Congregational Grants

The overall purpose of congregational grants program is to assist congregations in the Diocese as they develop, with God’s help, into healthier, more faithful, and more effective communities of faith. We are interested, therefore, in making grants to congregations that have a vision for their own development and want our assistance in making progress toward that vision. Special priority is given to any grant that enables a congregation to develop in the three Diocesan priority areas of:

• Congregational development – to develop and implement a clear strategy and ethos of congregational development and health in our diocese in all our congregations no matter what the size or place.
• Concentrating on those 35 and under – to engage with, listen to, and commit resources toward all those who are 35 years of age and under.
• Stewardship of all our resources – to be stewards of all of our resources – human, financial, material and spiritual.

Examples of the kind of grants we would like to support are:

• Grants that seek to increase attendance, Christian formation and stewardship within a congregation via the development of a third liturgy that will attract new people and/or a different population to a congregation
• Grants that seek to build the capacity of a congregation to attract and form children in Christian faith via the initiation of Godly Play or some other program of children’s formation
• Grants that develop engagement with people thirty-five and under through special non-liturgical means (coffee shop, special events with follow up etc)
• Development of pilot programs of any size that would be of benefit to the broader Church.

To note, the Diocese does not typically fund capital projects through its congregational grant program or make grants to congregations that are not a congregation in good standing or have worked out an agreement about how they will become a congregation in good standing.  Additionally, grants and grant applications should demonstrate ways in which the project or effort will over time move toward being self-sustaining. Finally, all 2014 grants are made subject to the approval of the 2014 Diocesan budget at Diocesan Convention.

The first step in applying for a 2014 grant is the completion of an Intent to Apply form, due April 1, 2013. The form as a Word document is available here. Please save it as a PDF before submitting it.

If invited to make submit an grant application, deadline for submission is June 14, 2013. Congregations will be informed whether they will receive a grant by November 1, 2013, before they approve their own 2013 operating budgets.  To begin the congregational grant application process, contact Melissa Skelton at mskelton@ecww.org.