Church and Society Board Awards Grants for 2025

Below are the 2025 grant awards to United Methodist congregations and organizations related to the United Methodist Church through the Peace with Justice, Ethnic Local Church and Human Relations Day programs.

Peace with Justice Grants

Funding for projects is generated by local churches and Conferences from the Peace with Justice Sunday offering which “witnesses to God’s demand for a faithful, just, disarmed, and secure world.” Fifty percent of the offering is retained in the Annual Conferences and the remainder is forwarded to the General Church (see ¶263.5 and ¶825.5 of the 2020/2024 Book of Discipline).

The board approved funding for 14 Peace with Justice grants totaling $32,000.

• Program for Conflict Management (Central Congo Episcopal Area)
• Jeunesse pour la santé et justice—Youth for Health and Justice (East Congo Episcopal Area)
  
• Bridge of Justice and Peace (South Congo Episcopal Area)
• 2026 Peace Conference (Western North Carolina Annual Conference)
  
• Yakap Program—Violence Against Women and Children and Environmental Stewardship (Philippines Central Conference)
  
• Building Justice Ministries (Florida Annual Conference)
  
• Policy Solutions for Peace (Burundi-Rwanda Episcopal Area)
  
• Red Hands, Open Hearts (Mountain Sky Annual Conference)
  
• UMKR Assembly 2026 (United Methodists for Kairos Response)
  
• Immigrant Resource Hub (Greater New Jersey Annual Conference)
  
• Rooted in Justice, Proclaiming Peace (Manila Episcopal Area)
• Education for Peace in the UMC (Liberia Episcopal Area)
• Resist Christian Nationalism (Great Plains Annual Conference)
  
• Expanding Anti-War Solidarity (California-Nevada Annual Conference)
  

Ethnic Local Church Grants

The program/project directly impacts one or more specific United Methodist racial/ethnic local church(es) or communities. Racial/ethnic persons comprise the majority of those impacted by this program/project. The program/project must focus on the self-identified needs of ethnic local church(es) and persons as they address one or more chronic social issues or concerns (cf: UMC 2025-2028 Social Principles).

The board approved funding for 11 Ethnic Local Church grants totaling $32,000.

• Ubuntu House Rites of Passage (West Ohio Annual Conference)
  
• Psychological Care (East Congo Episcopal Area)
• Hope Beyond the Streets (North Katanga Episcopal Area)
• Empowering Program for Batwa (Burundi-Rwanda Episcopal Area)
  
• Care Catalyst (Great Plains Annual Conference)
  
• A Little Bit of Help (Missouri Annual Conference)
  
• Healthy Hearts Project (South Georgia Annual Conference)
• Flourishing Families (North Carolina Annual Conference)
  
• Groups of Encouragement (Desert Southwest Annual Conference)
  
• Plaza Legal Defense (California Pacific Annual Conference)
  
• Justice without Borders (Wisconsin Annual Conference)
  

Human Relations Day Grants

The purpose of the Human Relations Day Grant is to provide funding to promote ministries that respond to non-violent young offenders through advocacy and community engagement. Human Relations Day is a churchwide Special Sunday of The United Methodist Church, offered on the closest Sunday to the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Ten percent of the Human Relations Day offering supports the Human Relations Day Grant. The Book of Discipline describes the purpose of Human Relations Day as a call to “the Church to recognize the right of all God’s children in realizing their potential as human beings in relationship with each other.” (2020/2024 Book of Discipline, ¶263.1)

The board approved funding for 15 Human Relations Day grants totaling $42,000.

• Community Reentry Support (West Ohio Annual Conference)
• Deeper Time (Western North Carolina Annual Conference)
  
• Entrepreneurship Single Mother (Central Congo Episcopal Area)
  
• Foundations of Belonging (North Katanga Episcopal Area)
  
• Grace Place (Mississippi Annual Conference)
  
• Leadership and Advocacy (Central Congo Episcopal Area)
• Non à la délinquance juvénile—No to Juvenile Delinquency (East Congo Episcopal Area)
• Nurturing Families and Communities (Manila Episcopal Area)
• Respecting Child’s Rights (Nigeria Episcopal Area)
• Restorative Practices (Holston & West VA Annual Conferences)
• Restoring Right Relationships (Zimbabwe Episcopal Area)
• Sacred Court Support (New York Annual Conference)
  
• Young Advocacy Program (Alabama West Florida Annual Conference)
• Youth Against Drug Abuse (Sierra Leone Episcopal Area)
• Youth Voices for Change (East Africa Episcopal Area)