Aiden Koh, Diocese of Los Angeles; Pascual Torres, Diocese of Honduras; Dawn Conley, Diocese of Arizona; Iris Harris, Diocese of Washington; Jack Hanstein, Diocese of California; Rebecca Stevens - Humman, Diocese of Tennessee; Hayden Crawford, Diocese of Southwest Florida;  Frank Oberly, Diocese of Oklahoma; Bishop Charles vonRosenberg, Chair, Diocese of East Tennessee.

Jubilee Ministry began with the passing of Resolution A-80A at the 67th General Convention in 1982 in New Orleans, Louisiana which committed the Church to a ministry of “joint discipleship in Christ with poor and oppressed people, wherever they are found, to meet basic human needs and to build a just society…”  Therefore, in keeping with this General Convention mandate, the mission of Jubilee Ministry is to make a direct and dynamic link between our theology and our ethics – the talk of our faith and the walk of our faith.   We do this by calling the church to live out its prophetic role of empowering local people to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God” (Micah 6:8)  AND by responding to the Gospel’s call to “feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit the imprisoned”  (Matthew 25:35).

Throughout the 2003-2006 triennium Jubilee Ministry Centers have grown in number and in the quality of their ministry. There are over 650 Jubilee Ministry Centers throughout 13 countries.  In the countries that are part of ECUSA we have “Designated Jubilee Centers” in countries outside of ECUSA we have “Affiliate Jubilee Centers.”  There are Jubilee Center Ministries in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Panama, Barbados, Virgin Islands, Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, Haiti, Spain, Hong Kong,  Colombia and the United States.

The ministries included at these locations range from Outreach Programs which include daycare, after school and tutoring  for children, clinics, AIDS, emergency services, housing programs, food ministries, clothes closets, refugee & immigration programs, day care for seniors, prison ministries, youth programs in urban areas; to Advocacy ministries for children, community development, seniors, homelessness, legal aid, domestic violence, civil/human rights, affordable housing; to Empowerment Ministries including Credit Unions, art courses, adult education, job training and placement, parenting classes, computer classes, etc. Through these ministries, Jubilee Centers put in practice the faith they proclaim in their various churches by carrying out a very practical form of evangelism among people who desperately need to see a witness of God’s love in their world. 

In an effort to empower those doing these ministries, Jubilee Ministry provides orientations, training events, and networking opportunities to all its Diocesan Jubilee Officers and Jubilee Center Directors by holding a yearly “Orientation/Training Event” to which an average 80-100 participants attend.  This triennium we held two Latin American-Caribbean Jubilee Gatherings in Honduras and The Dominican Republic.  There was an average attendance of about 85 at each of these events which included all the Bishops of these Dioceses as well.  Collaborative partners in this are the National Office of Hispanic Ministry and the Office of Global Relations at the Church Center.

Every Jubilee Center application must have a site visit before it is presented to Executive Council for approval, therefore in an effort to build a stronger cadre of site visitors, Jubilee Ministry held a Site Visitors Training for Deacons on April 21-14, 2005.

During this triennium, Jubilee Ministry was also involved in collaboration with The Latin American Staff Team (L.A.S.T.) initiative in Honduras, Ecuador Central, Venezuela, Ecuador Litoral, and Colombia.  These are Diocesan Training events that those of us who do any work with Latin America provide to these Dioceses.  The following are some of the areas we cover during these diocesan training events:

Jubilee Ministries
Work, Structure, and Functioning of the Episcopal Church
Constitution and Canons
Accountability Practices and Reporting
Church Pension Fund
The Structure and Functioning of Province IX

At the last General Convention, it was decided that Jubilee ministry would receive $150,000.00 for the 2003-2006 triennium for Jubilee Ministry Grants.  At the Executive Council meeting in Vermont in March 2004, Council voted to allocate another $200,000.00 for 2004 & 2005.  At the first Grants Committee Meeting in July of 2004, we received 85 requests totaling $349,538.00.  At our June 2005 Grants Committee meeting we received 101 requests totaling $372,848.20. 

Jubilee received a total of $50,000.00 to be used for Jubilee Grants for 2006.  As of May 6, 2006 we have awarded small grants of $500.00 to over 30 Dioceses.