"After you say you believe,
everything else is mission."
– Bishop Provenzano
Under Bishop Provenzano's direction,
the Episcopal Charities annual appeal
for 2011 is shaping up to become
an opportunity for our parishes – and
the diocese as a whole – to make a
renewed commitment to mission all
across this Dominion in the Sea.
As you know, Episcopal Charities
of Long Island is our resource development
ministry, and provides grants
every year for our many pastoral and
social ministry programs. Episcopal
Charities supports our clergy and
parishes in their ministries, and has
helped hundreds of thousands across
Long Island from Brooklyn to Montauk
by funding services that provide food
and shelter, family support and counseling,
pastoral care for the sick and
the aged, advocacy services and much
more.
Over the past year, parish and diocesan
leaders, and the clergy and lay
professionals who lead our diocesan
programs, have shared with Bishop
Provenzano the growing needs of our
communities. With every passing day
it becomes more clear that to make a
meaningful response to the challenges
of those needs, we must renew our diocesan
ability to raise funds – and far
beyond what we have done in the past.
The first step in the annual appeal
planning process this year will be a
study to determine the level of support
among our faith community for an
ambitious new fund raising campaign.
The diocese has retained Sean Phillips,
an experienced resource-development
professional, to conduct this study and
to make recommendations to us based
on his expert assessment of the data.
In coming weeks and months Mr.
Phillips will be calling on diocesan
leaders – clergy and lay – to seek their
thoughts and advice about Episcopal
Charities, its operations and our plans
for the revitalization of diocesan resource
development.
As Bishop Provenzano has said, in
these difficult economic times God is
calling us to imagine all that we can be
to the neighborhoods and the towns in
which we serve. Creative, innovative
approaches will allow us to serve not
only those longing for a relationship
with Jesus Christ and with the church,
but also those in need whom we find
by the wayside. "As you did for one of
the least of these who are my brothers
and sisters you did for me."
Watch these pages for new information
about the plan as it develops,
as together we consider, prayerfully
and thoughtfully, what we are each
able to contribute in time, talent and
treasure to this great purpose.
The Rev. E. Clare Nesmith, Executive Director
Episcopal Charities of Long Island, 36 Cathedral Avenue, P.O. Box 510, Garden City, NY 11530, email address ECLI@dioceseli.org. To use a credit card, please click here, or call (516) 248-4800, ext. 19 and speak with Mrs. Nancy Kennelly, Administrative Assistant. When you make a donation in memory of or in honor of someone, their name will be recorded in the Book of Remembrance and an acknowledgement sent.
God’s Work: See It, Trust It, Support It.
Help with the How-To of Creating and Sustaining Ministry
By The Rev. Deacon Lorraine Cusick
Larry Provenzano quoted as saying, "After you say you believe, everything
else is mission," you may have said to
yourself – "Okay, what do I do next?"
Fulfilling our mission is the great
challenge facing every baptized
Christian and every congregation.
Ministry is the outward, concrete
sign of our mission. If you look in the
Catechism at the back of the Book of
Common Prayer, you will find three
questions and answers on page 855
that can help.
"The mission of the Church," the
first answer says, "is to restore all people
to unity with God and each other
in Christ." The two answers following
tell us how, and through whom, the
Church carries out its mission. Developing
a mission plan and then creating
ministries that fulfill it are the signs of
our presence in the community.
And where do we start? Helping
to answer that question is one of the
reasons that Episcopal Charities has a
Ministry Support and Sustainability
unit.
To develop ministry we look at
two things: the needs of the community,
and the gifts of the parish community.
A good match between the
two is a solid step toward a successful
ministry. We don't do ministry in a
vacuum; we discover the needs of our
neighbors – through conversations
with each other and through conversations
with other faith communities.
Then we assess the gifts of our parish
community. The skills needed to have
these conversations, and to make this
assessment of gifts – though they are
not skills possessed by all – can be
learned!
Episcopal Charities is working to
provide tools for ministry to help you
succeed in your parish and community.
We began with a workshop on
grant writing (which will be repeated
in Fall 2010); soon we will also offer
a workshop in effective questioning
and listening skills, so necessary to
discover community needs. Finally, we
offer a program of Archdeaconry and
Church-Based Grants that provides "seed money" to help start ministries,
or expand existing ones. We even help
you with the application by offering
a new workshop (required for grant
applicants) designed to assist you in
that task.
It promises to be an exciting year!
