Program Description

In partnership with The Black Church Studies Program at Louisville Seminary, Pride in the Pews is pleased to offer the 2025 Rural Black Church Equality Fellowship (RBCEF). RBCEF is a private and confidential U.S. rural south (and small towns) leadership development program for Black faith leaders interested in advancing conversation and action at the intersections of faith, health, the Black Church, and LGBTQ+ identity and inclusion. This fellowship is designed to foster LGBTQ+ inclusion and social justice within rural and small town Black congregations. The program will run annually from March to December over the next five years, impacting 50 congregations in total.

Program Dates and Deadlines

All grants will be awarded on a rolling basis, with priority given to early applicants. The application opens January 28, 2025 and applications must be submitted by February 18, 2025. Final decisions will be emailed to all applicants by February 24, 2025. The grant implementation period will commence in March of 2025 and conclude in December 2025.

• Virtual Launch | Tuesday January 28, 2025 6pm CST/7pm EST 

• Virtual Grantee Meetings | March 5th and 19th, April 2nd and 16th, May 6th and 20th, June 3rd 2025 (1.5-hour virtual meeting in each of the listed months, from 7-8:30 ET/6-7:30 CT via ZOOM) 

If accepted, representation from your project team at the virtual cohort launch and consecutive meetings is required. Failure to do so will result in your acceptance being forfeited.