The Restoration Initiative: Thriving Congregations

In 2020, Pepperdine was selected by Lilly Endowment Inc. to receive a $1,000,000 gift to participate in their Thriving Congregations initiative. It was one of 92 proposals selected out of approximately 800 Lilly received. Mike Cope serves as the director of the initiative. The aim of the national initiative is to strengthen Christian congregations so they can help people deepen their relationships with God, build strong relationships with each other and contribute to the flourishing of local communities and the world.

The name of Pepperdine's Thriving Congregations program, the Restoration Initiative, seeks to rehabilitate an important word from the history of Churches of Christ (as part of the American Restoration Movement) by focusing on the large biblical themes of joining God in his "restoration of all things" (Acts 3:21). Through spiritual formation, instruction, mentoring, and team building, we seek to focus our work to help renew congregations from Churches of Christ in the Western United States with the goal to help these churches make changes that will bring renewal, vitality, and effectiveness.

Since the program launched churches from the Bay Area, the Central Valley, the larger Portland/Vancouver region, Phoenix/Tucson, Chicago, and the Northeast have participated.

Among those who have helped guide the churches to renewal are Dan Rodriguez, the Boone Center for the Family, Tod Bolsinger, Steve Cloer, David Fraze, Seth Bouchelle, and others.

For more on the Lilly Endowment, this initiative, and the list of grantees, visit the Thriving Congregations website.