The 213th Annual Council - Diocese of Virginia

Proceedings
Jennifer is a member of Christ Church, Glen Allen. She has been the driving force behind
mission that began in 1999 as an effort to make it possible for young men from the
southern part of Sudan to attend schools in Nairobi and Kampala, in Kenya and Uganda,
because education opportunities were not available in Sudan. Jennifer and her husband,
Darryl, sought out sponsors, raised money and sent scores of young Sudanese to school.
Gradually, an even more powerful vision was revealed: the creation of a secondary
school in southern Sudan. Jennifer’s contacts with the Sudanese community led her to a
medium-sized city called Rumbek, where the effects of civil war are still very apparent.
There are bullet holes in buildings and burnt out troop transports by the sides of roads.
The area of Rumbek has over one million residents. There was only one secondary school.
Now, because of Jennifer’s leadership, there are two. Hope and Resurrection Secondary
School, located in the village of Atiaba, near Rumbek, began construction in the summer
of 2007 and will be dedicated in April of this year. It will be operated in partnership
with the Episcopal Church of Sudan’s Diocese of Rumbek. Once all four grade levels are
implemented within four years’ time, the school will serve 240 students—none of whom
would have had the opportunity for an education without Hope and Resurrection School.
Jennifer has been described as a “miracle worker.” What Jennifer hoped to create out
of the rich soil of her hope, and the hope of people willing to help, is a testimony to the
veracity of that characterization. It is an honor to present Jennifer Ernst with this year’s
Harriet A. “Happy” Pullman Award.
Bishop’s Outreach Award
The president addressed Council:
The Bishop’s Outreach Award, which is also sponsored by the Commission on Human
Need and awarded annually, honors a church or faith-based non-profit whose outreach
and social ministry programming is exemplary. New and established programs are
eligible for the award, but there must be demonstrable connectedness with the Episcopal
Church, the Diocese of Virginia or a congregation within the Diocese of Virginia.
This Commission on Human Need has selected St. James the Less, Ashland as the winner
of this year’s Bishop’s Outreach Award.
This congregation is being recognized for several outreach activities. Notable is its free
clinic ministry, which was opened in October of 2006, after about a year of planning.
The free clinic operates in the basement of St. James the Less, and in the first year served
nearly 200 adult patients, providing about $200,000 in free services. All of the clinic’s
personnel are volunteers and the clinic’s operations are funded through donations of
all kinds. Recently, St. James the Less began a partnership with Shiloh Baptist Church,
an historically African American congregation in Ashland. Shiloh is going to operate
a satellite free optical clinic. Discussions are also in progress with St. Anne’s Catholic
Church to being a satellite free mental health clinic in Ashland. The free clinic has been a
ministry not only of St. James the Less, but the whole community of Ashland.
In addition to the free clinic, St. James the Less has a variety of other outreach activities
in which its members participate. There is a special fund that provides scholarships for
Shrine Mont campers, art camp and similar activities for youth. Dinners co-hosted with
St. Anne’s Catholic Church are served monthly for those in need. The church participates
in the CARITAS network. Parishioners have traveled to Mississippi for the last three
years for Katrina relief work. Two refugee families are sponsored by the church—one
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The Diocese of Virginia t Journal of the the 213 th Annual Council