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Special Global Reconciliation/Millennium Development Goals Offering
The Convention will present a special Global Reconciliation Offering
to
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori
for the MDG Inspiration Fund of
(The material below is avalable as a downloadable bulletin insert for congregations to use on the Sundays leading up to October 28.)
Who can participate?
Everyone in the diocese will have an opportunity to participate on Sunday,
October 28, 2007, a date designated by Bishop Thomas Ely
for each congregation to take up an ERD Global Reconciliation Offering.
How can you contribute?
Bring your contribution to church on October 28 (a check made out to
ERD or cash—ERD donation envelopes will be available). If you
will not be in church that day, mail your contribution in advance
to your church with a note that it is for the Diocesan Convention
Global Reconciliation Offering.
How will the offering
be presented?
At the Diocesan Convention Eucharist on Saturday, November 3, 8:30 a.m.,
a representative of each congregation will be called forward at the Offertory
to present their congregation’s offering to the Presiding Bishop.
Where will the money
go?
The Millennium Development Goals Inspiration Fund is a new partnership
between Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), Jubilee Ministries, and
the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church to raise $3 million to
fight malaria and other preventable diseases [see below for more
details]. An initial $1 million has been contributed by The Episcopal
Church ($924,000) and other ERD donors as an inspiration to individuals,
congregations and dioceses to contribute an additional $2 million by
2009. Though
established early this year, a formal kick-off for the MDG Inspiration
Fund will take place at the Executive Council meeting in October. The
Diocese of Vermont will be one of the first, if not the first diocese,
to present a diocesan contribution. The Convention loose offering will
also go to the Fund.
Episcopal Relief
and Development (ERD)
ERD (formerly The Presiding Bishop’s Fund for World Relief)
is a non-profit organization that responds to human suffering around
the world, providing emergency assistance after disasters, rebuilding
communities, and helping
children and families climb out of poverty (www.er-d.org).
The Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs)
At the start of the new millennium, leaders from 191 nations, including
the United States, agreed on a plan to cut extreme global poverty in
half by 2015. Together, they created the eight Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs):
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education for Children
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Goal 8: Create a Global Partnership for Development
At the 75th General
Convention in 2006, the Episcopal Church voted to make the MDGs a mission
priority over the next triennium and endorsed a partnership between
The Episcopal Church and ONE: The Campaign to Make
Poverty History.
The MDG Inspiration
Fund
The 2006 General Convention set aside 0.7% ($924,000) of the 2007-2009
operating budget to be dedicated to programs aimed at achieving the MDGs
and charged the Executive Council with the task of deciding how it should
be allocated. The Council decided to partner with ERD and Jubilee Ministries
in a focus on MDG #6. Malaria is an easily treatable disease and is a
high priority for many of ERD’s partners in the Anglican Communion.
Several additional MDGs are addressed through malaria prevention. The
Fund will assign $2 million of the total $3 million to be used in support
of ERD’s NetsforLife program, a partnership for malaria prevention
in 16 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with a possible pilot program in
Asia. ERD is an implementing partner in NetsforLife. The program promotes
an integrated prevention model that focuses on delivering long-lasting
insecticidetreated nets, building community awareness about malaria and
prevention, training people on proper use of the nets and educating communities
to seek treatment while advocating for better access to drug therapies.
ERD will work in partnership with Jubilee Ministries to allocate the
remaining $1 million for programs targeting global health issues, including,
but not limited to, malaria prevention in Latin America and the Caribbean. All
of ERD’s international programs address the MDGs.
