This project is offered by Loyola Institute for Ministry and the National Community of Catechetical Leaders.

Through a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.
all services of this Thriving Congregations Initiative are free for participating parishes.

Project Directors: Dr. Tracey Lamont (Loyola) and John Roberto (NCCL)

The parish is where the Church lives – it is the heart of our Church...

Every parish strives to be a vibrant community where faith flourishes, the Gospel is lived, and believers encounter Jesus in word and sacrament. Every parish experiences the challenges of being a community where the Church lives.

Pope Francis reminds us that a parish capable of renewal and adaptation remains "the Church living in the midst of her people's homes."

How can a parish respond to the challenges of our day and thrive as a community that lives the mission of Jesus Christ in our world today? There is no one way to make this happen, no one path to follow, no one way to be a thriving, vital community of faith. There are many paths to thriving.

The Pathways toward a Thriving Parish Project is helping parishes across the country create their own paths toward thriving, vital communities of faith that live out our Catholic mission in today’s world.

With a generous 5-year grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., the National Community of Catechetical Leaders (NCCL) and the Loyola Institute for Ministry have designed the Pathways toward a Thriving Parish project to help parishes create their own paths toward a thriving, vital community of faith that is living its mission in today’s world. The Project will work with your parish to:

• Equip a parish leadership team with the knowledge, skills, and practices for creating pathways toward thriving for your parish community.
• Form leaders in the processes of listening to the needs, hopes, and hungers of the community; discerning how the Holy Spirit is calling the parish to respond and grow; and acting by creating pathways for thriving designed for your parish community.
• Discover and empower the gifts and abilities parish community – individuals and teams – for ministry and service in the parish and in the world.

In 2025 – the first year of the Project – over 50 parishes were engaged in developing and implementing pathways toward thriving.

More parishes will join, more parishes will thrive - in 2026 and beyond!

Our Thanks to Lilly Endowment Inc.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of diverse religious traditions by supporting fair and accurate portrayals of the role religion plays in the United States and across the globe.