Missions Committee

For the past twenty-five years our parish has supported dedicated people and organizations who, in the name of Christ, work in such areas as theological education, community development, housing, medical care, and church planting. We believe that support for and involvement in missions is our response to God's grace and love for us. God calls us to care for the spiritual, physical, and social needs of others and to join in the restoration of all people to God's self.

The Mission Fund is allocated a percentage (5.5%) of the parish’s total overall pledge income.

In 2006 we funded the following ministries:

Afterworks after-school program in Cambridge

Refugee Immigration Ministries

Holy Trinity School in Haiti

Christians for Environmental Stewardship

Home Based Card for People Living with HIV/AIDS (Diocese of Tanga)

Bishop Sargent School for the Mentally Retarded in India

Peter Johnson, Missionary in Honduras

Gulf Coast Partnership

Partakers Prison Ministry

Chris and Trish Morck: St. James’s missionaries in Ecuador

Disbursements for the year were $12,160.

In the next year we will also be funding the Outdoor Church in Cambridge.

We were delighted that Sarah Forrester, along with India, Sage and Rick Dumont were able to travel to Ecuador and visit the Morcks, as well as bring many donated goods to children there. Further, former parishioner Maureen Capillo will be in Ecuador this summer with the Morcks and the Episcopalian Diocese of Ecuador - studying Spanish and assisting the Diocese in their work to educate street children in Quito. You can read more about the Morcks at: http://www.stjames-cambridge.org/morcks

We were also happy to welcome the Rev. Jane Beard from the Gulf Coast Partnership, a ministry we began to support this year. She preached on All Saints Day and also spoke at a forum after church. We are hopeful that our youth may be able to participate in a mission trip to Biloxi, MS next year.

You can read much more about the missions we support on the bulletin board in the parish hall or on the missions page of the parish web page: http://www.stjames-cambridge.org/missions. As always, we encourage parishioners who want to undertake missions activities to speak with us about support. We also welcome members who would like to serve on the Committee.

Members:

Nancy McArdle (chair)

Anne Shumway

John Gay

Jennifer Schley

Mary Caulfield

Yvette Verdieu