Dallas pastor Richie Butler, MTS '96, has blazed a trail through the worlds of real estate and ministry in Texas and nationwide, developing more than $500 million in urban properties, leading iconic Black churches and launching initiatives to combat racism and deliver COVID-19 testing and vaccinations to communities of color.

"As people are leaving formal institutions—they're no longer members of a congregation—it doesn't mean that their spirituality no longer exists. They're still looking for community. They're still looking for mentorship and intergenerational connection. And for most of them they still believe in God or a higher power," says Casper ter Kuile, HDS Ministry Innovation Fellow.

With a $40,000 grant, Don Abram, MDiv '19, has embarked on a project he calls “Pride in the Pews.” He plans to collect 66 stories of Black queer Christians—66, he notes, is the number of books in the Bible—in the hopes that the stories will open closed minds.