Church Disperses $211,210

The Episcopal Church is supporting 12 projects totaling $211,210 for Roanridge Trust Award Grants in 2018. Roanridge grants support models of leadership development, training, and ministries in small towns and rural communities across the Episcopal Church.

The recipients, sorted in descending order of the grant totals:

• Diocese of Northern Indiana, Becoming Beloved Community: $74,600
• Navajoland, Online Gratitude Formation Program, UTO University: $25,000
• Diocese of Long Island, Rural and Migrant Ministry’s CASA: $20,000
• Episcopal Church in South Carolina, Smash Glass Arts: $15,000
• Diocese of Western Michigan, Center for Christian Spirituality: $15,000
• Province IX, Episcopal Asset Map for Spanish-Speaking, Non-US Dioceses: $12,400
• Diocese of North Carolina, Lee County Literacy Council/Augustine Literacy Project: $10,000
• Diocese of Western North Carolina: Stewardship of the Entirety of Our Lives in a Rural Setting: $10,000
• Diocese of Southwestern Virginia, Dismantling Racism in Southwestern Virginia: $9,210
• Diocese of Virginia, Lay Pastoral Leader Training Program: $8,000
• Province I, Models of Ministry in Small, Vital Congregations: $7,000
• Diocese of Oklahoma-ELCA Joint Oklahoma Small Church Leadership Summit: $5,000

Marion Luckey of Executive Council led the committee that reviewed applications. Convened by the Rev. Melanie Mullen, the church’s director of evangelism, reconciliation, and stewardship of creation, the committee consisted of  applications were reviewed by a committee consisting of Luckey, a member at large, and Episcopal Church staff.

The trust was established by members of the Cochel family, who originally gave a working farm in Missouri called Roanridge to the Episcopal Church. Income from the trust generates the grant funds. The purpose of the Roanridge Trust is for training town and country clergy and rural Christian workers of the nine provinces of the Episcopal Church.

Adapted from the Office of Public Affairs

Matt Townsend

Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.