Sacred Places Indiana awards $2 million in grants to help historic churches in Indiana

Sacred Places Indiana (SPI) awarded over $2 million in grants to help seven historic churches and congregations in Indiana to address repair needs with their buildings. SPI is one of the many programs administered by Indiana Landmarks, the nation’s largest statewide not-for-profit historic preservation organization, according to SPI Director David Frederick. Indiana Landmarks was founded in 1960 to address the state’s disappearance of historic buildings and landmarks. From preserving historic schools and neighborhoods to funding, saving, and celebrating African American sites throughout the state, Indiana Landmarks aims to keep the history of Indiana alive. SPI is under the Indiana Landmarks umbrella. It was created in 2015 with support through Lily Endowment Inc. Indiana Landmarks collaborated with “Partners for Sacred Places” – Philadelphia-based organization – to create SPI. The program focuses on providing education and funding to historic churches and congregations in the state. SPI teaches churches how to better understand, maintain, and grow their congregations, use their space creatively for community involvement, and provide funding to repair churches in need. Frederick talked about how important these places are to their communities. “We would be much poorer communities, much poorer cities, if these churches closed,” Frederick said. In 2022, Lily Endowmnet...