USC Bishop: MDGs are "thermometer for gauging spiritual health and mission accomplishment"

"We cannot ignore the great opportunity that we have—unique to our day and time—to be doing the work that Christ would have us do—to be faithful to his self-proclaimed mission to “bring good news to the poor…to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, (and to) proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor”. That blessed opportunity comes to us as the Millennium Development Goals.

"Episcopalians in USC are off to a great start in numerous, exciting ventures in mission associated with the MDGs. This is not so much a goal in itself as it is a way to measure how effective we have been with the three challenges I have set before you: the Healthy Church Initiative, mission strategy, and Christian formation.

"Our involvement in reaching the MDG’s is a thermometer for gauging spiritual health and mission accomplishment—and, along with evangelism, a demonstration of our commitment “to act in the world as the Body of Christ.”

Those are the words of Upper South Carolina Bishop Dorsey Henderson at this month's diocesan leadership conference, "The Healthy Church Initiative, Nuts and Bolts of Church Health and Growth."

According to this ENS article, it was announced during the conference that

"more than $18 million dollars in pledges had been raised in two years for the support of local growth initiatives.

"The money will fund the new Healthy Church Foundation of Upper South Carolina, according to a diocesan media release....

"Henderson, who is 69 and must resign not later than his 72nd birthday (Episcopal Church Constitution Article II, Section 9), outlined for the conference "where we need to be when the next diocesan bishop of Upper South Carolina is seated in the Cathedra."

"They include the Healthy Church Initiative, planting new congregations, a plan for lifetime Christian formation and a commitment to helping achieve the Millennium Development Goals."

Read the whole ENS article here.

Read all of Bishop Henderson's address here.

Minnesotans Moving on the MDGs!

There are lots of wonderful models emerging of dioceses actively engaging God's mission of global reconciliation in the Millennium Development Goals. At the top of the list is Minnesota, where the Rev. Devon Anderson has assembled a great team that is doing great work. You can see the first fruits of their labor in this excellent article by Joe Bjordal:

Here are some highlights of grants given to congregations for MDG work:

The grant recipients and supported projects are:

Messiah Church, St. Paul, $700 for its ongoing work with the Leogane Communal District’s Saint Croix Hospital in Haiti;

St. Alban’s Church, Edina, $700, also for ongoing work at the Leogane Communal District’s Saint Croix Hospital in Haiti (in partnership with Messiah Church);

St. John’s Church, Minneapolis, $700 for work with the Parish of St. Philippe-St. Jacques in Haiti through the Haiti Parish Partner Program;

(Three Minnesota Episcopal congregations now involved in work in Haiti—Messiah, St. Alban’s and St. John’s—are planning ways to both deepen their partnership and find ways to invite other congregations in the Diocese of Minnesota to join in work in Haiti.)

St. James’ Church, Marshall, $750 for the Rwanda Reads Program;

St. Luke’s Church, Rochester, $500 for its ongoing work with the Zumbro River Watershed Partnership; and

St. Matthew’s Church, St. Paul, $750 for its ongoing work with Hope Multipurpose, Incorporated and the Blue House in Uganda, an home for AIDS orphans.

They've also got a MDG training conference planned for September 15 that should be a model for other dioceses doing the same thing (North Carolina recently had a very successful one themselves!).

Again, read all about it on the Minnesota website!

Great work from the Land of 10,000 Lakes!