WINNIPEG, MB (October 15, 2014) — The legacy of Covenant Bible College (CBC) continues through Trellis, a nonprofit foundation that is using funds from the sale of the school to provide grants for entities of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada, such as member churches, camps, and affiliated ministries.

Covenant Bible College, which had campuses in Canada, Colorado, and Ecuador, was a one-year program that focused on discipleship. The school closed in 2007, and each of the campuses was sold, but the financial work was not completed until earlier this year due to the long governmental process in Ecuador. Funds from the sale—about $1.7 million Canadian dollars—were used to start the foundation, which was officially chartered in June.

The grants will be distributed to Canadian Covenant charitable organizations because Canadian law for public foundations mandates that grants may only be distributed to registered Canadian charitable organizations.

This past summer, the foundation distributed $50,450 and is slated to award an additional $12,000 in November. Of the amount given so far, $20,000 has gone to various conference discipleship initiatives.

Trellis also funds the CBC Legacy Scholarship program for students pursuing discipleship education. The scholarship is administered through the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada.

Julia Sandstrom, the foundation’s administrator, said Trellis was chosen as the foundation name because it supports the growth of plants, and CBC often was referred to as a “greenhouse.” Students grew and were then “transplanted” back to the local church.