Wesley Biblical Seminary to launch Fallow Ground Initiative

Five-year grant-supported plan will increase the seminary’s capacity to reach and support new students

Ken Roach | October 10, 2025
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“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.” (Hosea 10:12) With these words the prophet encouraged God’s people to increase their spiritual capacity by doing the work needed to put “fallow,” unused fields into use. In the same spirit, Wesley Biblical Seminary is seeking to reach and support pastoral ministry students from new “fields” in our day.

The new effort is being funded by a $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its 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.

The Fallow Ground Initiative will include three key areas. First, the seminary will seek to develop new relationships with a broader range of individuals, churches and denominations. Historically, WBS has primarily served a variety of Methodist and Holiness denominations. The emergence of the Global Methodist Church has produced significant growth over the past few years. However, WBS leaders believe that even greater growth is possible among theologically adjacent denominations and traditions.

“Some groups do not know enough about Wesleyan theology to realize how much we have in common,” President Andy Miller explained, “but they share our commitment to the authority of Scripture and orthodox, historic Christianity. If they knew more about us, we believe they would be excited to send more pastoral ministry candidates our way.” The Fallow Ground Initiative will help to build those relationships.

A second aspect of the initiative will be extending the seminary’s support for pastoral training across the life cycle of ministry through continuing education programs. The “Wesley Biblical Center” will be a hub for a variety of ongoing training courses and interactive cohorts.

“We are already seeing scores of pastors who want to take courses with us beyond their initial degree,” noted Academic Dean Chris Lohrstorfer. “This initiative will further expand those offerings.”

Finally, the initiative will build on the seminary’s successful Spanish-language cohort program in the Mexico City region to enhance its support for Spanish-language students within the United States. From translation software to library resources to cultural contextualization, “Proyecto de Santidad Biblica” will add resources to better serve this dynamic and growing demographic of pastors and churches.

“God has been growing the reach and impact of WBS over the past several years,” said President Miller, “and we are believing for even greater things in the years ahead through this initiative. There is a great harvest available in our time, but we need more workers. The mission of WBS is to develop those trusted leaders for faithful churches. We consider it a great blessing to have received the funds to press even harder into that calling and task.”

Wesley Biblical Seminary is one of 163 theological schools that have received grants since 2021 through the Pathways initiative. Together, the schools serve a broad spectrum of Christian traditions in the U.S. and Canada. They are affiliated with evangelical, mainline Protestant, nondenominational, Pentecostal, Orthodox, Catholic, Black church, Latino, Asian American, Indigenous and historic peace church traditions.

“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, Lilly 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.”

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 States and around the globe.

About Wesley Biblical Seminary

For more information about WBS, visit http://wbs.edu. To learn more about Pathways for Tomorrow, visit https://lillyendowment.org/pathways-for-tomorrow-initiative/.