discover interesting ways of expressing their faith that make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, shape new discipleship systems, and develop achievable metrics for measuring impact. As participants continue to meet, they will pioneer new ideas about how they operate in a post-pandemic world, discern ways their congregations can be relevant to new generations, and build enthusiasm and contextual paths for growth in ministry and discipleship, all while remaining rooted in the best of Methodism.

The Dakotas Connection Initiative helps enhance the Conference's successful ministries and provides resources and platforms to ensure that vital ministry and community impact are happening in its rural communities. New leadership models that maximize the gifts and callings of laity who are indigenous to the community and innovative systems that accomplish the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ will allow congregations to maximize human, financial, and other resources. Strengthening the fabric of connection by connecting "hub" city churches to rural congregations will allow for the sharing of leadership, worship, and technology resources. An overall emphasis on team ministry -- whether that be multiple churches led by a clergy/lay pastoral team or a hub-city church teaming with multiple "mission outposts" -- will result in a shared understanding of changing demographics, the benefit of collaboration in these changing times, and a commitment to improving the overall health and vitality of churches as well as communities.

The primary aim of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary’s Midwest Bioregional Hub is to catalyze and amplify the inherent capacities of congregations in our region to respond to the environmental crises of our time. Through their wealth of theological, spiritual, moral, social, and organizational resources, congregations are uniquely poised to contribute for the just healing of the land and the flourishing of their communities. The Midwest Bioregional Hub supports a racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse group of congregations throughout our bioregion in order to 1) understand the realities, causes, and implications of climate change and environmental degradation, both globally and locally, especially in relation to those in their communities who are most negatively impacted, 2) deepen their knowledge of and ability to draw on the theological, spiritual, and ecclesial resources of their traditions in response to these challenges, and 3) discern, plan, and enact a set of Christian practices informed by ecological design thinking and aimed at the regeneration of both congregational and ecological thriving. Over a five-year period, the Hub will first design the learning process in relation to existing and new curricular offerings, finalize partnerships with missionally-aligned organizations and initiatives, and identify 12 diverse participating congregations across the Midwest. Then the Hub will guide the 5-member teams from each of the 12 congregations through a structured process of education, formation, and activation. And finally, the Hub will celebrate, document, and learn from the implementation of the regenerative congregational projects, while revising the 3-year learning process for a new round of congregational cohorts.

The Bridges Project is designed as a three-stage process to help churches practice deep empathy with their communities, rediscover their core values and mission, and creatively explore our ancient Christian practices as a result of these findings. It is the conference's belief that this process of noticing, mission, and Christian practice will help congregations thrive by tethering them to their calling in a way that makes intercultural competency, and scores of other healthy traits, naturally occurring byproducts of faithful congregational life. This project oversees three 18-month cohort experiences involving 75 vital congregations located in culturally and socially shifting areas. Participating congregations exhibit congregational demographics that have begun to diverge from the demographics of their surrounding communities. The project design is highly experiential and exposes congregational cohorts to the beauty and disorientation of difference, as the conference curates noteworthy experiences rooted in relationship, joy, site visits, storytelling, art, and reflection. As a result, participating congregations emerge from this program with a clearer understanding of their own social location, the skills to practice deep empathy (even amidst difference), a deeper theological understanding for the role of diversity in the Imago Dei, a clarified sense of their particular Christian values and mission, a renewed and localized engagement in meaningful spiritual practices (particularly testimony), and greater delight in both God and others.

The purpose of this project is to help congregations adopt a process of collaborative learning and experimentation that will make churches more welcoming to younger members of their respective communities and more affirming of youth leadership. By utilizing researched-based planning for outreach, participating congregations will be objectively more effective at engaging children, youth, and young adults and experience more reciprocal engagement among generations. This purpose will be accomplished as the INUMC partners with Fuller Youth Institute and Indiana Youth Institute to offer: 1) In-depth training for 5 consultants within the INUMC who will be certified in Growing Young principles and who will be able to lead collaborative inquiry and experimentation with local churches. 2) A year-long experience throughout 2025 for 25 congregations who are invested in ministry with children, youth, and young adults that includes a cohort-based model, guidance, support, coaching, and feedback in a collaborative experience with INUMC consultants and Fuller Youth Institute experts.

The Congregations in Action Program leads congregations through a two-year, structured organizational learning process that centers on active missional engagement. This process has three main project phases: 1) Recognizing Change, 2) Clarifying Mission, and 3) Cultivating Practices. Phase one begins with the question “Who is My Neighbor?” Congregations are led through a discovery process with the help of external experts as they learn about their community. Resources help congregations consider demographic reports, confront biases, and connect with the surrounding community. Sermon materials related to the Parable of the Good Samaritan accompany this phase as congregations think theologically in weekly worship. Phase two takes the question of who is my neighbor to the next level and asks, “What Might I Do?” However, instead of jumping to action, congregations engage in longer and deeper listening with the wider community. They partner with two universities in Missouri who look at communities with particular disciplinary lenses. Congregations are challenged to become localized theological anthropologists while considering their own visible and invisible communal commitments. Sermon materials explore Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26- 40) to connect these themes. The third phase of the project moves to action. Congregations are awarded $10,000 to design and implement a project focused on communities outside of the church. Congregations are supported by conversation partners, peer groups, and Missouri Conference staff during this phase of the program. This phase develops alongside a sermon series centered on the Three General Rules that governed early Methodist societies: Do No Harm, Do Good, Stay in Love with God. In this final phase, congregations focus on how lessons learned may inform ministry and work with the community in the years to come.