Living the Questions Receives Grant

In 2016, Bethel received a $484,852 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to establish the leadership program Living the Questions for high school students within the Twin Cities area. Throughout the last three years, 50 high school students from 20 different churches have shown up ready to learn and explore the reasons behind their beliefs and implications of their callings within this community of fellow questioners and spiritual leaders. Five of those students are currently attending Bethel, and three are Postsecondary Enrollment Option students.

The organizations that have received funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. are eligible to apply for a Youth Theology Network (YTN) Capacity-Building Grant. Bethel has received one of those grants, and moving forward, program director Katie Friesen Smith hopes to build stronger relationships with churches. Within the last two years, Living the Questions has created a team of Bethel students called Youth Crew, and so far, the team has served 462 high school students from 36 different churches. Friesen Smith hopes that this grant can help strengthen the connections forming between youth pastors and students at both high school and collegiate levels, along with establishing an advisory committee for Living the Questions.