CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has awarded $436,465 in grants to new urban ministry initiatives illustrating a potential for transforming lives, congregations and communities in U.S. cities. An "In the City for Good" fund team selected 35 projects from 66 proposals it received in the program's third year. The size of the grants ranged from $2,000 to $25,000.
The ELCA awarded grants to projects in Mobile, Ala.; Los Angeles and Ontario, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; Decatur, Ga.; Aurora and Chicago, Ill.; Sioux City, Iowa; Wichita, Kan.; Takoma Park, Md.; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.; Omaha, Neb.; New Orleans; Worcester, Mass.; Camden and West New York, N.J.; Brooklyn and New York, N.Y.; Portland, Ore.; Allentown, Lancaster and Philadelphia, Pa.; Fort Worth, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Wheeling, W.Va.; and Madison, Wis.
"Overall I was impressed with the amount of aggressive ministry going on in the urban areas of the ELCA," said the Rev. Jerrett L. Hansen, mission director, ELCA Division for Outreach, Baltimore. "The grants indicated a strong base of impressive work in many areas." Hansen serves on the fund team and leads the division's urban team of consultants.
"While many grant requests were for more traditional urban ministry components, like after school programs, there were many that were imaginative and creative with much of the focus still on youth and young adults," said Hansen.
"There is a growing body of urban ministry in the ELCA that is focused on transformation of peoples' lives, our congregations and the community in which the ministry is located. Places where that transformational vision was clearly present are growing from year to year," Hansen added.
"As we have a chance to see the work from previous years' grants, the In the City for Good fund team is becoming clearer about what kinds of things are truly transformational kinds of ministry," said the Rev. David D. Daubert, director for renewal of congregations, ELCA Division for Outreach, Chicago. Daubert chairs the fund team.
"The grants we funded offer creative and innovative ways to do ministry in various urban settings," said Daubert. "There is still, however, a need to continue to help Lutherans think outside the box and expand the kinds of creative thinking needed to move the urban church forward."
Funded projects fit several categories, such as community development, strategic planning for mission, training for leadership, outreach to ethnic communities and strengthening of ethnic ministries. They exhibited potential for transforming people's lives and congregations and for transforming communities into desirable places to live, work and worship.
Those with plans to develop a new urban ministry project submit grant applications to the synod in which the ministry resides. The ELCA is organized into 65 synods. The synods forward applications to the In the City for Good fund team.
The fund team reads, evaluates, ranks and decides which proposals receive grants. It consists of 15 people -- urban pastors and laity, churchwide representatives and representatives of institutions and agencies of the church -- appointed by the ELCA presiding bishop and the Division for Outreach.
The team plans to distribute up to $500,000 each year through 2008. If resources remain available, the grants may be awarded after 2008.
In the City for Good grants are used for one year as seed money for projects that can be self-sustaining beyond the period of the grant. They are not used to pay salaries.
The ELCA's 1997 Churchwide Assembly adopted "In the City for Good," a decade-long emphasis on urban ministry. A key dimension of the effort is to provide grants to congregations, institutions and agencies of the church in central cities, suburbs and sprawling metropolitan areas.
The fund was created with money from several sources, including an initial $1 million grant from the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation. Lutheran Brotherhood is a member-owned fraternal benefit society based in Minneapolis.
In 1999, the ELCA awarded $347,179 in grants ranging in size from $1,000 to $30,000 to 23 urban ministry projects. In 2000, the church gave $493,957 in grants, ranging from $2,500 to $28,000, to 38 urban ministry initiatives.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
