The Ministerial Excellence Fund (MEF), awarded to the PCAFI in 2022, comes from the generosity of the Lilly Endowment’s National Initiative to Address Economic Challenges Facing Pastoral Leaders Phase 1 planning grant. It exists to enable the financial and personal flourishing of pastors and their families, to enrich and maintain their overall well-being. The MEF is administered and evaluated by the executive office of the PCAFI.

 

Pastors who are eligible for grant funds will receive some degree of financial literacy/preparedness training to enable optimal stewardship of the granted funds. Eligible churches will be educated on the economic challenges facing pastors through Lilly Endowment grantee partners. The MEF will offer a variety of scholarship initiatives, available in the near future, that will:

 

• Provide direct and immediate relief to pastors and their families when educational, consumer, or medical debt imposes significant hardship that undermines the pastor’s flourishing and pastoral excellence. 

• Provide need-based funding to the children of pastors to attend accredited colleges and universities. 

• Provide grants for pastors who pursue advanced theological courses of study from ATS-accredited seminaries and divinity schools. 

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