Rural Church
The Duke Endowment is committed to preserving the pivotal role churches play in rural communities. We support clergy and congregations — ensuring they have the tools to walk faithfully together — as they strengthen rural areas. We help United Methodist Churches make greater contributions that have lasting, positive impacts in their communities.
Challenge
United Methodist Churches have long contributed to the rich cultural heritage of rural North Carolina. Shifting demographics, however, have deeply affected rural communities and the churches that serve them. Understanding how churches can best contribute to their changing communities requires deep and prayerful discernment involving church leaders and congregants.
Approach
We serve as an initiating partner, working closely with the North Carolina and Western North Carolina conferences of the United Methodist Church, Duke Divinity School, and pastors and congregations. Our support builds on the strengths of the United Methodist system, optimizing its potential so that local churches can answer their call to transform the world. Our partners are church leaders and congregations who collaborate to achieve their vision of the central role Methodism plays in community vitality.
Rural Church Program Director Robb Webb explains the program area’s mission and strategies
Helping Early Readers Avoid Summer Learning Loss
The Duke Endowment is working with rural congregations in North Carolina to combat learning loss in their communities through evidence-informed summer literacy programs for rising first- through third-graders.
Our Focus
Our focus is on helping rural congregations harness their abundant God-given gifts to foster human, community, and economic advancement with an emphasis on early literacy and nutrition. We work with United Methodist churches and the denomination to optimize systems that support this broader work to create meaningful and measurable change in the communities that they serve. Our four strategies are:
Strategies
Cultivate and Support Pastoral Leaders
We support programs that recruit and retain candidates for ministry; nurture clergy growth and competencies; and support training for district superintendents that strengthens connections between churches and their communities.
Reimagine Church Real Estate
We support structures that help rural congregations make informed decisions about optimizing their assets and using them as catalysts for community-focused ministry.
Build Congregational Capacity
We support programs that engage rural congregations with their neighbors to identify and implement solutions that could have a lasting, positive impact on their rural region.
Identify and Test Selected Programs
We identify, develop, and test programs that have demonstrated positive outcomes, with a special focus on children. Simultaneously, we provide funding for churches to implement these programs. This strategy should only be selected by organizations already directed to apply for funding in this category.
Apply for a Grant
Select 501(c)(3) organizations in North Carolina may be eligible to receive funding.
Before You Proceed
The Duke Endowment’s grant application and reporting process is powered by Blackbaud. If your organization currently uses Blackbaud, please use your existing login credentials to access the grantee portal. If your organization does not have a current Blackbaud ID, please select “create account” when prompted to login. For a step-by-step process click here.
You can access all previous and in-progress applications through the grantee portal.
Project Details
Building Congregations’ Capacity to Engage with Community
Rural churches stay vital and live their calling to transform the world by reaching out and helping neighbors thrive. The Duke Endowment is committed to helping congregations build their capacity to engage in meaningful service ministries that make positive change in the wider community.
Clergy Health Initiative
Studies indicate that clergy are in one of the nation’s most overworked professions. The Duke Endowment has invested $21 million in the Clergy Health Initiative since 2007.
Providing Scholarships for Rural Church Leaders
Rural churches can be a powerful force in creating more vibrant rural communities, especially when a strong and visionary minister is at the helm. To help prepare ministers for service in rural congregations, The Duke Endowment supports several clergy leadership programs at Duke Divinity School.
Church Legacy Initiative
The Church Legacy Initiative (CLI), an effort by the Western North Carolina Conference with support by a grant from The Duke Endowment, seeks the best path to renew and revitalize rural communities. The project assists churches in making faithful decisions about their future, including closure in some cases.
Advancing the Thriving Rural Communities Initiative
We believe that rural churches are anchor institutions that can serve as a catalyst for human, community and economic advancement in the communities they serve. Developing leaders for the complex and dynamic ministry challenges in North Carolina’s rural communities is a primary focus of our grantmaking investments.
Summer Literacy Initiative
The Duke Endowment works with rural congregations to combat “the summer slide,” or learning loss, in their communities through evidence-informed literacy programs.
Related Posts
The “Why” Behind The Duke Endowment’s Rural Church Commitment
August 28, 2026 | A conversation with Robb Webb, Director, Rural Church Program Area
