Across the Northeast, new expressions of Christian community are taking root—around dinner tables, through the arts, in gardens, and among neighbors seeking healing and belonging. The Synod of the Northeast is celebrating seven ministries receiving a combined $100,000 in 2026 Emerging Gospel Community Grants to nurture these promising communities of faith.
The Emerging Gospel Community Grant supports developing ministries that bring people together around the gospel in fresh and meaningful ways. This year’s recipients demonstrate how Christian community can grow through relationships, creativity, compassion, and a willingness to meet people where they are.
Albany Presbytery:
New Breath Spirituality Center — $10,000
New Breath Spirituality Center offers an expansive Christian welcome to church members, spiritual seekers, and people who have experienced hurt or disconnection from organized religion. Through retreats, spiritual practices, informal worship, shared meals, and partnerships—including connections with LGBTQIA+ organizations—it is cultivating a community rooted in prayer, relationship, and spiritual discovery.
Cayuga/Syracuse Presbytery:
Little Dreamer’s Library — Korean Church of Syracuse — $20,000
Building on nearly two decades of refugee ministry through the church’s Boaz Project, Little Dreamer’s Library will establish a permanent Christian community of support for refugee children and families on Syracuse’s Northside. Academic support, mentoring, arts and music, Bible-based programming, parenting education, and job training will help families build connections and pursue new opportunities.
Coastlands Presbytery:
Aboga por Su Causa / Advocate for Their Cause — $5,000
Aboga por Su Causa offers Latina women and families a Christ-centered community of healing, advocacy, and belonging as they navigate challenges including breast cancer, domestic violence, incarceration, and economic hardship. Through Bible study, support gatherings, health initiatives, and storytelling, participants discover encouragement, strengthen their voices, and build sustaining relationships.
Presbytery of the Highlands:
Sanctuary + Seed: The Wild Commons — $20,000
Sanctuary + Seed brings Christian faith to life through outdoor worship, regenerative gardens, shared meals, and a commitment to creation care and food justice. Grant funding will strengthen its garden infrastructure and support garden interns, expanding fresh-food donations and opportunities for worship, service, and healing.
The Synod celebrates the imagination and faithful leadership behind these ministries. Together, they offer a hopeful witness to the gospel: communities where neighbors are welcomed, gifts are discovered, and faith takes root in everyday life.
Hudson River Presbytery :
Finding Our Way Home — $5,000
Finding Our Way Home creates space for artists, musicians, writers, students, and spiritual seekers to encounter God through creative expression, worship, shared meals, and service. With increasing participation and leadership among college-aged adults, the ministry is becoming a community whose members help shape its direction and future.
Presbytery of New York City:
Madres y Padres con Esperanza — $20,000
Madres y Padres con Esperanza brings immigrant parents together for Scripture, prayer, and practical support in the everyday challenges of raising a family. By providing meals, childcare, and transportation alongside guidance on parenting, finances, education, and health, the ministry makes participation possible while helping parents grow as community leaders.
Parent Oasis: Faith & Family Table — $20,000
At Parent Oasis, a shared meal becomes an invitation to worship, creativity, conversation, and connection across generations. This growing community welcomes parents, children, grandparents, single adults, and neighbors while developing bilingual leadership and opening new pathways into the life of faith.
