Wesleyan Impact Partners Announces the National Expansion of Courageous Congregations Collaborate (C3)

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 2, 2026--

Wesleyan Impact Partners, in partnership with Texas Methodist Foundation, today announced the national expansion of Courageous Congregations Collaborate (C3), a transformative initiative equipping churches to clarify purpose, strengthen leadership, and deepen neighborhood engagement.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260902288982/en/

The expansion is made possible by generous support from Lilly Endowment Inc. and a new five-year funding commitment from both Wesleyan Impact Partners and Texas Methodist Foundation of $200,000 each to expand C3 nationally — reinforcing their long-term commitment to congregational vitality. Together, these investments position C3 to grow from its initial phase to working with more than 70 congregations across the country in the next five years.

From Survival to Spirit-Led Transformation

Since launching in 2021, C3 has guided 48 congregations through 18 cohorts across Texas and beyond. Grounded in over twenty years of learnings, Wesleyan Impact Partners’ Learning and Innovation team helps churches move from institutional survival to faithful innovation through “Five Adaptive Muscles” — Tending Grief, Discerning Purpose, Neighboring, Sharing Power, and Igniting Imagination.

Evaluation results from participating congregations revealed meaningful and measurable transformation across several areas of ministry and leadership. Nearly three-quarters of congregations (72%) reported gaining greater clarity about their mission and purpose, helping them move forward with a stronger sense of direction. Many churches also translated that clarity into action, with 60% initiating deep discernment work to better align their ministries with their goals and community needs.

The process also strengthened leadership within congregations. Half of participating churches (50%) reported developing stronger models of shared leadership, fostering greater collaboration and participation among clergy and lay leaders alike.

Perhaps most significantly, 75% of congregations reported experiencing deeper engagement with their surrounding communities, demonstrating that the work not only strengthened internal church life but also expanded their connection and impact beyond their walls.

Coming out of their C3 experience, congregations have launched food access ministries, neighborhood forums, digital outreach efforts, leadership development pipelines, and new worship expressions — all rooted in discerning their unique, God-appointed role in their neighborhoods. As one participant shared, “Expanding Imagination was the muscle I used the most. It helped us rethink what church could be.”

Director of formation and the C3 program director, Rev. Alicia R. Forde, describes C3 as “an invitation for congregational leaders to discern — with each other — what God is up to in their midst. It is an invitation to act on courage and faith and to say yes to purpose.”

Intentional National Scaling

The new phase of C3 marks a significant national expansion, with strengthened partnerships in Michigan, Western North Carolina, the Pacific Northwest, and emerging regions including a Native American cohort in Oklahoma.

C3 will also deepen its commitment to serving:

The first fully bilingual C3 cohort launched in Fall 2025, following extensive contextual adaptation by experienced bilingual clergy leaders. Future cohorts will prioritize relationship building, cultural trust, and mutual partnership as foundational practices of the work.

“We believe neighborhood is the primary context where transformation happens,” said Rev. Dr. Blair Thompson, Chief Learning and Innovation Officer, Wesleyan Impact Partners and Texas Methodist Foundation. “C3 helps congregations strengthen the adaptive muscles needed to listen deeply, discern faithfully, and experiment courageously alongside their neighbors. This expansion allows us to accompany more churches as they discover that God is already at work in their communities, inviting them into new expressions of ministry and mission."

Strengthened Infrastructure for Sustainable Growth

To support this national expansion, Wesleyan Impact Partners and Texas Methodist Foundation are investing in:

A Movement of Renewal

More than a leadership program, C3 is emerging as a national movement of renewal rooted in faith, imagination, and neighborhood engagement. As congregations practice adaptive spiritual leadership, they are reweaving the social and spiritual fabric of their communities — offering hope, hospitality, and healing in a rapidly changing world.

“This is about more than sustaining churches,” Thompson added. “It's about forming congregations that can tend grief, share leadership, ignite imagination, and respond faithfully to what God is doing in their neighborhoods. When churches develop those capacities, they become more resilient, more connected to their communities, and more open to the future God is inviting them toward."

About Wesleyan Impact Partners

Wesleyan Impact Partners is a national nonprofit fueled by generous individuals, borrowers, and innovative leaders courageously doing God’s work, empowering a cycle of generosity and helping bring about thriving congregations and flourishing communities. Throughout its 55-plus-year history, Wesleyan Impact Partners has made thousands of loans empowering churches across the United States to pursue their God-sized dreams while also lifting up the work of courageous spiritual entrepreneurs across the Wesleyan Ecosystem through the nationally recognized Locke Innovative Leader Award and its thought leadership in the Igniting Imagination ® podcast. Our work is made possible through partnerships across the country with generous individuals and Methodist foundations. Based in Austin, Texas, the organization is led by President & CEO Rev. Lisa Greenwood, who is also President & CEO of Texas Methodist Foundation. To learn more, visit wesleyanimpactpartners.org.

About Texas Methodist Foundation

Texas Methodist Foundation is a ministry partner to the church, the body of Christ, helping bring about the loving world God imagines through cultures of purpose, generosity, and courage. Founded in 1938, Texas Methodist Foundation helps strengthen churches and nonprofit ministries through Impact Certificate and market-based investments, loans, gift planning, endowment services, and grants. Texas Methodist Foundation's leadership ministry, which began in 2002, is known nationally as a convener and conversation partner on the future of the church, courageous leadership, and innovation across the spiritual landscape. Texas Methodist Foundation serves organizations throughout Texas and New Mexico. Based in Austin, Texas, the organization is led by President & CEO Rev. Lisa Greenwood, who is also President & CEO of Wesleyan Impact Partners. To learn more, visit texasmethodistfoundation.org

About Lilly Endowment Inc.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly, Sr., and his sons, Eli and J.K. Jr., through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff, and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education, and religion and maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A primary aim of its grantmaking in religion is to deepen the religious lives of Christians, principally by supporting efforts that enhance congregational vitality and strengthen the leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment values the broad diversity of Christian traditions and endeavors to support them in a wide variety of contexts. The Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding about religion by encouraging fair, accurate, and balanced portrayals of the positive and negative effects of religion on the world and lifting up the contributions that people of all faiths make to our greater civic well-being. To learn more, visit lillyendowment.org.

