Berkeley Divinity School at Yale Announces $1 Million Lilly Endowment Grant for Virtual Curacy

New Haven, CT — Berkeley Divinity School at Yale is grateful to announce the award of a $1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to support its groundbreaking Virtual Curacy program. This innovative initiative extends the spirit of the Transforming Leaders program, providing newly ordained Episcopal clergy with a robust, two-year mentoring and learning experience, regardless of geographical constraints. 

The program is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, which is intended to help theological schools across the United States and Canada strengthen their educational and financial capacities to prepare and support pastoral leaders for Christian congregations both now and into the future. 

Virtual Curacy: Addressing Critical Needs 
Berkeley Divinity School’s commitment to forming compassionate servant-leaders for the Church and the world who are generous, wise, and equipped to lead in new ways is unwavering. The Virtual Curacy, a hallmark of this commitment, is designed to address the critical shortage of traditional curacy and apprenticeship opportunities for newly ordained Episcopal clergy. The program offers substantial mentoring, fellowship, and practical learning in four key areas: Spiritual Formation, Pastoral Care, Administration and Management, and Visionary Leadership. It includes in-person retreats, an intensive residential week at Yale, and curates who successfully complete the program will receive a Yale certificate. Currently, eleven curates from eight dioceses are enrolled in the pilot cohort of the Virtual Curacy program. Applications for the second cohort will open on November 1, with the program beginning in August 2026. Scholarship funding for dioceses in need will be available. For more information, visit the Virtual Curacy homepage or contact Dr. Brandon Nappi, Executive Director, Office of Transforming Leaders at brandon.nappi@yale.edu. 

“Lilly Endowment’s support for Berkeley Divinity School’s Virtual Curacy Program is a huge boost to our work with newly ordained clergy around The Episcopal Church who find themselves immediately in charge of a parish,” says the Rev’d Dr. Andrew McGowan, Dean and President, Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. “This will enable us to partner with many new priests-in-charge, from whichever seminary or training program, to find effective mentoring and continued learning while they offer pastoral and sacramental leadership across the country.” 

“The season of change and uncertainty before us poses an extraordinary challenge to the clergy called to lead and love God’s people. Berkeley’s Transforming Leaders program is on the front edge of providing critical support and ongoing formation. The leaders who have participated from my diocese are leading some of our most vital ministries, and I highly recommend it,” stated The Rt. Rev. Craig Loya, Bishop of the Diocese of Minnesota. 

“Theological schools have long played a central role for most denominations and church networks in preparing and supporting pastoral leaders who guide congregations,” said Christopher L. Coble, the Endowment’s vice president for religion. “These schools are paying close attention to the challenges churches are facing today and will face in the foreseeable future. The grants will help these schools engage in wide-ranging, innovative efforts to adapt their educational programs and build their financial capacities so they can better prepare pastors and lay ministers to effectively lead the congregations they will serve in the future.”   

Transforming Leaders: Cultivating Lifelong Growth and Learning 
Since its founding, The Office of Transforming Leaders has reshaped the landscape of lifelong formation within the wider Church, having served over 1,000 clergy over the past three years. The program’s concise online courses for clergy and lay leaders, the flagship Leader’s Way residential intensive, and the award-winning Leader’s Way Podcast have set new benchmarks for formation and education. The new Virtual Curacy continues this legacy by matching recent graduates with seasoned mentors across dioceses and time zones, ensuring geography is no barrier to their calling. 

A Landmark Achievement 
This landmark grant also propels the Inspiring Berkeley campaign past its ambitious $23 million goal, adding momentum to an era of renewal. The Berkeley Center, revitalized through more than $6 million in renovations, reinvigorates the school’s shared residential and spiritual life. Moreover, the extraordinary gift of full-tuition scholarships for every student in need ensures that Berkeley continues to form leaders free from financial burden. 

About Berkeley Divinity School at Yale: 
Berkeley Divinity School is the Episcopal seminary at Yale. The mission of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale is to form and transform lay and ordained leaders for the present and future Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion. A Christian community of worship, learning, and service, it shares in the ecumenical and scholarly vocations of Yale Divinity School. 

About 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 religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United State and around the globe.