Re-Commit to 0.7%

Dear EGR Board Members, Deputy Friends, and EGR Leadership:



The 76th General Convention will be a defining moment for the Episcopal Church. In it we can recommit ourselves as a church to the MDGs. We will have the opportunity to choose to deepen our partnership with the world's bottom billion-those that live on less than a dollar a day-or we can choose to back away from them.


At General Convention we can reaffirm, with renewed resolve, the promises we have made as a church to the world's poorest people. Simply, we can lead this effort anew, calling on all dioceses, congregations and individuals to stand with us. Despite progress we have made, we are not finished.

The world needs us--actually, YOU--more than ever.

EGR is embracing General Convention's opportunity with anticipation and joyfulness. Please join with us, inviting our church to face this moment with courage and confidence in the abundance of God.

Put MDGs back in the budget-and back in our hearts

Recommit

Although the MDGs have been our church's number one budget and programmatic priority since 2006, the draft budget coming to General Convention actually cut the MDGs line item. Our highest legislative priority is to reinstate the 0.7% line item for MDGs in the budget for the Episcopal Church. More than this, EGR proposes that this line item be increased to 1% as a cost-of-giving adjustment. EGR will work to reinstate the MGDs line item through two venues: the budget process and resolution D019.

Two other priorities are to:

1. Encourage all levels of our church to address the global economic crisis by dedicating Lent 2010 to prayer, study and action on the MDGs (D018).

2. Establish the first Sunday in Lent as ERD Sunday (A178).

You can view all these resolutions here: http://gc2009.org/ViewLegislation/

Please help! Give your heart to this mission through some simple actions.

Contact your diocesan deputation TODAY!

* Get their commitments to support these initiatives through their votes and testimonies.
* Ask members of your diocesan MDG network and other justice networks contact deputies, too.
* Let us know you've contacted your diocesan deputation and networks. Contact us at e4gred@gmail.com so we can continue to build on your work.

Testify on behalf of the MDGs at General Convention!

* EGR will provide talking points, testifying tips, and connections to our two EGR Legislative Coordinators: Tim Baer and Debbie Shew. We'll also save you a place in line!
* Hearings will be held in several committees, including the Program, Budget and Finance Committee, which sets the budget.
* If you will testify with us, please contact Tim Baer, our EGR Legislation Coordinator at: tbaer@gmail.com. He'll answer questions and provide everything you need.

Follow us on EGR's General Convention Virtual Booth

* We are re-launching our Web site - www.e4gr.org - very soon. For the duration of General Convention it will be known as the "Virtual Booth." Though this site you will be easily linked to ERGs presence at General Convention.
* There you will find easy links to stay up to date on news and events through the blog, Facebook page, and Twitter.
* Participate in the new campaign "I'm Crabby for the MDGs", play virtual Bishop Bingo, or view a noonday speaker.

With your help, we can make a bold and prophetic statement to live the Gospel faithfully through the MDGs, even in this current economic climate when making faithful choices seems to cost us the most. But the bottom billion need us and we have promised them-we have promised God. Thank you for your help in this good and necessary work.


Faithfully, and in God's abundance,

Rev. Devon Anderson, Executive Director
Episcopalians for Global Reconcilliation
email: e4gred@gmail.com
web: http://www.e4gr.org

"A Time of Transition for EGR" -- by John Hammock, President, EGR Board of Directors

As President of the EGR Board of Directors, I want to dedicate this blog to reporting on Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation in this time of transition. Michael Kinman is stepping down as Executive Director at the end of March after over three years in that position. Michael began as Executive Director just as EGR became a legalized not- for-profit. From the beginning our mission has not been just to promote the Millennium Development Goals, but rather to lift up the Gospel of Jesus as we called for conversion—in our personal lives and in our commitment to end poverty. Michael never wavered from this commitment. His leadership, enthusiasm and dogged determination have helped EGR become a beacon of hope for many and an example of what a new type of organization can be.

