Sabbatical Grant Opportunities
The Louisville Institute is pleased to announce their 16th annual competition for sabbatical grants for pastoral leaders. Last year they awarded 48 grants to applicants from a pool numbering nearly 400, and they anticipate a strong set of applicants again for this year's competition, which closes on September 1.
Details of their grant application process and eligibility requirements are available on their website, www.louisville-institute.org.
By way of summary here are some core program facts:
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**Applicants must be regularly employed in a recognized religious leadership position. Applicants may be ordained or lay, and may or may not have a formal theological degree. Eligible positions include pastors and other parish ministers, chaplains, faith-based community agency leaders, and church judicatory officials.
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Awardees will ordinarily have been in their current place of ministry at least five years, and will plan on staying in their current place for at least a year beyond their sabbatical. They will be at least five years away from retirement. Exceptions are possible, especially in church polities built on an itinerancy model.
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Awards are made for either eight- or twelve-week sabbaticals. Sabbaticals are taken in a continuous
single period. Applicants choose whether to apply for an eight-week sabbatical, with a $10,000 award, or
for a twelve-week sabbatical, which bears a $15,000 award. The size of award request has no bearing on the chances of receiving an award.
**Applications are due no later than September 1. Award announcements will be made by December 1, and sabbaticals must be taken between March 1 (year awarded), and August 31 (following year).
**For study grants, rules are somewhat different; please see our website for that program's eligibility and project guidelines.
**Full program information and application materials are available at our website, www.louisville-institute.org.