Vitality Granting Program

The Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma is deeply committed to vitality in every congregation. We believe every one of our congregations has the ability to become more vital and we are committed to supporting the ministry of our congregations through various vitality initiatives from the Diocese. The Vitality Granting program is such an initiative. 

The purpose of the Vitality Granting Program is aimed directly at facilitating and strengthening contextual awareness in our congregations by encouraging congregations and their members to try new ways of getting to know the communities within which they exist and do ministry through direct community engagement. Community engagement seeks to increase contextual awareness by helping congregations become more aware and more deeply involved with the people and groups that share your congregations’ geographic community for the purpose of building relationships, discourse, cooperation, and participation. By strengthening our contextual awareness we become more aware of the work God is already doing in our communities and how we can come alongside God’s work in tangible ways. 

Click below for a list of experiments congregations around the diocese have tried or are in process of trying.

experiment examples

The Vitality Granting Program awards grants (Experimental, Medium, or Large) to those congregations that engage the values of the granting program, these include: 

• The desire and willingness to try new things 
• A posture towards creativity,  inventiveness, and inquisitiveness
• Ideas that are relational, participatory, and cooperative
• Reach into our neighborhoods and communities to form new partnerships

The Vitality Granting Program is a specific series of grants to support programs aimed at strengthening and facilitating higher contextual awareness alongside community engagement. This sometimes means great ideas simply do not fit the granting purposes or guidelines. The types of programs or ideas that DO NOT qualify for the Vitality Granting Program include: 

• Individual Projects including sabbaticals
• Existing Programs or Ministries within a congregation or organization
• Internal Programs or Ministries to a congregation or organization
• Outreach-only Initiatives
• Discretionary Spending
• Funds to support the operating budget
• Capital Improvement Projects (see specific note in the information regarding the Large Vitality Grants related to the use of funds for capital improvements)

The Vitality Granting Program has three levels of Vitality Grants aimed at different levels of contextual awareness. 

Experimental Grants: Experimental Grants are small, micro-grants up to $500 for the purpose of engaging in a learning experiment. The primary purpose of the Experimental Grants is two-fold. First, it’s intended for you to learn about your surrounding neighborhood community. Second, it is intended to help your congregation become more comfortable engaging the work God is already doing by trying something new that your congregation has not done before. To learn more about the Experimental Grant application process, qualifications, and to see a list of completed projects or ideas click below.

CLICK HERE

Medium Vitality Grants: Medium Vitality Grants are mid-sized grants ($501- $5,000) intended to help you put into practice learnings or projects that come out of discernment from the results of your Congregational Vitality Process and/or Vital Experimental Grants. These grants are best for those that have tried several experiments, processed learnings, and have an idea of how the congregation desires to engage their community. To learn more about the Medium Vitality Grant application process, qualifications, and completed projects click below. 

click here

Large Vitality Grants: Large Vitality Grants ($5,001 - $25,000) are intended to assist in the implementation of large, multi-year learnings or projects that come out of discernment from the results of your Congregational Vitality Process and/or Vital Experimental Grants. These grants are best for those that have a well-developed community engagement plan based on previous learnings and accumulated knowledge of the surrounding geographical area. Grants are typically awarded over several years. To learn more about the Large Vitality Grant application process, qualifications, and completed projects click below.

click here

Not sure what grant works for you? Contact the Ministry Partners Team!

• Canon Steve Carlsen, Canon for Congregational Vitality (canonsteve@epiok.org)
• Kate Carney Bond, Director of Faith Formation and Discipleship (kbond@epiok.org)
• Susanna LeMasters, Director of Communications (slemasters@epiok.org) 
• Teresa Phares, Children and Youth Coordinator (tphares@epiok.org) 
• Jeff Huston, OSU Campus Chaplain, (jhuston@epiok.org) 
• Blake Woods, OU Campus Chaplain (bwoods@epiok.org)