Lilly Endowment Inc. awards Robinson School $1.1M for new project

Robinson School in San Juan has been awarded a $1.1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the Seeds of Faith project, funded through the Lilly Endowment’s Christian Parenting and Caregiving Initiative.

The project aims to assist parents and caregivers in sharing their faith and values with their children, the school stated.

“Recognizing parents’ essential role in the development of Christian faith and values in their children, our school aims to better integrate parents and caregivers into our existing Spiritual Life Program,” school officials said in a news release.

“Identifying the unique challenges of raising children in a pluralistic world and within a broad range of family structures and diverse backgrounds, we aim to strengthen our partnership with Christian parents and caregivers in the formational experiences we create,” they said.

“Our comprehensive and hands-on project will include online educational resources, in-person workshop sessions, parent and caregiver support groups, and diverse education and worship experiences that will integrate cross-generational learning and creative expression of Christian faith and values,” the release stated.

Activities will feature podcasts, YouTube content, devotional experiences, spiritual retreats, speaking events and more.

The Spiritual Life Program at Robinson School is managed by bilingual teachers and a chaplain, all with graduate-level education in Christian theology. Their close relationships with pastors and leaders across multiple Christian denominations have been established through pastoring local congregations.

“We’re confident in our ability to identify the needs of local congregations and partner with them to strengthen their potential to foster the Christian faith in future generations. Because of this, our team brings educational experience and a pastoral heart to our program,” said Justin Colón, chaplain at Robinson School.

“Seeds of Faith will bolster the determination of parents by providing educational resources, facilitating support groups for parents, and making available easy-to-use tools to facilitate their role as primary influencers in the faith of their children,” Colón explained.

“Our project will advance the aim of the Christian Parenting and Caregiving Initiative by strengthening parents’ confidence in their role as the primary influencers in the faith development of their children,” he added.

Robinson School is among 77 organizations that are receiving grants in this round of the initiative.

“We’ve heard from many parents who are seeking to nurture the spiritual lives of their children, especially in their daily activities, and looking to churches and other faith-based organizations for support,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. 

“These thoughtful, creative and collaborative organizations embrace the important role that families have in shaping the religious development of children and are launching programs to assist parents and caregivers with this task,” he said.