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It's Diocesan Convention Season!
...and EGR's got lots of ideas to help you capture your diocese's imaginations with What One Can Do for the MDGs
 When we gather as Christ's body, God gives us a vision of who we are meant to be. It happens around the Eucharistic table and it happens at our diocesan conventions. Those gatherings are moments of opportunity for inspiration, vision and leadership. For us, they are a great chance to show our people the potential they have to be part of God's mission of global reconciliation through the Millennium Development Goals.
To show them the power of What One Can Do.
EGR has tons of creative ideas and resources for you to capture the hearts, minds and imaginations of your diocesan convention. It's as easy as this:
3. Make a resolution -- find out if your diocese has a MDG/0.7% resolution on the books, then using our library of MDG resolution templates submit one that either commits or reaffirms your diocese's commitment to global reconciliation.
4. Get creative. Have fun. -- Start off with our page of creative ideas to make the MDGs come to life at your convention. Things like
*Water Carrying -- Give people a visceral experience of the 40 billion hours a year women in Africa spend making sure their families have water.
*Women's Walkout -- Give the convention a glimpse of what life would be like without the voices of women ... and how important MDG #3 really is.
... and much, much more.
5. Let youth and young adults lead -- Go to youth groups and campus ministries and find people passionate about making povety history (they shouldn't hard to find), then set their creative energies to work ... and find a way to make their visions happen.
And just a couple other things ...
-when you've got some new ideas, don't keep them to yourselves. Let us know about them so we can get them up on the website and share them with the rest of the church.
-HAVE FUN! The Gospel is all about joy, and we're about the Gospel. Joy is contagious ... and we're talking about the opportunity to partner with God and one another in healing the world -- that's great stuff. In other words, if you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong! |
| What One Diocese Can Do |
 Several dioceses put together their own special newspaper issues on the MDGs to go with August's special issue of Episcopal Life. Herb Gunn of Michigan wrote this article for Michigan's special issue on a four-diocese cooperative MDG effort.
The All Michigan Episcopal Network (AMEN) is the once-a-year gathering of the four bishops and members of their Episcopal dioceses. Representatives met in Conway, Michigan on May 29-30 to discuss three specific areas of cooperative ministry. The four dioceses addressed environmental concerns, the MDGs and communication....
A significant project toward an AMEN commitment to the MDGs was proposed and discussed. The joint planning would build toward a possible mission trip to Haiti or another western hemisphere country. Both the Diocese of Michigan and the Diocese of Northern Michigan have a mission foothold in the Caribbean island nation that could provide the foundation for an expanded trip sometime in 2008 involving the four Michigan bishops.
-excerpted from The Record
Does your diocese or congregation have a great MDG webpage or site ...or a creative MDG initiative? Let us know about it! |
| Get on board with EGR |
 Want to get more involved with Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation and the MDG movement in the Episcopal Church. There's plenty of room for everyone. Here are some on-ramps!
*Join our next EGR conference call! -- EGR conference calls are the second Thursday of the month at 1 pm Eastern, noon Central and the fourth Tuesday at 9 pm Eastern, 8 pm Central. You'll get an update of everything that's happening in the movement, updates from ERD and ONE Episcopalian, and a chance to problem-solve, share ideas and brainstorm creative ways to embrace the MDGs. The call-in number is always 1-712-580-1100 and the access code is (what else?) 070707.
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What's New on e4gr.org |
 It's been a bit of rough sailing on the EGR website of late. A hacker sliced us up pretty good in late August, but we're back better than ever with a new look and new information. There are still some rough edges, so be patient ... let us know if you can't find something you need ... and definitely give us your ideas for making the site better. In the meantime, check out these new additions this week.
*Our new MDG Advocacy page, which includes up-to-date clickable actions you can take on current MDG-related information.
*Learn about EGR's latest initiatives -- the MDG Mapping Project; Children, Youth & the MDGs; Millennials and the MDGs; What's Next: The MDGs as Spiritual Transformation for Congregations; Counting Prayers -- and the people heading them up.
*Meet the EGR board ... and learn about the amazing group of people who help keep this ship afloat!
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What One Congregation Can Do |
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I just continue to be awed when God puts people in my path. The idea just popped into my head -- challenge our parishioners to give $15 to send an insecticide-treated mosquito bed net to Africa. Then, knowing that Bishop Michael Curry was in negotiations with Bishop Trevor Musonda Mwamba of Botswana to form a new companion diocese relationship with the Diocese of North Carolina. I thought, wow, we will just designate them for Botswana!
After approaching our stewardship chair and the mission board with this idea, the Nets for Botswana campaign was set!
We announced a four-week campaign hoping to raise $3,000 for 200 nets. The money would be sent to Episcopal Relief and Development and from there the nets would be sent to Botswana.
Teams were formed; one for marketing, one for speaking and education, one for staffing tables and collection -- the response was fabulous! Young and old were excited and ready to do what they could.
One of our ladies, Terry Ertel, made two banners that were covered with 2,880 handprints, representing the people who die daily.
One Sunday, I gave out black paper circles with a time on the back, asking that the person stick the circle on their back at that specific time during the morning service. During the announcement time of the service, I asked all of those folks to stand and announced that 90 people had died since our service began. I was very specific about who received the circles; picking a good representation of our parish and then asked people to think about what our community would look like without these folks in it.
All of this was very moving, and people began to think about how we would all feel if we were subject to this (or any) deadly disease. The catalyst, though, I think, was that everyone knew that their $15 would help someone. It is not a lot of money; some gave $15; some gave hundreds. But each $15 helped prevent someone from getting malaria.
Halfway through the campaign a very generous parishioner offered to match what we raised, dollar for dollar! That just encouraged us even more!
St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Charlotte has sent ERD a check for $17,460! 1,164 insecticide treated bed nets for Botswana! We are very happy to be the first parish of the diocese to send a gift to our new companion diocese.
I am so overwhelmed and proud of the people of St. Martin's for their participation (and also friends and coworkers) in this campaign. Results far exceeded expectations. never underestimate what God can do when one little seed is planted!
Want more information or to know more about what's going on with the MDGs in North Carolina? Email Debra Smithdeal
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EGR needs
your support
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All of EGR's funding comes from the generous contributions of individuals, congregations and dioceses. Please help us keep this movement going by clicking on the button and making your gift to EGR.
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| Quote of the Week |
 "One of the things that is destroying people with AIDS is the stigma which we attach to it. When a person realizes that they're suffering from a disease in which I'm shunned by my friends, by my parents, I'm a castaway. He or she loses the determination to fight. One thing we must avoid is to allow people to lose hope in the future."
-Nelson Mandela | |
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