EGR decided early on that it did not want to grow its own institution. Rather it was to grow a movement, building on the work of individuals, churches and Dioceses. EGR has kept its staff to the Executive Director and one half-time administrative assistant—even as its programs have extended nationwide and as it has sponsored event after event using the internet. EGR is the epitome of a non-hierarchical agency modeling a new approach to organizations within a very hierarchical church.

As EGR transitions to a new Executive Director the organization is committed to continue this organizational model. In our first three years, EGR has focused on the MDGs—first raising awareness and commitments on the 0.07% target for giving and later also on education and advocacy on these goals. This continues to be a primary focus of EGR.

From the very beginning EGR has reached out to young people. We have felt that a movement to eradicate poverty was a way to reach out to young people and to get them involved in the work of the church. The dynamism and active involvement of young folks in our work has proved us right.

This past year we instituted a Rule of Life and offered this up to our members. The idea was for people to commit to daily prayer and action and to know that a group of Christians were working to support each other in our commitments to end poverty. We will continue to look for ways to deepen this type of personal commitment and support structure—giving us a concrete way to show our daily solidarity with those who are less fortunate.

This past November the EGR Board decided that it could not be silent in this defining moment of our Church and our society—a time when the economic crisis engulfs not just those who are poor but many of those who have felt financially secure. EGR has begun a series of internal discussions on what its role should be, how it should frame the debate on this economic crisis—and its impact on the MDGs, poverty and the church as we know it. This will be a core challenge for EGR—to hold fast our commitment to personal conversion and personal action as we build a movement, to continue to promote the MDGs through individual, church and Diocesan action and, in addition, to begin a dialogue within the Episcopal Church to deal creatively with the financial and economic crisis we now live, seizing it as a defining moment in our lives. As such, how we respond is essential for us as we struggle to be Christians in today’s changing world.

I ask all of you who are concerned about EGR and its work to keep us in your prayers as we go through the process of finding a new Executive Director. I also ask you to pray for Mike as he moves on to his new challenges in St. Louis. Together we will continue to make a difference through EGR; together we will continue to be creative, breaking traditional boundaries and conventional thinking, building a movement that puts Christ at its center—calling for personal conversion and a personal commitment to living out our faith.

Thank you for your support, for your prayers and for your steadfast commitments to making a difference in this world.

Dr. John Hammock is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at The Fletcher School, Tufts University and works with Sabina Alkire as a research associate at the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative, John was Executive Director at Oxfam America from 1984-1995 and Executive Director at ACCION International from 1973-1980. He is the EGR board president

"Is God calling you to be EGR's next Executive Director?" - by the Rev. Mike Kinman

Greetings!

Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation is opening a search for a new Executive Director. After three-plus wonderful years of serving in that capacity, I am about to accept a call to return to congregational ministry.

We have set up a page on our website --www.e4gr.org/edsearch.html -- that has more information including a downloadable job description.

Application deadline is March 6, 2009.

We anticipate the position being open on April 1 and would like to have someone in place as close to that date as possible.

The salary and benefits package is competitive, and the Executive Director can live anywhere in the 48 contiguous United States. We encourage both lay and ordained applicants.

Click here to go to the EGR website and learn more about the Executive Director search.

I recommend the job highly! You get to work with a board that is as holy and amazing a group of people as I can ever imagine having the honor to work with. You get to work with passionate, creative people who are dedicated to God's mission in the world. You get to travel around the church seeing fabulous people doing fabulous work and encouraging and resourcing them to do even more.

Please pray about whom God might be calling to this position.

Maybe someone you know.

Maybe you!

Christ's peace,






The Rev. Mike Kinman
Executive Director, Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation

"What's up with the myrrh?" -- by the Rev. Mike Kinman

"On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh." (Matthew 2:11)

We know the story so well we never stop to question it. The three kings come into the stable, kneel down before the baby and present the gifts. And Mary, beaming beatifically, nods in humble appreciation.

But I've gotta think that's not the way things really happened.

I'll allow that maybe Mary didn't completely freak out when three strange men burst into the room. You figure having lived through an angel surprising you while you're doing dishes makes you harder to faze than most.

And I'll even believe that Mary was pretty pleased with the first two gifts. This is not only a faithful woman, but a practical one. There's no way she would have made it as far as she had if she weren't.

