Episcopal Press and News
Contemporary Issues Inspire Episcopal Church Foundation Funding
Episcopal News Service. May 29, 1992 [92124]
Lindsay J. Hardin
At its latest board meeting, the Episcopal Church Foundation supported a range of ministry projects dealing with pressing contemporary needs, both in and outside of the church. The foundation's board of directors approved nine grants totaling approximately $100,000 for programs with strong reconciliation and pastoral themes, including ones that concentrate on building congregations and reaching out to minorities and youth.
One of the larger grants ($20,000) went to Earth Ministry, an environmental ministry program affiliated with the Diocese of Olympia. Based in Seattle, Washington, where much of the controversy regarding the spotted owl and the timber industry has surfaced, the project seeks to help local Episcopalians utilize spiritual resources when confronting environmental questions.
"The pressing urgency of the eco-crisis... is not just a pragmatic problem," said the Rev. Carla V. Berkedal, executive director of Earth Ministry. "It is a moral and spiritual problem that has to do with conducting our lives in light of who we are and what we know."
Berkedal and other project planners said that they intend to develop five congregation-based task forces that will tackle such issues as stewardship, spirituality, ecology, and prayer. They also said that they hope to influence parish programming and diocesan efforts regarding environmental concerns.
"Our hope is to find a vibrant way to proclaim the love of God as we confront a web of complex issues, and to preach hope in the midst of despair," said Berkedal. "It is a scary time, and yet we have an opportunity for a powerful and positive response."
Another group to receive a large grant ($25,225) was the clergy association of the Diocese of Dallas. Its project will explore the application of what has become known as "family systems theory" to the corporate life of the diocese.
Recognizing that conflict between clergy occurs in many other dioceses as well as their own, project planners aim to explore systemic factors, habits, and attitudes that might stand in the way of mission and ministry.
"We see this as a pastoral and educational model that will help us build bridges," said the retiring president of the clergy association, the Rev. A. Thomas Blackmon. "Our hope is to establish and maintain honest and productive relationships with one another and to share the findings of this project within and outside the diocese."
Bishop Harold Hopkins, executive director of the Office of Pastoral Development of the House of Bishops, said that he believes the project will benefit the entire church. "The 'systems' approach to diocesan life and relationships... is extremely important. We talk a lot about the systemic nature of episcopal and clergy leadership, including family-of-origin issues... but we have not yet done much to try to test experientially what we are talking about. This project will give an excellent 'laboratory' in which to develop theories and test learnings."
In addition to the above, other funded projects were Youth Ministry Leadership Academy at Day Spring Camp and Conference Center in the Diocese of Southwest Florida ($14,000); the St. Francis Multi-Cultural Training Center of the Diocese of Southwest Florida ($9,000); the Oasis of the Diocese of Newark ($20,000); the In-Basket of the Diocese of Milwaukee ($5,750); and the Congregation Development Team of the Diocese of Southeast Florida ($6,000).