The Sharing Vitality Grants, created by the Vitality Ministry Council of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, are designed to help congregations explore creative and meaningful ways to gain, sustain, and recapture vitality. These $2,500 grants support new or expanding ministries that encourage churches to be ambitious, collaborative, and generative, while also creating opportunities to share what they’re learning with others across the NACCC.
In October 2025, Katie Robu launched the Dull Creatives Society at Plymouth Congregational Church of Wichita, Kansas, after suggesting that her grandmother, Jeanne, teach a sewing class to younger people. What began as a simple conversation between a granddaughter and her grandmother has grown into a thriving community of learners, teachers, makers, and neighbors. Today, the group gathers monthly, welcoming anywhere from 10 to 45 participants to learn a new craft, skill, or practical trade together.
Over the course of nine meetups, participants have explored everything from crocheting, weaving, photography, and sewing to first aid, gardening, and even changing a tire, and classes are already planned through January 2027. The Dull Creatives Society, however, is about much more than learning new skills.
As community and faith leaders, we often talk about the importance of community and the need for “third spaces” – those places where people gather outside of home and work. Yet we sometimes assume these spaces will simply exist when we need them, when the reality is quite different. Meaningful community spaces do not emerge out of convenience. They require commitment, consistency, and care. They can be challenging to sustain, but they are also among the most beautiful things we can build together. That is the work the Dull Creatives Society seeks to do.
Their mission is to encourage people to be present, to invest in one another, and to become active participants in the villages they want to see around them. They strive to remind their neighbors that community is built through trust, mutual care, and showing up for one another. No matter what someone is facing in life, it is important for them to know there is a welcoming and affirming community there for them – rain or shine.
A guiding principle of the Dull Creatives Society is that it stops for nothing because life stops for nothing. Thriving communities cannot exist if their presence in people’s lives is inconsistent or unreliable. Every third Wednesday of the month, regardless of circumstances, they gather. Whether one person attends or one hundred, they are there creating, learning, teaching, and growing together. They encourage their members to do the same: to show up even when it feels difficult, because community is strengthened through consistency.
The goals of the Sharing Vitality Grant aligned naturally with their mission of creating opportunities for connection, learning, and belonging. The grant has enabled them to continue offering classes and gatherings free of charge by helping cover the cost of supplies. Craft materials and educational resources can be expensive, and they never want finances to become a barrier to participation. Alongside establishing a donation fund, receiving the Sharing Vitality Grant allowed them to expand their programming and schedule classes that otherwise would have been beyond their reach.
The need for spaces like this continues to grow. Loneliness has become a significant challenge across the United States, with national surveys showing that many adults frequently experience feelings of isolation, exclusion, or a lack of companionship. For the Dull Creatives Society, vitality means creating a consistent space where people can find a sense of home. They envisioned a place where participants of all ages could be both teacher and student, as every person has knowledge, experience, and skills worth sharing. By creating opportunities for people to teach one another, they strengthen relationships and build a more resilient community.
Perhaps the most important lesson they have learned in cultivating the Dull Creatives Society is this: if you want a village, you need villagers. Building community requires persistence. There are days when attendance is low and moments when the work feels discouraging. Yet genuine community is not built by waiting for people to arrive. It is built by continuing to show up. When leaders remain consistent in their values and commitment, others begin to trust the space being created. Over time, the village grows. The Dull Creatives Society exists because people continue choosing to show up – for themselves, for their neighbors, and for the community they want to build together.