The 213th Annual Council - Diocese of Virginia

Annual Reports
Five outreach grants were awarded from the Mustard Seed Fund, totally $54,973.
These included:
• Calvary, Front Royal, Congregational-Community Assistance Program (C-CAP)
Relocation Project, $8,000
• Emmanuel at Brook Hill, Richmond, Bryan Education Center Improvement Project
– Children’s Music Program, $10,000
• St. Andrew’s, Richmond, Growing St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, $29,973
• St. Luke’s, Alexandria, VIC Housing, Inc. Strategic Planning, $5,000
• St. Stephen’s, Heathsville, Outreach Program Development, $2,000 initially, and up
to an additional $5,500
Mustard Seed Fund outreach grants are one facet of the larger Mustard Seed grant
program, which assists local parishes of the Diocese of Virginia in four program areas:
youth programming, outreach, strengthening of local congregations and missions.
During the coming year, in addition to meeting to consider new Mustard Seed and Fund
for Human Need grant applications, the Commission on Human Need will be offering
several idea-sharing opportunities for churches and individuals involved in specific
outreach ministries—ESOL programs, feeding programs and general outreach.
The diocesan staff liaison for the Commission on Human Need is Patricia Bjorling,
director of stewardship and development.
Su b m i t t e d b y Ma r t h a W. Hi g h, Ch a i r
Committee on Mental Health
The Diocesan Mental Health Committee is pleased to report that our ministry of
advocacy and education has enjoyed a fruitful 2007. At Council we introduced our
workshop template for “Depression and Bipolar Disorders” as the first offering in a
series entitled “Families throughout the Lifespan.” The workshop template includes a
lesson plan, Power Point slideshow, devotional materials and additional resources and is
available on CD and on our Web site at http://mentalhealth.thediocese.net. Our second
offering on post traumatic stress disorder is in development and should be available later
this year.
Our membership recruitment initiative was successful and we have increased our
membership to nine individuals consisting of clergy and lay leaders from throughout
the Diocese. These members bring a wide array of professional and personal experience
in addressing issues related to the mentally ill, as well as tremendous energy and
enthusiasm for promoting this ministry in the Diocese. We also welcomed Carolyn
Chilton as our diocesan liaison.
In the wake of the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech, the committee provided a statement
that was distributed throughout the Diocese in an e-Communiqué. Members have had
the opportunity to visit parishes and lead conversations about topics related to mental
health. We have also had the opportunity to assist parishes in planning events and
educational programs. We hope that an increasing number of parishes will look to us as a
resource for planning workshops, coffee hours and other gatherings where mental health
issues can be discussed in an informative and compassionate manner.
Grace Robbins has become our new Webmaster and we look forward to making our Web site
an even more powerful resource for the Diocese. We invite parishes to send us information
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The Diocese of Virginia t Journal of the the 213 th Annual Council