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"To find suitable persons for the Episcopal ministry and
aid them in acquiring a thorough education"
SIM's founding purpose on October 2, 1857;
our ministry ever since.
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Greetings!
Numerous responses to our March 8th eCall, entitled "Eliminated," asked how to react to Executive Council's Draft Budget 2013-2015 (http://bit.ly/AgTpwZ) for consideration at General Convention in July. ADVOCACY is one of our three legs of seminarian support in addition to financial and pastoral support. Responding to Line 353 of the Draft Budget, "Seminarian scholarship grant eliminated," is most appropriate.
Advocating for our seminarians can be done online on a blog for comments on the budget set up by the Joint Committee on Program, Budget and Finance (PB&F): http://jscpbf.blogspot.com. Other ways of advocating on this issue are to contact bishops (29% of whom received at least one SIM grant) and/or diocesan delegates to General Convention. Also support for maintaining seminarian scholarship grant aid in the TEC budget has come from diocesan convention resolutions and SIM's work with TEC's Standing Commission on Ministry Development.
When declining numbers across the Church are commonplace, is this the time to "eliminate" investment in future ordained leadership? The message from Executive Council to seminarians answering calls to serve God in TEC is not positive and may, in all practicality, thwart the very "called" leaders the Church needs for the changing church of the 21st century. "Seminarian scholarship grant eliminated" also makes SIM's fund raising for seminarians more difficult.
"Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (MT 6:21) For 155 years SIM's treasure has provided "aid to suitable persons for the Episcopal ministry" - our founding purpose and ministry since eight visionaries foresaw the importance of investing in well-educated, well-trained and well-formed clergy - a cherished asset that taken for granted puts the future of TEC at great risk. SIM Boldly!
Faithfully,
Tom Moore
Executive Director
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