The Episcopal Church Foundation, one of the most successful independent Episcopal Church ventures, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The Foundation was born out of the rising determination of post World War II commitment and the vision of the Episcopal Church's first full-time Presiding Bishop, Henry Knox Sherrill. "It is time that we have great convictions about great things," said Sherrill.
Lay Leadership
With the help of several close friends, the Bishop petitioned the General Convention of 1949 to begin an independent foundation led and managed by the laity. Its purpose would be to make serious contributions to the life and service of the Episcopal Church at all levels.
In the five decades since, Foundation initiatives have led to landmark work such as: direct aid to parishes with the creation of the Revolving Loan Fund; the undergirding of theological education with sponsorship of The Pusey Report on seminary education and the initiation of the Graduate Fellowship Program; seminal work in strengthening clergy and congregational health with sponsorship of Cornerstone; and support to churches and dioceses in their own ministries with its national Gift Planning Services.
"The Foundation stands alongside the whole Church as an independent entity," says Executive Director, William G Andersen, Jr, "working to serve the Church in leadership development, religious philanthropy and education."
Anniversary Events
The Foundation will mark its 50th year with several special efforts. The Zacchaeus Project, a year-long national research initiative, will explore what it means to be an Episcopalian and how Episcopalians renew their sense of identity in communities of faith. It will examine emerging trends and patterns of leadership as well as issues and challenges faced by our diverse ministries. Not only will its findings become the focal point of the Trinity Institute Teleconference in September, an event co-sponsored by Trinity Wall Street and the Episcopal Church Foundation, but it will also serve to inform the ongoing conversations and planning efforts of the Church as it moves into the next millennium.
A new Fellows Forum, under the leadership of the Revd Dr Ian Douglas of Episcopal Divinity School, will host an anniversary event on the theological issues facing the Church in the 215t century. And finally, the Foundation's achievements over its 50-year history will be commemorated in a retrospective publication, Great Convictions about Great Things. The Retrospective is available now.
"The Episcopal Church Foundation's 50-year ministry of intentional philanthropy and generosity has worked to open the hearts of many to the wider possibilities of our faith," says Presiding Bishop Frank Tracy Griswold. "My prayer is that God will continue to bless the Foundation's work in the next half century as richly for us all."
by Lindsay Hardin Freeman