So you can almost read her mind as she opens them

"Gold? I can use that. No more "no room at the inn" for us!"

"Frankincense? Hmmm. Not your traditional shower gift, but I can sell that ... and besides it spruces up the scent of this barn."

By now she's got to be excited. What's behind Door #3? The strange man gives her a box and she opens it to find?

Dried tree sap.

I'll bet anything the look on Mary's face wasn't beatific beaming, but that trying-to-be-polite-while-hiding-your-confusion-and-wondering-what-the-heck-this-is look. Perhaps the king, being wise, even sensed her confusion and said, "It's myrrh," which either didn't help this simple woman from Galilee at all or completely creeped her out because of its use in anointing the dead.

And with a sweet, polite, slightly confused smile, and while being grateful for the love and attention, she thinks to herself:

"What's up with the myrrh?"

EGR is a movement fueled by myrrh.

Let me explain. One of our organizational principles comes from the school where my wife teaches and my kids attend. It's called "You cant say, "You can't play.'" For us it means that we believe God calls everyone to this movement, and at EGR you'll find no gatekeepers saying your gifts aren't welcome here.

Everyone gets to play. Sometimes we have to work to find where the call is, what the gifts are and where they can be best used ... but we know that God has gifted everyone for mission, so refusing a gift offered is never an option.

When this filters down to the parish level it is even more powerful. You probably know the 80-20 rule ... 80% of the work, giving, etc. is done by 20% of the people. Part of that is we ride our good horses to death, but part of it also is too often someone offers a gift that seems strange (or someone who seems strange offers a gift) and we say "sorry, you can't play."

I heard Trinity, Wall Street rector Jim Cooper say once that you can do more to grow your church by changing 80/20 to 70/30 than by bringing in a hundred new people. He's right.

Mary probably didn't know it at the time, but as strange and borderline creepy as it was, the myrrh was by far the most valuable of the three gifts -- literally worth more than its weight in gold. Despite its bitter taste it was a key ingredient in some of the most beautiful and expensive perfumes. And being a smart and faithful woman, I'll bet she figured it out and put it to good use.

When you're looking to start or grow a mission of global reconciliation through engagement with the Millennium Development Goals in your congregation, look for the people who haven't been asked to play ... or maybe have offered their gifts and have been told "you can't play." God has gifted them, too.

And often the strangest-seeming gifts are the keys to the most beautiful and valuable results.


The Rev. Mike Kinman is the Executive Director of Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation.

Three weeks. $75,000. Give EGR the resources for a life-changing 2009!

It's crunch-time, folks -- and we need your help.

This week, we are setting a goal of $75,000 raised for EGR by midnight, December 31. We believe in setting big goals when the stakes are high, and they certainly are.

Make your gift to this goal online by clicking here.

Click here to track how we're doing on the way to $75K for EGR

What is at stake? Here's what we're looking at accomplishing in 2009:

*Articulating a clear, prophetic, faithful response for the church in a time of global financial crisis. As always for EGR, this will focus on the practical transformative question of What One Can Do.

*The MDG Mapping Project - an interactive virtual map of all the MDG ministry going on in the Church today.

*The beginnings of a Millennial generation movement for global reconciliation in the Church (a planning team of people between age 16-26 is already meeting online).

*Growing the of the EGR Rule of Life in breadth and depth as a community of spiritual transformation.

We aim to dream dreams worthy of the mission God has given us, and we believe we're doing that here. We're going to need your help in lots of ways to make all these things happen, but right now we need your help raising the money.

Here's what we need you to do:

1. Pray. - This whole movement is fueled by prayer. There is no anxiety about raising this money. If what we do is of God, God will provide for it (though we'll also have to work our tails off, too!). Pray for EGR. Pray for the Church. Pray for God to let you know What One Person (YOU!) Can Do.

2. Make a gift. - If you haven't given to EGR yet in 2008, please do so. Of course we'd like your gift to be as big as possible, but more than that we want as MANY donors as possible. This is a movement and one of the ways people show ownership in a movement is through giving. So whatever the size, make a gift.

