COTA Awarded the Lilly Endowment

January 24, 2019 | Written By Azusa Pacific University has been awarded a grant from the Lilly Endowment which will fund new programming and resources to support the spiritual development of youth through worship and arts. This grant will help churches imagine new ways of engaging in intergenerational worship arts, ministry and leadership. It will also fund support for the spiritual development of youth through worship and the arts.

Stephen Martin, assistant professor of music and director of worship arts, will be directing the project. He says, “This grant represents a unique opportunity to support churches in a way that’s really exciting and will develop youth in their calling, giftings, and ministry.” Martin, along with others, will help to facilitate program activities and oversee the churches participating in the grant project. Dr. John Simons, associate dean of graduate studies in the College of the Arts and professor of music, assisted in co-writing the grant.

Through this grant, churches will receive support as they create or strengthen programs. They will be able to be innovative and imagine a new project or model they want to try, and have the financial backing to do so. Many challenges may arise while implementing the project, but Martin says, “Helping churches is always a win.” With this grant, churches will have freedom and space to try new things and see where it takes them.

Worship Arts Lab is a summer program at the end of June where teenagers and adult mentors come together to think about theology, creativity, and worship and the arts. They plan and design worship together in collaborative ways and then showcase their ideas. This program serves as the hub of the grant because churches who attend can then take projects from the lab into their churches. Worship Arts Lab becomes a space to think about innovative worship arts in the context of their own churches. To learn more, visit www.apu.edu/worshiparts.