SHARING CHRIST’S LOVE AND JOINING IN THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT IN OUR COMMUNITIES AND BEYOND.
Diocesan Convention Video
Beginning a New or Strengthening an Existing Ministry
ACI Refugee and Immigrant Community Learning Classes with St. Anne’s, Ankeny
$5,000
African Community Institute (ACI) is a non-profit that seeks to increase the educational skills of refugees and immigrants by providing citizenship, language, and tutoring services/workshops. This project will help fund needed tutors/trainers and materials for the services and workshops they offer. Last year, ACI’s tutoring program helped about 20 refugee and immigrant children and youth with math and other subjects, and those students saw higher grades in math and other subjects like reading and writing, and turning in homework on time and with more correct answers increased; some of those students have gone on to enroll at DMACC and others have found employment. Additionally, ACI helped 15 people graduate from citizenship classes, and they’ve helped adults overcome other language and cultural barriers. In particular, ACI helps both youth and adult learners with ESL to help prepare them for citizenship classes, educational and employment opportunities, and general life skills. ACI is partnering with St. Anne’s, which will help with space for activities, and continues to partner with the United Way, which helps sponsor some of the tutoring programs. GILEAD Grant funds will be used to help pay for tutors, trainers, and teachers, and for any needed learning materials for these services/workshops.
Behavioral Health Ministry Team in partnership with Rev. Kris Leaman & Amy Mellies
$5,000
Last year, a GILEAD Seed Grant helped fund the forming of a diocesan Behavioral Health Ministry Team (BHMT). The team is composed of clergy, laity and community advisors in the fields of mental health, and works to identify, support, and lend assistance to clergy, parishes, families and all those in between with mental health needs. BHMT is committed to building a support system and referral resources for all in the diocese, and thus worked to build partnerships with mental health organizations such as L.E.A.D., Mindspring Mental Health Alliance, NAMI of Central Iowa, and the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center. With this grant, BHMT hopes to strengthen their ministry by expanding outreach opportunities, partnerships, and trainings/educational workshops. GILEAD Grant funds will be used to help cover the cost of offering and/or participating in trainings and educational workshops, consultation fees with partner organizations, and other materials/educational resources.
Refugee Garden at St. Andrew’s, Des Moines
$5,000
Lutheran Services in Iowa’s Global Greens program works to reconnect former refugee farmers with the land as they build a new life in the U.S., and they have a list of over seventy refugees looking for garden space. After several months of research and discussion with LSI, St. Andrew’s partnered with LSI to turn a large, rarely used plot of St. Andrew’s land, just east of their parking lot, into a garden. The garden fills a need within the growing refugee population for garden space and serves as a joyful expression to the neighborhood of use of space and support for others at a basic level. LSI selects gardeners to whom the plots are assigned and monitors to assure their usage of the plots, as does St. Andrew’s. The Dinka and Darfur communities associated with St. Andrew’s were also extended invitations to participate. After the initial tilling and layout of the garden, each gardener or family is responsible for the planting, watering, and maintenance of their plot. St. Andrew’s is responsible for providing access to water, fencing and a wheel barrow, along with mowing the lawn surrounding the garden, scenic landscaping, and potentially small seating area(s). Currently, water tanks are on loan from LSI until St. Andrew’s can find a more permanent solution, and permanent fencing is needed. GILEAD Grant funds will be used towards the placement of a closer and ongoing water source and lumber to begin construction on permanent fencing.
ThreeHouse Campus Ministry: The Listening Post, with St. Luke’s, Cedar Falls
$5,000
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Cedar Falls, in partnership with ThreeHouse Collaborative Campus Ministries and other collaborating congregations, seeks to grow their ministry capacity with students and faculty at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), which includes being an active presence on campus, and to deepen their own faith and ability to follow in the ways of Jesus. The campus community longs to be seen and heard in a safe and welcoming space with no stipulations or limitations. Through campus and community conversations and in collaboration with UNI’s Counseling Center, they have identified an increasing need for providing safe and welcoming listening spaces in which people can share their experiences of isolation, transitions, discernment, struggles, and joys. They believe a way to meet this need is through a project called The Listening Post, a regular and consistent space on campus staffed by trained volunteers from our collaborative churches who will engage in active listening, offer compassion, and provide resources on campus and in the community for individuals to connect with. The UNI Counseling center will provide volunteer training (Mental Health Ally program and Question Persuade and Refer program training) as well as serving as an on-campus referral resource. In addition, the UNI Gender and Sexuality Services Office will provide Safe Zone Ally training and the UNI Military and Veterans Services Office Green Zone Ally will provide training to all designated listeners. Through this training, every designated listener will be able to provide pastoral care as well as be able to connect individuals with applicable resources. GILEAD Grant funds will help provide necessary training for volunteers, in order to equip them to provide the best support they can for those who stop by The Listening Post. It will also be used to purchase supplies, print resources, and obtain marketing materials.
