The Rev. Dr. John Wimmer

John Wimmer is Program Director in the Religion Division of Lilly Endowment Inc. and is responsible for all three of the Endowment’s economic challenges initiatives represented at the Summit.  He is also responsible for grant-making in theological education, the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence initiative, and in various program areas that support pastoral and congregational ministry. An ordained United Methodist Elder in the Indiana Annual Conference, he was a parish pastor in Indiana as well as in North Carolina for fifteen years. Prior to joining the Endowment staff in 2002, he was founding president of the Indianapolis Center for Congregations (a program established by Lilly Endowment, through the Alban Institute, to help Indianapolis-area congregations). He also served as Executive Assistant to the President and as Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of Indianapolis, where he taught church history. Wimmer is the author of three books, the most recent of which is Blessed Endurance (Upper Room Books, 2018), and has contributed numerous articles to Christian Century, Leadership, Christian Ministry, and Congregations. He is a graduate of Duke University Divinity School and holds a PhD in American Religious History from the University of Chicago.