Mustard Seed Fund Application

2024-2025

Information About the Mustard Seed Fund:

The purpose of the Mustard Seed Fund is to test and scale promising new ministries and programs that inspire and motivate a new generation of Orthodox Christians to participate in the church. Microgrants will be awarded to Metropolis of Chicago clergy and stewards seeking to develop and implement new or existing parish-level initiatives that advance evangelism, welcoming and outreach. To learn more, please read the Metropolis’s announcement of the Mustard Seed Fund.

Throughout 2024, those who are selected to receive a microgrant will:

Receive funding and support to develop their proposed initiative/ministry.
Refine initiatives and evaluate benchmark progress toward goals, assessing effectiveness of programming.

Upon completion of the first year, participants will present their proposed ministries to the Metropolis. By sharing presentations, participants will learn from each other’s experiences, and be better able to implement their ministries within their own parishes. In the future, successful ministries will be implemented at other parishes within the Metropolis.

Information Regarding the Development of Ministries:

The Mustard Seed Fund aims to support the development or enhancement of ministries that are designed to promote evangelism, welcoming and/or outreach. These important concepts are defined below. Ministries can take many different creative forms. We welcome you to think outside the box based on your parish and surrounding community’s needs.

Evangelism

Sharing the Good News of Christ to offer greater meaning and purpose to all people.

Welcoming

Fostering a Christ-centered friendship among believers, seekers, and visitors in our parishes.

Outreach

Offering compassionate service, inspired by Christ’s love, to those in our surrounding communities.

Parish Priest Letter of Support:

It is important that your parish priest supports the initiative that you will be developing and implementing. Please share with him your interest in applying to the Mustard Seed Fund and discuss your initial ideas. After this meeting, please have your parish priest fill out the brief “Parish Priest Letter of Support” and upload a signed copy with your online application.

Parish Priest Letter of Support

In order to apply to the Mustard Seed Fund, please complete the following application form. We encourage parishioners of all ages to submit their ideas. There is no idea too small or big.

IMPORTANT – Prepare your Application:

We recommend preparing all short answer questions in advance. Make sure to speak with your parish priest prior to submitting your application – applications cannot be submitted without the Parish Priest Letter of Support.

2024-25 Mustard Seed Fund Application

Applicant Information #1

Name(Required)

Address(Required)

Street Address Address Line 2 City State (ex. AZ, IL, etc) ZIP Code

Email(Required)

Phone(Required)

Date of Birth(Required)

Parish Name(Required)

Other - Parish Name(Required)

Parish City(Required)

Parish State(Required)

How many other people are you applying with?

Applicant Information #2

Applicant 2: Name(Required)

Applicant 2: Address(Required)

Street Address Address Line 2 City State (ex. AZ, IL, etc) ZIP Code

Applicant 2: Email(Required)

Applicant 2: Phone(Required)

Applicant 2: Date of Birth(Required)

Applicant 2: Parish Name(Required)

2. Other - Parish Name(Required)

2. Parish City(Required)

2. Parish State(Required)

Applicant Information #3

Applicant 3: Name(Required)

Applicant 3: Address(Required)

Street Address Address Line 2 City State (ex. AZ, IL, etc) ZIP Code

Applicant 3: Email(Required)

Applicant 3: Phone(Required)

Applicant 3: Date of Birth(Required)

Applicant 3: Parish Name(Required)

3. Other - Parish Name(Required)

3. Parish City(Required)

3. Parish State(Required)

Applicant Information #4

Applicant 4: Name(Required)

Applicant 4: Address(Required)

Street Address Address Line 2 City State (ex. AZ, IL, etc) ZIP Code

Applicant 4: Email(Required)

Applicant 4: Phone(Required)

Applicant 4: Date of Birth(Required)

Applicant 4: Parish Name(Required)

4. Other - Parish Name(Required)

4. Parish City(Required)

4. Parish State(Required)

Short Answer

Please respond to the following prompts (2500-character limit for each prompt):

1. Why are you applying to be a part of the Mustard Seed Fund? What has inspired you to apply to be a part of this initiative?(Required)

2. How does the story of the Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32) inform your desire to serve in your community?(Required)

3. Describe your proposed ministry and explain how it would promote evangelism, outreach and/or welcoming. Please refer to the definitions above.(Required)

4 (a). What is the amount of funding you are requesting from the Mustard Seed Fund?(Required)

4 (b). Explain how the funds would be used.(Required)

5. Identify the volunteers and/or staff your proposed ministry would require.(Required)

6. What is the timeline for development of your proposed ministry?(Required)

7. How will you measure the success of your proposed ministry?(Required)

8. What (if any) experiences have you had that are relevant to the ministry that you would like to develop (i.e. professional experience, volunteer experience)(Required)

Terms & Conditions

It is important that your parish priest supports the initiative that you will be developing and implementing. Please share with him your interest in applying to the Mustard Seed Fund and discuss your initial ideas. After this meeting, please have your parish priest fill out the brief 'Parish Priest Letter of Support" and upload a signed copy below.(Required)

Max. file size: 50 MB.

OPTIONAL: Upload supplementary documents and information.

Drop files here or

Max. file size: 50 MB, Max. files: 3.

Parish Priest Level of Support

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Help Grow the Faith

The purpose of the Mustard Seed Fund is to test and scale promising new ministries and programs that inspire and motivate a new generation of Orthodox Christians to participate in the Church. Micro-grants will be awarded to Metropolis of Chicago clergy and stewards seeking to develop and implement new or existing parish-level initiatives that advance evangelism, welcoming, and outreach.

Please consider making a gift to the Metropolis of Chicago Annual Vision Campaign to help us grow the faith together.

To make a gift to the Mustard Seed Fund, go to www.chicago.goarch.org/donate/

Donate

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