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Inspiring Young Adults to Tell Sacred Stories

���ϲ����� for the Sacred Stories Project to uncover, share and celebrate the vocational journeys of Christian young adults. The college joins 60 other U.S. organizations that have received grants through the endowment’s National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life since 2024.

The sweeping five-year Sacred Stories Project will inspire action, deepen understanding and amplify hope within and beyond Santa Barbara’s Christian community by weaving individual stories into a collective tapestry. The college will draw from its extensive network to discover, develop and share stories of young adults and their vocational journeys. ���ϲ����� professors will contribute storytelling tools from their disciplines while churches and nonprofits work with young adults to draw out their stories. 

"I’m thrilled the Sacred Stories Project will allow us to continue our strong partnership with Lilly Endowment,” says President Gayle D. Beebe. “Civilizations and communities alike have long told stories of celebration, remembrance and grief. In every case, the moral order of these vast communities has displayed the hope and promise of a new day when human flourishing would capture the imagination of its inhabitants. 

“We believe this initiative will help our country and our communities reawaken to the power of story and the hope of human fl ourishing. I’m so thankful we can continue our signifi cant investment in individuals, faith communities and non-profit organizations.”

“What an exciting moment in ���ϲ�����’s history,” says Provost Kim Denu. “This grant unlocks extraordinary interdisciplinary opportunities for the college’s community, allowing us to explore the art of storytelling through diverse modalities, including film, podcasts, publications and conferences.”

“This grant unlocks extraordinary interdisciplinary opportunities for the college’s community, allowing us to explore the art of storytelling through diverse modalities, including film, podcasts, publications and conferences.”

By embedding narrative practice across academic, civic and church spheres, ���ϲ����� hopes to model a replicable framework for other faith-based institutions seeking to nurture purposeful, story-driven communities.

“Christian leaders from many communities have shared powerful stories about how faith helps people find meaning and hope and connects them with one another,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “Contrary to many media accounts that highlight the decline of religion, these stories tell how individuals and congregations are living out their faith by tending to the needs of their neighbors, extending hospitality to friends and strangers, and working to promote healing and reconciliation in their communities. We hope the funded organizations will shine a light on these stories and make more visible the vitality that many Christians experience through their faith.” 

Laura (Ortberg) Turner ’07, who earned an MFA in creative nonfiction writing from Seattle Pacific University, will serve as the program’s director throughout the five-year project. 

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis- based private philanthropic 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. Although the gifts of stock remain a 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 founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A primary aim of its grantmaking in religion is to deepen the religious lives of Christians, principally by supporting efforts that enhance congregational vitality and strengthen the leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment values the broad diversity of Christian traditions and endeavors to support them in a wide variety of contexts. The Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding about religion by encouraging fair, accurate and balanced portrayals of the positive and negative effects of religion on the world and lifting up the contributions that people of all faiths make to our greater civic well-being.