Foundation Grants $30,000 for Youth Programs in Fourth Province
Episcopal News Service. March 16, 1978 [78065]
New York, N.Y. -- In June, 1977 The Episcopal Church Foundation announced a program of competitive grants to parishes and other church organizations in the 18 dioceses of Province IV for projects to stimulate the participation of young people in the life of the Church. A Review Committee made up of seven clerical and lay members, adults and young people, met in New York City February 2 to consider 24 proposals which had been submitted and to make their selections. Seven grants totalling $30,000 were awarded, as follows:
- St. Matthew's Area Ministries in Louisville, Diocese of Kentucky (Mr. A. David Bos, Executive Director), $6,000. In an eastern suburb of the city where the use and abuse of alcohol and drugs are epidemic among young people, seven churches of different denominations are co-sponsoring with the Y. M. C. A. an exploratory program known as the "Detached Worker Project." Designed to reach young people who come from families with no church connections, the project will seek to build one-to-one staff/teen relationships that will help young people discover and develop their potential talents constructively.
- Chapel of the Cross. Chapel Hill. Diocese of North Carolina (The Rev. Peter James Lee), $3,000. At a series of retreats and weekend conferences over a twoyear period, a staff person, volunteers and clergy will discuss with teen-agers the topics of identity -- Who am I?, and community -- Where do I belong? These questions are greatly exaggerated in Chapel Hill by the massive presence of the University of North Carolina and its enticements to maturing too quickly. The program, called "One in the Spirit," will be carried out within the framework of a worshiping, caring community.
- Church of the Holy Cross in Miami, Diocese of Southeast Florida (The Rev. Leopold Frade), $5,500. The grant will help the parish to activate a program called "Holy Disco," which will provide young people with a gathering place where they can participate in social activities under the guidance of volunteers. Located in a lowincome area of mixed racial backgrounds, the parish already has programs for young children and senior citizens. This new venture will expand the parish's ministry to the neighborhood and, it is hoped, win new members for the Church.
- St. Andrew's Cathedral in Jackson, Diocese of Mississippi (The Rev. David A. Elliott, III), $3,000. To involve young people more actively in the life of the Church, this program includes weekend retreats, media workshops, the use of chancel drama and a clown ministry, slide and movie presentations of Christian life, interviews with the elderly of the congregation and Bible study.
- St. Bartholomew's Church in Atlanta, Diocese of Atlanta (The Rev. Robert Bevis), $4,000. The grant will support an ecumenical community ministry in which the parish participates with three other churches of different denominations. The program is designed to build relationships across racial and economic lines and challenges young people to engage in ministry in the city on a continuing basis. Featured are interdenominational meetings at each church; meetings with the governor, State officials and business and professional leaders to involve young people in political and economic life; and participation in the service ministries to children and the aged.
- St. David's Mission in Wellington, Diocese of Southeast Florida. (The Rev. Michael S. Jones), $4,500. The award will help to launch a communications system through the use of electronic media. The immigration of different nationalities into the diocese has created a three-fold problem involving inter-ethnic relations, youth-clergy relations and social action funding. To overcome this, the vicar is training production crews of young people to make slide presentations to be shown at seminars throughout the diocese that will feature interviews with young people about ethnic, cultural and economic problems. Questions which conern young people will be presented to priests, doctors and psychiatrists for analysis, and their responses will be filmed to be shown at subsequent seminars.
- Province IV Youth Event Committee (Mr. David G. Atkins of Shreveport, Louisiana, Chairman), $4,000. The grant will pay some of the expenses of young people attending a three-day conferehce in May at Camp Kanuga in Hendersonville, N.C. The meeting is designed to overcome a lack of communication and cooperation among youth groups in the province and to instill a sense of common purpose and involvement as part of a larger team.
Members of the Review Committee which recommended these grants were Mrs. Bobbie L. Bevill of Huntsville, Ala.; Mrs. Ruth Cheney of New York City; Miss Joanna Fitts of Tuscaloosa, Ala.; the Rev. Jesse Gaither, Jr., of Greenville, N.C.; Mr. Jon Lehman of Coral Gables, Fla.; the Rev. John M. Palmer, III, of Bat Cave, N.C.; and the Rt. Rev. Furman C. Stough, Bishop of Alabama.
The Episcopal Church Foundation is a national, independent organization of lay men and women who support programs of significance to the Church that would otherwise be left undone. The Foundation hopes to extend its program of competitive grants for youth to other areas of the Church in the future.