Small Church Grant Program (Presbytery of Chicago)

Small Church Grant Program (Presbytery of Chicago) is sponsored by Presbytery of Chicago. This program is available to small churches (without full-time pastors) within the Presbytery of Chicago. It provides critical assessment, leadership training, and congregational discernment programming.

2024 Presbytery of Chicago Mission Grant Application 2024 Presbytery of Chicago Mission Grants Each year, the Presbytery of Chicago’s Mission Committee funds projects and programs in churches throughout the Presbytery, with a particular emphasis given to helping churches who might not be able to fund these projects and programs on their own.

Past projects have included: feeding programs, camping and campus ministries, educational events, and more. This funding is available due to the generosity of many faithful Presbyterians who came before us and we are deeply grateful for their contributions to the ongoing ministry of this Presbytery.

What to know before applying for a grant: We expect congregations to financially contribute to the projects they are proposing, both for a sense of shared partnership as well as stewardship of the Presbytery’s funds.

The percent of the total project’s budget your congregation would be asked to cover typically depends on your church’s overall budget – please see below for details: Annual budget less than $500,000 – $15,000 maximum grant Your church would need to contribute 10% of overall cost of project Annual budget between $500,000 and $1 million – $10,000 maximum grant Your church would need to contribute 25% of overall cost of project Annual budget greater than $1 million – $5,000 maximum grant Your church would need to contribute 50% of overall cost of project The project you are requesting funds for must be ministry your congregation is directly involved in.

These funds may not be sent to another organization. Funds toward building maintenance or property improvements may not exceed 10% of the overall request, even if those improvements are vital to the success of your project. Applications must be submitted by your church’s session rather than by individual members of your congregation.

Incomplete applications will not be considered by the committee. The Mission Committee meets four times per year to evaluate applications and award funding. Application deadlines are February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1, 2024.

Applications received after those dates will be considered during the following quarter. Finally, please be aware that there are also funds available for supplementing full-time pastoral salaries, scholarships for seminary students or future church leaders, and the PC(USA)’s Self Development of People program.

If your congregation is interested in applying for any of those funds, we encourage to reach out to the Mission Committee for further details. APPLY HERE FOR THE 2024 GENERAL MISSION GRANT