Episcopal Press and News
R.I. Gift Launches Rehabilitation Fund
Episcopal News Service. December 4, 1986 [86256]
NEW YORK (DPS, Dec. 4) -- Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning has received the first gift toward a House of Bishops fund that will offer rest and study to strife-weary Anglican ministers.
The House established the fund this year during its annual interim meeting in a resolution that called on each diocese "in the spirit of Partners in Mission to set aside a sum of money annually to initiate a fund that would support sabbatical leaves for clergy, church workers and their families from provinces in troubled areas of the world who are in urgent need of temporary respite and relief and a chance for study and refreshment."
Within two weeks of the House adjourning, Browning received a letter and a $1,000 check from Rhode Island Bishop George Hunt to launch the fund. Hunt explained that the gift came from the diocesan Overseas Mission Committee, his discretionary fund and the discretionary fund of the Rev. Gordon Stenning, rector of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Portsmouth, R.I.
Stenning, who chairs the Overseas Mission group, had become involved directly through a request from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, seeking such aid for a South African priest.
The House of Bishops Fund was aimed originally at South African clergy, but was broadened by the bishops to include other troubled areas and to offer similar relief to lay workers. In expanding the measure, the bishops cited examples of ministers in Uganda -- still beset by war and piracy; Ethiopia -- whose clergy had to bury hundreds and care for hundreds more as the results of famine; Northern Ireland and other areas that have been victims of sectarian strife for decades.
The Fund will be coordinated through the Overseas Personnel Office at the Episcopal Church Center, and contributions can be made directly to that office or Browning and designated for the Sabbatical Fund for Overseas Ministers, 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017.