Global Goals Epiphanytide Retreat to Focus on Worldwide Outreach

The Diocese of New Jersey Global Goals Task Force is offering an Epiphanytide retreat and organizational meeting on Saturday, January 21 from 9:00 a.m. until about 3:00 p.m. at Trinity Church in Princeton (Exact room TBA.)  This retreat will contain worship, lunch together, an organizational meeting, and a program! Anyone interested in joining this Task Force group is very welcomed and can  email me.

Apologies for the late notice, but we will do this again at another time during the year with much more lead time.

This year, we hope to integrate some more resources, support, and educational opportunities into our activities.

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. More information on our Diocese’s NJ Global Goals granting will appear throughout the year!