If you've already given, THANK YOU. Please say your prayers and consider another, year-end gift.

Give online by clicking here.

Give through our Facebook cause by clicking here.

Give by check by making it out to EGR and sending it to
EGR, c/o Mike Fitzgerald, EGR accountant
115 Pinewood Avenue
Brandon, FL 33510

3. See who hasn't given - and invite them! - EGR's 2008 donors are now online at http://www.e4gr.org/donors.html sorted by individuals, congregations and dioceses. Check it out and see who is on it ... and who isn't. Is your diocese or congregation on the list? If so, write them a note of appreciation. If not, it's your job to make the invitation (and I'll give you all the help you need). Know people who might give to EGR but aren't on the list ... let 'em know and give them a chance to join the movement!

Remember, you're not "asking," you're INVITING. This is about offering people the chance to do something WONDERFUL with their money -- to be a part of God transforming the Church and through the Church transforming the world. You can't get better bang for your buck than that. I write lots of checks every year, but there is no check I write with more joy than my check to EGR ... because I know my wealth is going toward something great, the mission God gives us and the mission we share.

Thanks so much for all you do. Please let me know how I can help you in this process.

Oh, and if you think $75,000 is an ambitious goal for 3 weeks, consider this:

Last year at this time, we set a goal of raising $40,000 by the end of the year. We raised close to $110,000.

Dream big. God is cheering us on!

What's YOUR faithful response to God's defining moment?

Make no mistake, EVERY moment can be God's defining moment ... but there are moments we become more aware of that possibility. They are usually moments where our foundations are shaken, where the things that make us feel secure are stripped away, where we realize how much we really cannot make it on our own, and how much we really need each other ... and God.

The world will call these moments of crisis, moments of fear. But for us, Christ's Church, they are moments of opportunity. They are moments of chaos and uncomfortability where if we respond out of faith and not out of fear, we can let God use us to tranform the world.

We're in one of those moments right now. A global economic system based on hyperconsumption is predictably collapsing under its own weight. Decades of going into debt trying to find meaning through buying more and using income growth as the only measure of progress has led us to the brink not just of economic collapse but spiritual poverty.

It is a moment of crisis. It is a moment of fear. But more than that, it is a moment of great opportunity. This is God's defining moment. And we cannot be silent.

We are all crew of the Ship of Fools that is the Church ... and it's time for all hands on deck.

At Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation's board meeting last week, what emerged through our prayer and conversation was not a new mission for EGR ... but a focus for that mission. Our opportunity -- and that means you -- is to lead the Church in grasping this moment of economic crisis as God's defining moment, a moment where we don't run in fear from the shaking of the foundations but stand fearlessly firm and proclaim the Good News that what can rise from this is a world not of not riches for the few but abundant life for all.

What does that look like? That's where we need your help. That's where we need all hands on deck. We need you to pray, study, dream, think, discuss, experiment, create ... use all the gifts God has given you to discern what a faithful response to this defining moment in time might be.

This includes, but is not limited to:

*Practical, simple, actions and choices we can make as individuals, families, congregations, dioceses and as a Church to reject the call to fear and step out in faith for a world where "all may have life and have it in all its fullness."

*Educational and programmatic responses for our communities that can open our eyes to the theological reality and opportunity of this defining moment.

*Creative expression (music, painting, scultpture, poetry, whatever your media might be) that can engage people in Christ's presence in this moment and Christ's call to us in the midst of it.

*Papers or shorter musings on the theological and scriptural foundations for an economic system that benefits all humanity.

*Opportunities for building global relationship that can be transformative.

*Things you have tried -- whether you think they have worked or not -- to try to live faithfully in this time of crisis and opportunity.

Share any and all of these things -- and anything else that addresses what a faithful response to God's defining moment of now might be -- with us by sending them to EGR at MKinman@gmail.com. In turn, we will do what EGR does ... take the wisdom God has given you and make it available to all.

It is time for all hands on deck. And that means you are a critical part of figuring out what God is calling us to do and who God is calling us to be in this defining moment. We can't wait to see what happens next!