Grantee Directory

The Damascus Project is a shared theological learning initiative of the Minnesota and Wisconsin Conferences, United Church of Christ. One way we nurture vitality within the body of Christ is through our online learning platform, the Damascus Project Network, which aims to transform the people of God through theological study and equip them for effective leadership within their congregations and communities. We are a community of lifelong learners committed to walking together and participating in transformative conversations in the life of faith and leadership. We learn together so that we are better equipped to love each other, nurture the body of Christ, and transform the world. We provide multiple pathways to authorized ministry in the United Church of Christ, provide continuing education to clergy, and provide coursework for theologically curious lay learners and training to lay leaders. We pay special attention to the needs of small and rural churches in our Upper Midwestern Conferences and invite those churches to share their struggles and wisdom both with us and with one another. The Thriving Congregations Grant allows us to expand our programing in two areas: 1) A Thriving Congregations curricular track for clergy and laity, which offers coursework in church governance, shared leadership, healthy communication, and reflective listening as well as providing supportive cohorts for church moderators, treasurers, pastoral relations committee members and governing boards; 2) Our Living Faith curricular track, which offers online confirmation cohorts for young people in small and rural churches, facilitated by faith formation leaders from across our conferences, and supplemented by outdoor ministry experiences. We provide the facilitators, online learning platform, learning, retreat, and liturgical materials to help all of our young people experience a vital and engaging confirmation program.