EMM Becomes Part of Presiding Bishop's Fund
Episcopal News Service. September 26, 1997 [97-1964G]
(ENS) Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) recently became part of the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief in a move designed to "enrich both EMM and the ministry of the fund," according to Bishop Charlie McNutt, chief operating officer of the Episcopal Church Center. In a written announcement, McNutt said that "re-establishing the ties between the fund and refugee ministry will enable EMM to move forward with recent General Convention resolutions directing EMM to develop an advocacy agenda for refugees, disenfranchised immigrants and asylum seekers." According to EMM director Richard Parkins, the arrangement provides EMM "access to the larger church and thus a constituency which can join with us in speaking on behalf of refugees and immigrants at a time when advocacy for our most vulnerable sisters and brothers is urgently needed." The fund originated out of the needs of refugees in Europe created by World War II. Over the years, as the Fund's mission expanded to include emergency relief and development grants, certain refugee and immigration assistance efforts of the church were lodged in a specialized program area called EMM.