Projects for Partnership Contributes to Global Social Action
Diocesan Press Service. March 26, 1969 [75-10]
NEW YORK, N. Y. -- Something a little extra, something more than just the minimum -- this is what Projects for Partnership asks of Episcopalians.
The Projects for Partnership program was initiated by action of the General Convention in St. Louis in 1964. It called the Episcopal Church to commit itself to projects of responsible partnership with other parts of the Anglican Communion.
Last year Episcopalians responded to the Projects for Partnership appeal by giving $421,331.17 for a variety of programs throughout the world.
These projects represent needs of the Provinces of the Anglican Communion which cannot be met by present budgets, but which are vital for survival. They are designed and chosen by each Province and then circulated throughout the Communion, by the Anglican Executive Officer, giving one Province the opportunity to share in the plans and hopes of another.
These projects are located in Africa, Asia, the South Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America and include support of administrative budgets, buildings, training programs for clergy and laity, and programs to minister to the needs of the whole community, whether rural or urban.
Leadership training, for example, will be furthered by a $6,818.39 gift to the Japan Institute for Christian Education. The Institute is one of the few in Japan to offer human relations training laboratories. During its eight years of existence the Institute has made available its facilities and programs to Church, government and private enterprise, but requests are now beyond the capacity of present staff and building.
In order to meet the increased demand, the Institute needs both a new training center and more trained leaders. It hopes to accomplish both purposes by building a center at Kusatsu Hotsprings in the heart of hiking and skiing country.
Education is the purpose of two other large projects in Asia. A number of donors have contributed $62,315. 18 to Trinity College, Quezon City, the Philippines. This money, along with other contributions, including $180,000 from the Royal Netherlands Government, have allowed the College, which is sponsored jointly by the Philippine Episcopal Church and the Philippine Independent Church, to begin a five-year expansion program. The first building, which houses science classes and laboratories, was dedicated in November, and construction of a library, which will also house a speech laboratory, will soon begin.
A junior college in Taiwan, St. John's and St. Mary's, was also helped through Projects for Partnership. A total of $78,478.40 was given by a large number of parishes, Dioceses, individuals and groups so that the College could begin construction. The influx of Chinese to Taiwan, a number of whom attended Christian schools on the mainland, has been the primary impetus behind the program, for they want similar education for their children.
Africa, like Asia, needs trained leaders, and the $11,526.22 that has been given to Bishop Tucker College in Mukono will aid the Province of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi in meeting this need. In 1967 the Province drafted a ten-year plan which outlined the problems facing the area and means to meet these problems. Largely as a result of such planning, two of the Province's seminaries were closed and the third, Bishop Tucker College, was given adequate staff and resources to meet the leadership crisis. The seminary now trains more than 80 students -- secondary school graduates preparing for a ministry in rural areas; college graduates who will likely go into teaching or into Diocesan or Provincial posts; pastors with 10 to 12 years experience taking refresher courses, and candidates for the non- stipendiary ministry. The seminary provides training to each of these groups, designed to meet their needs and background. It also brings these groups together so that each may benefit from and appreciate the other. The $11,526.22 given will enable the seminary to continue and expand this program and will supplement the funds obtained from Diocesan assessments within the Province itself.
Mkomaindo Hospital in the Diocese of Masasi, Province of East Africa, is meeting government requirements for qualification as the major hospital in its area, a largely rural one. It can do this in part because of a gift of $15,602. 11 contributed through Projects for Partnership by two American Dioceses. These funds, and others, will enable the Hospital to complete a residence for nursing students and construct a new kitchen facility, both of which must be done to meet government requirements and thus to obtain financial support and priorities in personnel. Health care, education and national development are all furthered.
The Diocese of Iran -- a minority church surrounded by a Moslem and Zoroastrian culture -- will be aided by $6,491.76 given through Projects for Partnership in expanding one of its primary evangelistic tools, its schools. The money will go toward the costs of building Carr Secondary School in Isfahan.
Through a gift of $24,790.75 the Episcopal Church in Colombia will be helped in building a center in Bogota, the see city of the Missionary District. The building will provide an adequate place of worship for the congregation of St. Paul's, which already overflows its rented quarters, and will serve Diocesan and ecumenical groups. It will also be the beginning of a projected complex to house the work of the Colombian Church.
The projects mentioned above are but a few of the many supported during 1968, but they represent needs and responses evident throughout the Projects for Partnership program.