Terminus
Fund Grant ApplicationApply for Kingdom Investment in Your City Ecosystem
The Terminus Fund exists to establish lasting church presence in the world's most strategic cities. Review the fund overview, understand the three allocation buckets, and submit your application below.
The Terminus Fund
One integrated fund. Three strategic buckets. Designed for long-term urban church presence.
Defining Church Viability
What does it mean for a church to be viable in a global city?
Viability is not merely organizational survival — it is a church's capacity to bear enduring witness in its city across generations. For Terminus, a church has reached viability when it can own or secure long-term control of its worship space without dependency on external subsidy, and when the generosity of its own membership is sufficient to fully fund at least one pastor. These two markers — property stability and membership-funded leadership — represent the foundation from which a church can multiply, disciple, and serve its city for the long term.
The Terminus Fund exists precisely to close the gap between where churches are and where they need to be to reach this threshold — especially in the world's most expensive and strategically significant cities.
Why This Fund Exists
- Urban ministry requires long-term infrastructure, not only short-term subsidy
- High-cost global cities (e.g., Paris) are structurally unstable for churches
- Rental volatility undermines permanent church presence
- Leadership housing pressures continuity and succession
- Theological resource scarcity limits discipleship depth
- Leadership development infrastructure deficits weaken the collective
Early Stage Stability Funding
Urban Viability — For Portfolio ChurchesProvides long-term financial stability for portfolio churches in high-cost global cities through operational support. Covers church leadership infrastructure, lease and ministry expenses, and short-to-mid-term operating stability. Not for real estate acquisition.
Example uses
Worship space rental Staff salary support Leadership dev. programs Operating reserves (6–12 mo.) Sound & AV equipment Children's ministry launchChurch Capital & Real Estate Funding
Urban Viability — For Portfolio ChurchesProvides long-term financial stability through capital investment — specifically the acquisition of real property and other long-term assets that establish a permanent ministry presence. Helps churches move from renting to owning, securing generational viability.
Example uses
Property acquisition Down payment assistance Renovation / build-out Long-term lease security Pastoral housing Growth capital for expansionPlatform & Infrastructure Funding
Terminus Internal — Not Open to ApplicationsSupports the organizational capacity of Terminus itself — staff, systems, and operational infrastructure that enables the mission to scale. Funds shared resources, training, curriculum, leadership development, and inter-church partnership facilitation across the collective. This bucket is managed internally and is not available for Portfolio Church grant applications.
Examples of how this bucket is used
Curriculum & resource dev. Staff & coordination Annual gathering Theological research Collective technology Strategic assessmentsGrant Review Process
All applications are assessed by the Executive Director, Board Chairman, and Director of Strategic Engagement.
The Terminus Fund operates with limited resources. Because we cannot fund every request, we vet applications carefully against our strategic aims and priorities — not simply need. A request may reflect genuine need and still not qualify if it does not meet our viability criteria.
At its most basic, viability begins with a church's own financial health. Terminus will not fund requests from churches that are not first meeting their operating budget. We invest in churches that demonstrate local ownership and financial responsibility — not as a barrier to entry, but as a measure of the long-term sustainability we exist to support.
View Full Viability Criteria →Application Submitted
The applicant church completes the grant application in full, identifying the relevant funding bucket, total amount requested, and project description. A confirmation is sent within 2 business days.
Initial LOI Screening
The Terminus Assessment Team conducts an initial Letter of Intent screening to determine whether the request meets baseline eligibility: Portfolio Church status, bucket alignment, theological fit, and operational viability. Applications that do not pass LOI screening are returned with feedback before full review begins.
🔍 Terminus Assessment TeamViability & Strategic Assessment
The Executive Director and Director of Strategic Engagement evaluate the full application against the Terminus viability criteria — including financial health, Urban Viability alignment, 3 C's engagement, and strategic priority within the portfolio.
🔍 Executive Director · 🌐 Director of Strategic EngagementClarification Call (if needed)
For complex or high-value requests, the review team may schedule a brief call with the applying church's lead pastor to discuss specifics, answer questions, and gather additional context. Terminus aims to complete the full review process within 30 days of a completed application.