Please take the opportunity to join
us and be part of the "mission and
ministry team."
Email lcusick@dioceseli.org or call (516) 248-4800, ext. 20 today
for more information and help!
Episcopal Charities of Long Island - September 28, 2009 Golfing Fun Day Welcoming Bishop Provenzano to the Diocese of Long Island
Save the date! 2010 Episcopal Charities Golf Outing - September 27, 2010 http://www.ecligolf.org/
“Denomination of the Year” Award
Presented to Episcopal Charities of
Long Island and the Diocese
By The Rev. E. Clare Nesmith
In recognition of its financial support
for a program of job development
for the newly unemployed,
and its fulsome support of the Long
Island Council of Churches, the
council presented its “Denomination
of the Year” award to Episcopal
Charities of Long Island (ECLI) and
the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island
in a special ceremony at its annual
meeting May 7.
The job development program,
funded by a church-based grant
from Episcopal Charities of Long
Island, provides career counseling
services to “white-collar” and other
workers who have lost their jobs
due to the current economic crisis.
Through individual counseling sessions
provided by Federated Employment & Guidance
Services at the site of their host, Grace Episcopal
Church in Riverhead, New York, prospective
employees are taught to inventory and evaluate
their job skills and adapt them to today’s employment
environment. Job placement services are also
provided as part of the program.
The award was accepted by the Rev. E. Clare
Nesmith, Executive Director of ECLI, Archdeacon
Mary Garde, rector of Grace Church, and Deacon
Lorraine Cusick, parish administrator and
coordinator of the program. It was Mother Garde’s
insight and initiative that made the grant and
resulting program happen.
The job development program, however, is
funded only through June 30 of this year, so ECLI
is currently seeking at least $10,000 to continue
this successful outreach program of counseling
and support through the end of 2009, for eastern
Long Island residents in need of these services.
For further information please contact the
Rev. Clare Nesmith at 516 248-4800, ext. 21 or
email cnesmith@dioceseli.org
We are looking for a Funding
Angel!
The jobs development program in
Riverhead was funded by Episcopal
Charities as a pilot program for six
months. This program is a collaboration
among F.E.G.S. (the Federated
Employment and Guidance Services),
L.I.C.C. (the Long Island Council
of Churches), and Episcopal Charities.
The group would like to continue
this ministry for at least another
six months, as there continues to be
massive job loss in workplaces across
the island. Can you be a Funding
Angel and help support this initiative?
We need $10,000 to continue
the program at its current one-day-a-week level. $100,000 would fund
the program full time for the next 12
months. Please designate gifts for this
program serving Suffolk to the Riverhead
Jobs Development Program.
Archdeaconry and Church
Based Grants
The deadline for applications to
be received in the Episcopal Charities office is June 15, 2009, to be
considered for the fall grants. See
our website for information regarding
guidelines for these grants and
contact our office to discuss the
project for which you would like to
apply for funding (see paragraph
above for contact information).
Please give generously to Episcopal
Charities of Long Island, 36
Cathedral Avenue, P.O. Box 510, Garden
City, NY 11530. To use a credit
card, please go to our website www.
episcopalcharitiesli.org or call 516
248-4800, ext. 19 and speak with
Mrs. Nancy Kennelly, Administrative
Assistant. When you make a donation
in memory of or in honor of someone,
their name will be recorded in
the Book of Remembrance and an
acknowledgement sent to them.
More articles on the work of
Episcopal Charities of Long Island
Have you heard?
Have you heard the latest news from Episcopal Charities of Long Island?
Over the course of 2009 you gave a total of over $167,000 in gifts and $35,000 in bequests.To read more >
A New Year, A New Resolve
Have you made any New Year’s Resolutions? Mine are predictable: lose weight, go back to the gym, straighten my desk, take time to play. What are yours? To read more >
Christmas and Giving
Each year since 1997 Episcopal
Charities of Long Island has
awarded grants to parishes, archdeaconries,
and parish-based programs
to further their mission in
outreach to their communities.To read more >
How can you serve your neighbor?
This spring Episcopal Charities of Long Island has awarded grants to three parish outreach projects. To read more>
A Gathering of Angels
In the spring of 2008, Episcopal Charities of Long Island began its "Angel's initiative" on the day our liturgical calendar celebrates the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth. Like Mary and Elizabeth's visit, our gathering was one of affirmation, of promise, of hope and joy despite seemingly insurmountable odds.To read more>
