“Going to Galilee,” a video detailing the 2015 Mission and Outreach Grants of the Mission and Outreach Committee of the diocese, was shown on Saturday, November 14, at diocesan convention at the Botanic Garden Center.
In 2011 convention delegates affirmed the principle of the tithe and in 2012 set a goal of reaching 10 percent of the annual assessment being budgeted for charitable purposes by 2018. We are on track. Eight percent of the 2016 assessment is budgeted for charity.
This is the fifth year the diocese has awarded grants to programs that assist our communities, encourage personal participation by our congregations, and that will be strengthened by the endorsement of the diocese.
Individual members of our congregations, a group of members of a congregation within the diocese, or a combined group such as several congregations in a deanery may apply for a grant. Funds are offered in two categories:
- Beyond the Diocese Outreach Impact Program – This category includes special outreach needs beyond the geographical boundaries of the diocese, both inside and outside the United States.
- Matching Grant Outreach Program – This category includes outreach within the diocese. These funds are to be used to match or to provide seed money for congregations or groups to fund or undertake an outreach need that they could not do on their own.
The application process will open again early next summer and will be announced on the diocesan website.