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The First Presbyterian Church of Dunedin, FL Grant Experience Narrative
The First Presbyterian Church of Dunedin, FL (FPCD) was one of the recent participants in the 2024 reKindle and 2025 Hearth grants that were granted to FPCD by The Center for Lifelong Learning at the Columbia Theological Seminary (CTS).
The purpose of the Lily Thriving Congregations Grant Program, or reKindle, was to help congregations realize their continuing goal of being a relevant and thriving congregation, especially in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, by supporting their focused attention on an identified mission priority.
The Hearth grant was a follow-up grant that invited churches, pastors, and their lay-ordained teams back to CTS to share their reKindle data, what they learned, and to contemplate their respective pathways forward.
It was also a time to learn from the CTS faculty and one another, allowing us to form a continuing learning community whose common mission was to adapt and serve God under ever-changing conditions in our world.
One of our big takeaways from participating in these grants is the importance and value of including laity in our faith community’s strategic leadership work as we responded to what our data told us about our future.
Our church has just completed its second organizational life cycle of 153 years. Before receiving these grants, we were “reimagining” our mission, vision, and work in the next 75 years.
Our reimagining team consisted of our pastor, ordained elders, and lay members of our congregation who were interested and invested in who God was calling FPCD to be and minister to in our post-Covid-19 environment.
Because we involved lifelong learners from all walks of life, we believe this diversity of perspectives and experiences enriched and enhanced our grant findings and decision-making process about our strategic direction forward.
Another key takeaway from our grant experience was the reminder of the importance of supporting our congregants, pastor, and ordained elders in their lifelong learning efforts.
To participate fully in this grant, the team needed the support of our entire church community to engage in a robust, continual learning process that had the potential of yielding important benefits for our collective future and sustainability as a church, and for how we served our local community.
Not only did we find this invaluable support with our congregants, but also with the incredible faculty at The Center for Lifelong Learning.
They give grantees the opportunity and time to learn and have focused and honest conversations on holy seminary ground, away from their daily lives and responsibilities, so they can hear themselves think and hear what God is saying to them.
We all know that leading change is never easy. However, we can honestly say that our grant experience and what we learned as a diverse faith community, with the support and guidance of our congregants, grant participants, our grant peers, and from the faculty at CTS/Center for Lifelong Learning will allow FPCD to confidently move into its next 75 years of sustainability and thriving, and serving God through the work we now know God is calling us to do.
-Robin Rose, PhD, Ruling Elder
