Church Planting Grant recipients announced

St. Herman of Alaska Mision in Fairbanks, AKThe Department of Evangelization of The Orthodox Church in America is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2008 Church Planting Grants. St. Herman of Alaska Mission in Fairbanks, AK and Saint Christina of Tyre Mission in Fremont, CA were approved for a second year on the Grant. Only two Grants were awarded this year due to financial constraints and a smaller collection from the Annual Mission Appeal. Holy Apostles Mission in Mechanicsburg, PA completed the first year of the Grant with great success and it was decided to graduate the mission early. The Holy Ascension Mission in Mount Pleasant, SC completed successfully their third and final year of the Grant. Their great success is seen in the almost completed new church building which is due to be consecrated shortly.

Fr. Eric George Tosi, Chairman of the Department of Evangelization stated, “There were a number of missions who applied this year throughout North America and the Department could have easily granted seven of the qualified missions if the funds were available. However, due to the financial constraints, it was decided to graduate one mission early which had exceeded our expectations on growth and to only award grants to those previously funded.” The Church Planting Grant is given to a limited number of missions who have met the criteria for the Grant. The number of missions who receive the Grant is also limited to the amount raised by the OCA’s Mission Appeal each February. Fr. Eric further stated, “Last year’s appeal fell dramatically short of the goal of being able to fund ten missions. And when the Appeal falls short, this means that there are priests and missions who need to find alternate ways of funding a mission while maintaining a full-time priest. It is clear that the more priests we can fund on a full-time basis, the faster the missions can establish themselves. And there are missions everywhere in the United States and Canada looking for this type of funding. Next year’s Mission Appeal will be critical to get back on track with planting and funding new missions. It is also worth noting that all the money that is collected with the Appeal is accounted for and goes into the hands of the missions and missionaries. And during this last year, all the Mission Grants were kept current.”

St. Christina of Tyre MissionA mission may apply for the Grant for up to three years. The Plant is for $15,000 a year which is matched by the mission to be used exclusively to pay for a full-time resident priest. All the Grants have shown to be a great success in establishing and growing the mission. To date…

For more information on the Grant or to obtain applications, see the OCA website at http://www.oca.org, the Department of Evangelization or contact the office at (702) 898-4800 or email Fr. Eric George Tosi, chairman at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). All applications must be received by August 31 of each year.