Wesleyan Impact Partners announces the national expansion of Courageous Congregations Collaborate (C3)

Leading U.S. medical groups are urging people to get updated flu and COVID-19 vaccinations this fall, banding together Wednesday to issue shot guidelines — and highlight the science behind them — saying they hope to ease confusion caused by the Trump administration's changing advice.

Flu vaccinations are beginning and COVID-19 shots are starting to arrive after the Food and Drug Administration approved this year’s updated versions last week. Winter also brings another vaccine-preventable risk called RSV. Exactly who should get one or all of these vaccines, and when?

That advice usually comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with help from its independent advisers. But despite no new scientific evidence, Trump health officials last year began pulling back on some longstanding recommendations for fall virus protection and routine children's vaccinations. And that advisory panel, which influences state and insurance vaccine policies, is caught in a court battle. The CDC didn't respond to questions about any new fall guidance.

Doctors’ groups are filling the gap: the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America each released vaccination guidelines for their patient populations.

“There’s been a lot of confusion and chaos regarding vaccine recommendations,” said Dr. Sandra Fryhofer, of the American Medical Association.

All the groups' recommendations plus evidence on shot safety and effectiveness are being posted on websites so “the public has clear, consistent, science-based guidance even while the federal process is in flux," Fryhofer said.

Just about everybody starting at age 6 months needs flu vaccination, the medical societies agree. But flu is particularly dangerous for people 65 and older, pregnant women, young children and people of any age who have chronic health problems, including asthma, diabetes, heart disease and weak immune systems. The last two flu seasons were especially harsh, with unusually high numbers of child deaths — the vast majority of them in unvaccinated kids.

The vaccines don't block all flu infections but they do help prevent the worst outcomes, decreasing older adults' hospitalizations by 31%, according to the Vaccine Integrity Project, a public health group based at the University of Minnesota. Its analysis was published Wednesday in the medical journal JAMA.

Three “enhanced” flu vaccines are designed to better protect seniors. The American Academy of Family Physicians urges them to choose one — "but do not delay your vaccination if that one’s not available,” said AAFP’s Dr. Sarah Nosal.

There’s a new choice this year for people ages 50 and older, the first flu vaccine made with the same mRNA technology that was key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic. One study found Moderna's mFlusiva was 27% more effective against symptomatic illness among 50- to 64-year-olds than a standard shot. The FDA just approved the new option and the company expects some doses to be available soon at certain pharmacies.

The shot-averse could choose a nasal spray, FluMist, if they're ages 2 to 49 and meet other health criteria.

COVID-19 shots once were recommended for just about everyone by federal health agencies, but like last year, the FDA has only formally approved them for higher-risk people — those ages 65 and older or younger people with at least one health condition that increases their risk.

Still, the family physicians recommend all adults get a COVID-19 vaccination, especially seniors and those with other risk factors. Adults 65 and older should get a fall dose and then a second dose six months later, as immunity wanes over time, Nosal said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a COVID-19 shot for all children ages 6 months to 23 months, and for older kids with high-risk conditions. It also supports vaccination for any child whose parent wishes it.

With millions of shots administered, there’s no evidence that coronavirus vaccination during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage or other problems, “so please get the vaccine,” said ACOG’s Dr. Christina Davidson.

Depending on age, people can choose a shot from Moderna, Pfizer, or the only non-mRNA version from Novavax and Sanofi.

Just like with flu vaccines, these shots are better at preventing severe disease than mild cases. The Vaccine Integrity Project said last fall’s COVID-19 shots cut the risk of hospitalization by 53% in seniors and slashed emergency room visits for very young children.

Common side effects for flu and COVID-19 vaccines are mild and temporary, such as sore arms, fatigue, headaches, muscle aches, and mild fever. They occurred somewhat more often with the new mFlusiva than with standard flu shots.

While pediatricians and some clinics offer both flu and coronavirus shots, they're most common in pharmacies.

For COVID-19 shots, states have more pharmacy rules. For example, Walgreens says it offers those shots without a prescription in all but two states, Arizona and Oregon, but can provide doses for children as young as 3 in some states while others have higher age limits.

Medicare covers the fall shots and most private health insurers say they plan to continue doing so through 2027.

October is ideal for a flu vaccine, as influenza typically starts spreading in November. COVID-19 tends to rise in late summer, as it is now, and again after the winter holidays. Fryhofer says it’s fine to time the coronavirus shot a few weeks ahead of an event you wouldn’t want to miss because of illness, like a special trip or get-together.

RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, typically is a cold-like nuisance during the fall, winter and early spring. But it can be severe, even life-threatening, for infants and older adults.

The family physicians recommend a one-time vaccination for adults 75 and older, people 50 to 74 who are at increased risk, or younger people with weak immune systems.

It’s also recommended during late pregnancy to protect infants born during RSV season. Separately, the pediatricians recommend a vaccine-like medication for high-risk infants.

The Associated Press’ health and science coverage receives financial support from the AP Fund for Journalism and private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

FILE - President Donald Trump holds up an image taken from his Truth Social account as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. watches during a meeting to sign an executive order about vaccines, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

FILE - A certified medical assistant holds a syringe for a flu vaccine at a clinic in Seattle, on Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)