St. Catherine University has received a second $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment to fund the Partnership for Contemplative Discipleship for another five years. The first grant was awarded in 2020 to help establish the program, then called the Initiative for Contemplative Discipleship.
The grant is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative, which aims to strengthen and support Christian congregations nationwide. St. Kate’s Partnership for Contemplative Discipleship brings together congregational leaders and congregants from different denominations to cultivate spiritual practices and connect through small groups. The goal is both spiritual renewal and community connection across difference.
Bill McDonough, STD, professor emeritus of theology and the coordinator for the initiative at St. Kate’s, says contemplative discipleship is a valuable practice for anyone seeking to live a grounded life: “It's something before social justice — it's the kind of grounding that makes care for the common good possible.”
The contemplative discipleship practices have included circle practices as well as group retreats. Participating congregations include Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, United Methodist, Community, United Church of Christ, and Episcopalian churches from both urban and suburban areas around the Twin Cities. “[Lilly Endowment] told us, ‘We like your program because it's interracial, it's intercultural, it's ecumenical, and gosh, we need that right now,’” McDonough said.
In preparation for the grant renewal application, the team created a video, “Changed by Practice: Five Years of the Lilly Grant at St. Catherine University,” featuring testimonials from program participants. Faith leaders and community members from multiple churches shared their experiences with contemplative discipleship through the grant.
“This opportunity has been an enlivening opportunity; it’s been an enriching opportunity,” said Chris Sorensen, director of pastoral ministry at Risen Savior Catholic Church, in the video. “As we have been working in our community, when we get together with the other people in the discipleship practice segment on Wednesday nights, to listen to their stories — which are very diverse from our own — and their enthusiasm for what’s going on, is a real lifegiver for me.”
Following the closure of St. Kate’s graduate theology program in 2025, the Partnership for Contemplative Discipleship has looked for new ways to keep the program’s legacy of spiritual connection alive at the University. With this next cycle of funding, the goal is to bring a spiritual practices teacher to St. Kate’s through the Center for Spirituality and Social Justice — “not to get anybody signed up for any religion, but to ground them in this crazy, crazy, broken world,” McDonough said.
Also forthcoming is a monthly pilot program called Discipleship Support and Discernment, where people from across participating congregations will come together to share their experiences and hopes for the future.
“So a Black Baptist spiritual leader from North Minneapolis and a Catholic community life director from the suburbs are going to use spiritual practices as a very mixed group for people,” McDonough said. “‘What excites you and what do you need?’ I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes with that.”
Going forward, the initiative hopes to expand from 25 participating congregations to 50 in the next five years, including Shakopee Women’s Prison. They aim to increase the number of different denominations represented and build on the partnerships that have made the program successful so far.
“I think what I'm proudest of is those partnerships that change people,” McDonough said. “And you don't even know how they're going to change you.”