Overview:
In April 2025, FCC Georgetown along with 11 other area congregations received a $1.25 million Lilly Grant entitled Children Here! Children There! Children Worship Everywhere! The program is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative. The aim of the national initiative is to support faith-based organizations as they help children grow in faith and deepen their relationships with God.

The primary responsibilities of each congregation in the grant are (1) to plan and implement 12 yearly worship services that are intentionally inclusive of children ages 3-12, and (2) to create a worship space that is more intentionally inclusive of children. Additionally, each congregation sends families and children to attend a yearly 2-night retreat. The primary work of the retreat is to develop best practices and worship resources for the coming year, with all ages working together.

The retreat for Year One was held November 2-4 at Higher Ground Retreat Center in West Harrison, Indiana. Over 100 people from age 3-82 attended this retreat, including fifteen members from our congregation. All ages worked together to create words for worship, skits, images, songs, and other creative materials for our worship services to be used throughout the year.

Although the focus of this grant is on children in this specific age group, our aim is to create worship experiences that are inclusive of all ages, developmental levels, and learning styles, with the understanding that truly intergenerational worship services include all ages in God’s expansive love.

“The hope is that children and their families understand that an inclusive and intentional worship experience for children becomes an inclusive and intentional way to be faithful in the world. May children remind us that the community worships a God who calls us into action everyday.” Project Leader: Rev. Dr. Olivia Bryan Updegrove

“Children need God, too. They need a worship experience that nurtures their spirits. This grant will enable and empower congregations to bless children in their walk with the Lord.” Associate Regional Minister for Faith Formation: Rev. Josh Snyder

Each year of the grant has a primary theme for focus in worship as well as outreach experiences:
Year one: Children Here! 101
Year two: Children There! Prayerful Justice
Year three: Children Here and There! Housing
Year four: Children Everywhere! Urban and rural poverty
Year five: Children Here, There, and Everywhere! Creation Care

Funding:
In addition to the 12 yearly worship experiences and retreat, each congregation has received $15,000 to update their sanctuary in order to create a more intentionally inclusive worship space for children. It is up to the discernment of each congregation to decide how best these funds are used in their context, and there is no deadline for using these funds during the grant period. The decisions for how best to use these funds at FCC are being made collaboratively along with the Worship Coordinators and our ministry chairs (link to structure page?). The grant also provides $5,000 annually to compensate a Lay Leader at each congregation to serve as the primary coordinator of this project and to support the Senior Minister in development of these worship services. The Lay Leader for FCC is Carly Dickinson; FCC Children, Youth & Families Director.

Who is involved?
This grant is directed by Reverend Dr. Olivia Updegrove (you can find more info about Olivia and her most current program, Faith Tutors, here: Faith Tutors LLC | PROGRESSIVE). Rev. Chris Cash, Senior Minister, and Carly Dickinson, Children, Youth and Families Director and grant Lay Leader, are the primary leaders of this grant for FCC. We have gathered together a team of Worship Coordinators, leaders representing all ages and aspects of the congregation, to assist in planning our grant worship services. All members of the congregation, however, are needed in order for this project to succeed in the long run.

The lay leaders and clergy meet regularly with Rev. Dr. Updegrove in order to share ideas, develop best practices, and to plan for the upcoming retreat. Recognizing that each congregation has its own unique culture, makeup, and needs, these gatherings provide a rich space for collaboration and problem-solving throughout the 5-year period. At the end of the grant period, the materials utilized by all 12 congregations will be synthesized into a program that can be shared nationwide.

What’s the latest?

On February 15, 2026, we held our first Children Here! Worship service. Many of our children participated in the service alongside adults. We also intentionally included some child-friendly elements in our sanctuary, such as fidgets, stuffies, and welcome signs made by our kids. We look forward to more services in May and during the summer months, experimenting with different elements in the sanctuary and different creative components of worship.

Our next grant retreat is August 1-3 at Thomas More University in northern Kentucky. The theme for the second retreat is Children There! Prayerful Justice 101. We are excited to continue this important work together and with our other partners and congregations!

What have we learned so far?

• Intergenerational worship enhances unity and togetherness, as well as mutual value and respect of all people in the congregation
• All ages must work together– we do this with our children, not for them
• Young children already have a relationship with God and are very capable of walking more slowly, talking more softly, and finding a quiet space inside themselves during worship
• This is a process, not a program– We are in this together over the next 5 years (and beyond) and we will be learning and growing along the way.

For more information and to find out about upcoming Children Here! worship services, please feel free to contact Carly Dickinson HERE, or Rev. Chris Cash HERE.