Global Goals Task Force

About

The mission of our Task Force is to create a Diocesan-wide movement to promote awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to work with congregations to develop plans for their achievement.  The Task Force’s focus on people facing extreme poverty throughout the world is based on our baptismal covenant “to strive for justice and peace among all people.”  In 2025, our plans include a diocese-wide mission initiative as well as our annual Matching Grants. Members of the Diocese are welcome at our monthly Sunday evening check-ins on the third Sunday of each month at 5:00 p.m. Just contact Canon Caroline Carson, our chair, for details and the zoom link. In addition to offering annual Matching Grants, our Task Force supports Episcopal Relief and Development each year with a portion of our budget.

In the year 2000, nations from throughout the world formally joined together with the common cause of eradicating extreme poverty. Their work has been guided and held accountable by, first, the eight Millennium Development Goals and, now, the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, 2016-2030). The Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals, are listed at the end of this document.

In response to the vow made in our Baptismal Covenant to “strive for justice and peace among all people,” The Episcopal Church has dedicated 0.7% of its annual budget to support the achievement of the MDGs/SDGs since 2006 and has charged each diocese and congregation to do the same. In our own diocese, the Diocesan Global Goals Task Force, which is charged to create a Diocesan-wide movement to promote awareness of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to help congregations develop plans to assist in their achievement, oversees the distribution of this 0.7% through the Global Goals Matching Grants program. Since the beginning of the Matching Fund, participating congregations and organizations have enabled upwards of $13,000 annually to be distributed to a variety of organizations which are fighting extreme poverty beyond our borders. In the past, grants have been given to congregations across the diocese to further God’s work among the poor:

Episcopal Relief and Development
Commission to Every Nation
The Diocese of Ecuador (for disaster relief)
Foundation Cristosal, El Salvador
Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA), Malawi
Good Shepherd Home, Cameroon
Good Shepherd Sustainable Learning Foundation
Heifer International
International Justice Mission
Redemption School, Haiti
Tropical Clinics
World Vision

What is the Global Goals Matching Grant Program?

The Global Goals Matching Grant Program encourages congregations in the Diocese of New Jersey to support the eradication of extreme poverty by providing matching funds for projects supported by the congregation.  A grant of up to $750 per project is available to match funds raised and donated by the applicant. The applicant decides which partner organization to support and may request matching funds for either an ongoing or a new project. Each project must address at least one of the SDGs in an international location.  Congregations can apply for more than one grant.

Did your parish raise funds for Episcopal Relief and Development (such as for hurricane relief in Haiti or Gifts for Life), or support the education of a child at Good Shepherd Home in Cameroon, or work with a different international development organization? The Diocesan Global Goals Task Force offers matching grants each year to parishes engaged in international development and relief work, and up to $750 is available per project. The applicant decides which partner organization to support and may request matching funds for either an ongoing or a new project. Each project must address at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals in an international location. Congregations can apply for more than one grant.

APPLY FOR A GRANT (Deadline: November 30, 2024)

CONTACT

The Rev. Canon Caroline Carson – [email protected] and (609)460-5405 ext. 502