Support for Newly Ordained Clergy
Clergy Support at St. Andrew’s, Des Moines
$24,000
St. Andrew’s has embraced mutual ministry through a team-based ministry structure and established many new relationships that have led to ministry partnerships. Rev. Lizzie has been an integral part of Mutual Ministry to bring St. Andrew’s into a post-pandemic world, building intentional relationships with the community, city, and organizations, helping to chart an innovative, sustainable course for the congregation. She’s built a partnership with the Northwest Community fridge, which led to St. Andrew’s housing the fridge on their property when the fridge was forced to relocate; she’s worked with Deacon Mahr to form a relationship with Lutheran Service in Iowa, which has led to St. Andrew’s becoming a site for LSI’s Global Greens garden program for refugees; she takes an active role in community events, including City Council meetings, Neighborhood Associate meetings, vigils at the Des Moines police station, serves as a Courtroom Chaplain to support families (several defendants were charged with crimes connected to Black Lives Matter protests), and more. The Rev. Lizzie Gillman’s work has laid the foundation upon which they can continue to build, but there is more to be done and they hope to be able to support Rev. Gillman in her ministry. GILEAD Grant funds will be used to help pay Rev. Lizzie Gillman’s salary and benefits
Clergy Support at St. Matthew’s, Iowa Falls
$15,000
St. Matthew’s for all of its history of over one hundred years has been a mission congregation. For the past forty years it has always relied upon part-time or visiting clergy. As the availability of visiting clergy became scarce, they began searching for alternatives and also realized the need to have a larger presence in the community to help them grow and prosper. They hope to find an enthusiastic, recently-ordained priest who will become a community presence, can help with the rejuvenation and diversification of St. Matthew’s membership, a raising of its profile in the community, and for the spreading of the Gospel to the rapidly diversifying population of Iowa Falls and surrounding area. GILEAD Grant funds will be used to help to fund the salary of the clergy person, which will in turn help grow the congregation and build a wider presence in Iowa Falls and the local community.
Evangelism
Electronic Sign at St. Stephen’s, Newton
$5,000
St. Stephen’s lighted church sign is over 30 years old and is not repairable. It has been used to spread information about St. Stephen's events, 12 Step Group events, and ecumenical events involving the other eight (8) churches in a four-block area of St. Stephen's (i.e., the Christmas Church Walk and Carol Sing, and the Stations of the Cross at Easter). Additionally, Biblical quotations are on the sign in an attempt to spread the Gospel of Christ. They are proposing a new, electronical sign that will be computer generated and thus can carry far more information and convey it is a more noticeable manner. Many from the groups meeting at the church and from the general public have commented that "they miss the messages and information from the sign." St. Stephen’s has already spoken with several of the 15-16 12 Step Groups that use the church on a weekly basis, and they are eager to have a sign that helps spread the word about their offerings; the 12 Step and other groups that use St. Stephen’s will have input into using the sign. GILEAD Grant funds will be used to purchase the sign and computer program and other necessary installation components (i.e., a base/brick enclosure, electrician and installation expenses)
Leadership
Development
Formation for Youth or Young Adults
Safety Net for Service Corps Participants
$5,000
In an effort to keep the connection between the church and young adults, this project intends to provide safety net funding to young adults involved in service year programs (ex. Episcopal Service Corps, Young Adult Service Corps, AmeriCorps). Programs tend to provide minimal monthly stipends to its corps members; when emergencies arise, or gas prices are high and you are moving across the country, money can become tight. Small stipends can also prevent young adults from traveling home for the holidays or special events. Having recently completed a year of service with the Episcopal Service Corps, this grant’s project leader learned more about the structure and support systems offered and not offered through the program. Although service years encourage simple living, the monthly stipends do not cover all expenses for many in these programs. This makes this opportunity less accessible for those who are already vulnerable to financial struggles. With programs covering the globe, even traveling to the program can create a barrier. Having funds available to help with these necessary but unforeseen or uncovered expenses may encourage young adults who are unsure of whether or not they can afford to serve to go ahead knowing that there is a safety net provided to them from the diocese. Corps members would be able to fill out an application to use funds for a wide variety of reasons, such as (but not limited to): travel expenses, car repairs, medical bills, moving expenses, etc. GILEAD Grant funds will be used as this “safety net” funding for corps members, available to corps members upon application approval.
Simpson Youth Academy Scholarships, in partnership with Rev. Eric Rucker
$5,000
The Simpson College Youth Academy is a year-long, ecumenical program for Iowan high school youth grounded in the conviction that young people have gifts and power that are essential for the healing of the world now. Through college-level intellectual engagement, training in worship and prayer leadership, and reflective service around community issues, we help youth step into mature young adult Christian faith as they discern their particular callings as agents of justice in their churches and the world. The Academy requests a GILEAD grant to provide tuition scholarships for Episcopal youth, LGBTQ youth, and youth whose racial or economic status inhibit their ability to pay tuition for the program’s summer residency. Scholarships for these populations address critical needs in our communities. First, the Episcopal Church in America is rapidly aging and shrinking. Thus urgent, intentional investment in forming young Episcopalians is needed to sustain our church institution. Second, American LGBTQ youth are faced with consistent marginalization at higher rates than non-LGBTQ youth by the general public and by religious communities. And third, this Diocese is committed to acting tangibly to combat racial and economic injustice. Therefore, the Diocese and Academy’s decision to offer financial assistance to such youth would be a prophetic statement of radical welcome for queer and BIPOC youth in the name of Christ. GILEAD Grant funds will be used to pay for scholarships and programming fees for four high school youth who are Episcopal, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, or economically disadvantaged to participate in the Simpson Youth Academy program for only $100 per student.
Expanding Tools and Technology
African Community Institute Tools & Tech, with St. Anne’s, Ankeny
$5,000
In Polk country, about 2,000 refugees and immigrant adults and children do not have access to learning through technology because they do not have access to computers nor know how to use them. As the number of refugees and immigrants continues to increase, a solution is needed for this technology and skill gap. These technical barriers prevent adults from accessing higher learning and job opportunities and children are more likely to drop out of school and/or not seek further educational opportunities. African Community Institute helps children and adult refugees and immigrants with computer knowledge, and the technology also allows ACI to provide language classes, tutoring services, Bible studies, and other workshops. GILEAD Grant funds will be used to expand ACI’s technology, including computers, printers, iPad, and laptops.