Long Range Planning Committee Report on Special Ministry Grant Program
(1999 report)
In 1987 with the sale of the neighboring property and establishment of an investment fund,our congregation was blessed with the opportunity to further our congregational programs and enhance our community and world mission efforts through a program we now call the Special Ministry Grant Program. Each year the interest earned on the principal of this investment fund is disbursed by means of grants, approved each year at our spring congregational meeting in May.
Nearly $190,000, representing a rich array of programs in outreach and mission, have been given over the years to foster new programs at St. Anthony Park Lutheran and to support mission and outreach efforts here in our community and throughout the world.-
In 1998 we approved 15 grants totaling $20,120. Some of the Capital Improvement grants for 1998 included new tables in the parish hall, a keyboard amplifier, a computer and a printer for our music department.
On the community front we assisted an international graduate student from Tanzania(working on her doctorate at Luther Seminary) with housing so that her teenage children could join her here in our community.
A grant was also given to support our former contextual education student, Pastor Valeri Tchijik, with a program called Beyond the
Barriers--a Christian ministry and Bible study for newcomers from Russian-speaking countries to the Twin Cities, many previously
unchurched.
In a similar vein, we gave a grant to the China Open Door Network, which provided seed money for the establishment of a network to support a growing Chinese Christian population who want to serve Christ but need our help and assistance in order to serve.
In 1998 we also provided funds to Lake Wapogasset Lutheran Bible Camp for its dining hall renovation. We also provided support to Metro Lutheran, a local newspaper which provides a valuable resource to our membership and cabinet on what's going on in the community.
On the international front, our grants last year provided funds:
- to BuJi Christian Church in Shenzhen, China; a congregation which has in just three years grown from 200 to 1,000 worshippers. It is hoping to build a new worship space. Professors from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Hong Kong regularly teach and preach at this church and are making a great impact on this region.
- to Providence Ministries in Haiti, a non-profit organization, was also given a grant. It provides a safe, secure home and schooling for five Haitian children who have been abandoned and are impoverished.
- to Global Mission Institute, an organization which provides mission education to Luther Seminary students and to global missions of the ELCA.
Our grant program helped with seed money for this congress, which had representation from 23 countries and five continents. In February there was an opportunity for three of our members and one of our pastors to attend an outreach seminar called SPLASH! -a mission program designed to reach out to people in places we inhabit daily-- beyond the few hours we spend in church each week. In March there was a Women's retreat for women in our congregation and their guests. Thisprovided an opportunity to "get away" from the demands of everyday life and join the company of other women to relax, hear an inspiring speaker and have fun together.
Back to Long range Planning Grants.