The grant application process for the fund that coordinates two innovative Episcopal Church initiatives, the Mission Enterprise Zones and New Church Starts, is now open. The online application can be accessed here.

The Five Marks of Mission triennial budget, approved by General Convention July 2012, allots $2 million for the work of establishing Mission Enterprise Zones and for supporting New Church Starts for the First Mark of Mission, To proclaim the Good news of the Kingdom

Matching grants will be available for up to $20,000 for a Mission Enterprise Zone and up to $100,000 for New Church Starts.

General Convention 2012’s Resolution A073 established “the Mission Enterprise Fund, to be administered by a grants committee for that purpose established by the Executive Council, with $1 million for the 2013–2015 triennium.”  It also states that “Diocesan Standing Committees and Bishops partner to create ‘Mission Enterprise Zones,’ defined as a geographic area, as a group of congregations or as an entire diocese committed to mission and evangelism that engages under-represented groups, including youth and young adults, people of color, poor and working-class people, people with a high-school diploma or less, and/or people with little or no church background or involvement.” Text here

Applications completed in August and September will be reviewed in October and grants will be awarded shortly after Executive Council meets in October.

For more information contact the Rev. Thomas Brackett, Episcopal Church Missioner for New Church Starts and Missional Initiatives

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