By Morgen White | FāVS News Reporter
The Northwest Intermountain (NWIM) Synod was among 26 synods chosen to receive a one-year grant through the CaSTLE Project. This is the second time the NWIM Synod has received a grant for the purpose of supporting rural ecumenical ministry.
“Churches provide incredible third spaces that some people forget about. If a church leaves a place … Where is AA going to meet? Where is the childcare going to be? Where is the food bank going to be? Especially in small towns where they are a vital third space,” The Rt. Rev. Meggan Manlove, the bishop of the NWIM Synod said.
The CaSTLE Project is an initiative focused on revitalizing ministry in rural areas. They do this work in part by offering sub-grants. The project is housed and run at the Wartburg Theological Seminary. Wartburg, located in Dubuque, Iowa, is an accredited Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) seminary founded in 1854 to educate pastors and religious leaders. The CaSTLE Project was made possible through a $7.4 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc.
“Wartburg Theological Seminary has a long history of working with congregations in rural areas and small towns. Lilly Endowment was aware of that history when it looked for organizations to invite to propose a program for funding. Wartburg Theological Seminary is one of 20 organizations Lilly Endowment has funded with grants through its Ministry in Rural Areas and Small Towns Initiative. Ranging from $1,425,863 to $7,500,000, the grants total more than $95 million,” Judith Cebula, communications director for Lilly Endowment Inc. said.
The Rev. Ramie Bakken is the program director for the CaSTLE Project. She works with a six-person advisory team to review and make decisions on grant applications. Bakken said that this year was a competitive applicant process.
“Northwest Intermountain Synod stood out as a repeat awardee because they showed exceptional planning and momentum in their first year of their grant for bringing rural leaders together,” Bakken said.
Bakken, who commutes from her home in rural Wisconsin a few days a week to Dubuque, said the project is personal for her.
“I just have deep roots in rural and small town places. I currently worship at a very rural congregation, and I am inspired daily by the members that I worship with on a weekly basis and the way in which they are generous, loving and kind. I also am aware of how much the world is changing, and how rural places seem to get left behind, forgotten or maybe just not talked about,” Bakken said.
Like Bakken, Manlove also has personal ties to the project. She credits her growing up in rural western South Dakota, before serving in rural Iowa as a huge chunk to why she cares about the work.
“I appreciate the gift of a small‑town congregation. I went to church with my teachers, my grade school and high school teachers. I understand what it’s like to have an integrated small town, and for your livelihood to be connected to the land,” Manlove said.
The first grant NWIM Synod received was used for three one-day rural ecumenical gatherings, and a retreat at the Monastery of St. Gertrude, near Cottonwood, Idaho, for religious leaders to learn, and build relationships across mainline denominations.
The ecumenical gatherings called “United at the Font: Partnering for the Future,” took place at the end of October and early November in Moses Lake and Clarkston, Washington, and Pocatello, Idaho. NWIM Synod staff spread themselves across the three events. Manlove said the first in Moses Lake had the lowest attendance, and the event in Clarkston had the most. Manlove attended the last one of the series.
“I would call my day in Pocatello a very holy day in the best way. We saw relationships beginning or nurtured. Their congregation has meant so much to them and grounded them for either a chapter of their life, or for their entire life, and they want that to continue. They know the world is changing rapidly, but what does that look like? There was real solidarity knowing for sure that they weren’t alone in that quest,” Manlove said.
According to Manlove, solidarity was evident across the series. One of the questions the facilitators asked at each event was: What was a ritual or symbol from your faith that means something?
“Phil talked about the event in Moses Lake. He said he was surprised at how many people, because of their own faith, pointed to baptism. The identity that we claim, and receive there, unites us,” Manlove said.
As NWIM Synod sets their sights on another year the focus is on integrating those relationships into ongoing work.
“The other piece that Wartburg encouraged that we didn’t get to implement very much in 2025 but will in 2026 is the coaching of teams coming out of those events. We didn’t want people to leave and say the work is over now,” Manlove said.
The hope is to inspire community groups to form and continue working on their own, she added. As groups form, the NWIM Synod will set them up with a trained coach.
“You will be a team, and you will get nine sessions together,” Manlove said. That coach will keep you accountable and help you continue to work on, whatever it is, together.”
The broadness of the ‘work’ is by design, she continued.
“We didn’t want to prescribe how they should do that, because every context is different. These rural areas are changing, and have changed already. Working together more, collaborating more, deepening relationships can only happen at the rate of building trust,” Manlove said.
Building trust can take time, but Manlove said the NWIM Synod is here for the long haul. Half-day follow-ups and coaching sessions are still coming together for the first ecumenical series.
The 2026 grant from the CaSTLE Project will continue this work, in addition to three more one-day ecumenical events in late spring, summer and fall. The event times and locations are not yet set, but Manlove said they are looking at North Central Washington, the southern portion of the Oregon-Idaho border and the upper Idaho Panhandle.
When it comes to what’s next for the groups that come out of the series Manlove said, “I don’t know where that’s going to go, but we’re trying to be open to the Holy Spirit.”
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