| |
|
"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.
|
|
"And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second ..." (I Cor 12:28)
|
|
|
,
A couple of Sundays ago at church in Tennessee with my 90 year old mother, one of their Prayers for the People
struck me as what SIM's ministry is all about.
We pray for the Church, that she may be like the "Star in the East" guiding, beckoning, and welcoming all people to come and worship the One, and in turn go out and share the Light. For 90 years the church has been an important stabilizing factor for my mother. It is gratifying that, at a time when much of her life's activities have dwindled, a weekday healing service and a Sunday service provide a spiritual balancing influence in her rapidly changing world. SIM's ministry is ultimately about The Episcopal Church guiding, beckoning and welcoming all people to come and worship. That "Star in the East," that "City on a Hill" vision of the church undergirded the founding purpose in 1857 of the eight visionaries who met to support a growing Episcopal Church by forming an organization "to find suitable persons for the Episcopal ministry and aid them in acquiring a thorough education."
For thousands and thousands of Episcopalians like my mother, ordained leadership in The Episcopal Church has been and continues to provide a pastoral presence in their lives. In these changing and confusing times The Episcopal Church knows it must change in many ways. Its response to these challenges must include society's need for that spiritual balance of guiding, beckoning and welcoming. To live out God's mission we need strong, innovative spiritual leaders to be the Church of tomorrow.
This is SIM's ministry.
Please partner with us with a year-end tax deductible donation to SIM's ministry.
Happy New Year,
Tom Moore
Executive Director
|