👥 Review PanelBoard Chairman Review & Decision
The Board Chairman receives the panel's recommendation and exercises final governance authority. Approved applications receive a funding agreement outlining disbursement schedule, reporting requirements, and mutual commitments. All fund designations by Vision Partners are subject to this standard review process and require Board approval.
✅ Board ChairmanDisbursement & Reporting
Funds are disbursed according to the agreed schedule. All donations are clearly categorized at receipt as restricted or unrestricted. Restricted funds are used only for their designated purpose. Churches submit periodic impact updates to the Terminus team; reporting cadence is determined by grant size and bucket type.
Grant Viability Criteria
How the Terminus review team evaluates applications
Because the Terminus Fund operates with limited resources, we cannot fund every request we receive. Every application is assessed against a defined set of viability criteria — rooted in our strategic aims for long-term gospel presence in global cities. Meeting a need is not sufficient on its own; the request must align with where Terminus is called to invest and demonstrate that the applying church is positioned to steward that investment well.
The church is covering its core operating expenses through existing giving and income. Terminus does not fund churches that cannot sustain their basic operations. Grant requests must represent a viability or capital need — not an operational deficit.
We look for evidence that the congregation is developing genuine ownership of its mission through giving. A church need not be fully self-funded to apply, but requests carry more weight when local giving is growing and the church can articulate a credible trajectory toward membership-funded ministry.
The church can articulate a credible plan — even if multi-year — toward owning or securing long-term control of its worship space and fully funding pastoral staff through membership giving. Grant requests that move a church toward this viability threshold are prioritized.
The applying church is pursuing multiple funding streams for this project, not relying on Terminus alone. Willingness to name other sources and amounts signals financial maturity and shared ownership of the request.
The church holds current Portfolio Church status as evidenced by a completed Annual Covenant Renewal for the present year. A church whose renewal is lapsed, overdue, or under review is not eligible to submit a grant application until renewal is complete. This requirement ensures that all grant applicants are active, accountable participants in the Terminus Collective — not simply churches on record.
Financial contributions to the Terminus Fund are up to date, Annual Renewal has been completed for the current year, and all prior grant reporting obligations have been fulfilled.
The church is engaged in Terminus collective life — attending bi-monthly strategic calls, contributing to the shared resource hub, and participating in the Annual Gathering. Beyond participation, we give additional weight to churches that are actively pursuing meaningful partnerships with other Portfolio Churches: sharing ministry practices, collaborating across cities, and treating the collective as a genuine family rather than a funding channel.
Terminus focuses on cities of global strategic significance. Requests from churches outside the Kearney Top 100 require extraordinary justification and Board-level exception.
The grant request must clearly correspond to operational support (Early Stage Stability) or capital investment (Church Capital & Real Estate) — the two funding streams within the Urban Viability pillar. Requests that cannot be mapped to either stream are returned for clarification before proceeding to LOI screening.
The applicant can articulate a clear and credible connection between this grant and deeper engagement across City, Culture, and Church. Requests that serve internal operations without a clear missional outcome receive lower weight.
Requests from cities where rental volatility, property costs, or cultural conditions create genuine structural barriers to permanent ministry presence are prioritized. These cities represent the steepest gap between need and indigenous church capacity — and the clearest case for Urban Viability investment.
The church can clearly describe how funds will be used, with line-item detail where applicable. Vague or generic requests receive lower scores regardless of need.
The requested amount and timeline are proportionate to the stated project. Requests that appear under- or over-scoped relative to the project description will be flagged for clarification.
The application makes a compelling case that the requested funding is essential — not merely helpful — to the church's sustained mission presence. Requests framed around convenience or preference over necessity are scored lower.
Grant Application
Complete all required fields. Your application will be reviewed by the Executive Director, Board Chairman, and Director of Strategic Engagement.
Application Received
Thank you for submitting your grant application to the Terminus Fund. Our review team will acknowledge receipt within 2 business days and begin the viability assessment.