The three congregations participating in the spring MDG pilot project raised over $43,000 through a total of 218 individual 0.7% pledges from adults, youth, and children. Each community is now in the process of discerning recipients for their funds. Participating congregations are: Epiphany, Plymouth; St. Anne's, Sunfish Lake; and St. Clement's, St. Paul.
Epiphany, Plymouth Celebrates MDG's
Epiphany, Plymouth MDG Campaign Focused on Guatemalan School
Church of the Epiphany, Plymouth is joining the fight to eradicate poverty. Four ambassadors from Epiphany were trained at the MDG Leadership Team Training in January and came back energized and ready to organize. Choosing a Lenten campaign theme, program organizers challenged the community to pledge 0.7% of their incomes to the Miguel Angel Asturias Academy in Quetzaltenago, Guatemala.
MDG project coordinator Devon Anderson learns that the process of mobilizing people around global poverty may be like walking the Camino in Spain: something that, if it is of God, will take care of us if we let it.
Through house parties, sermons, and story telling (also called personal narrative), St. Anne's, Sunfish Lake's members exceeded their initial MDG goal of 50% participation, raising $10,000 through 43 pledges.
Just over a year ago, a new committee was formed at this St. Clement's, St. Paul to discuss the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and how the church should respond to the call to support needs in the developing world.
Campaign Update: St. Clement's Exceeds MDG Goals
St. Clement's prophetic Lenten commitment to eradicating global poverty has met with great success. In just five short weeks, the community raised over $24,000.
Throughout Lent, four churches in the Diocese participated in an exciting and innovative MDG campaign focused on mobilizing congregations to pledge 0.7% of their income toward an MDG project. St. Anne’s chose Kiva and Operation Bootstrap Africa as their pledge recipients.
Throughout Lent, four churches in the Diocese participated in an exciting and innovative MDG campaign focused on mobilizing congregations to pledge 0.7% of their income toward an MDG project. St. Anne’s chose Kiva and Operation Bootstrap Africa as their pledge recipients.
St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, St. Paul, has raised $60,000 towards their goal of $75,000 for their MDG project of building a clinic of the village of Kayoro in Uganda.
On December 6, St. Andrew's by the Lake Episcopal Church, Duluth, held its third Bridge to Peace 5K Run/Walk to raise funds for its MDG project. The Bridge to Peace attracted 110 participants to the Lakewalk of Duluth, raising $5,500.
Pictured at left are participants in the recent MDG Training, including four Minnesota congregations, members of the diocese of Upper South Carolina, and Mike Kinman from Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation. Watch for updates on each congregations' progress as they execute their MDG projects in 2009.