Some the the Phase 1 recipients include (clockwise from top left) Good Shepherd, Ridgeway; St. Ambrose, Raleigh; All Saints’, Warrenton; St. Matthias, Louisburg; El Buen Pastor, Durham; and Guadalupana, Wilson, and St. Mark’s, Wilson.
Phase I is complete; Phase II is underway
Shortly after the sale of the former Diocesan House location at 200 West Morgan Street was finalized in 2023, Bishop Sam Rodman and Bishop Jennifer Brooke-Davidson formed a diocesan-wide task force to discern what to do with the $8.8 million net proceeds.
The task force, with approval from diocesan governing bodies, Diocesan Council, Standing Committee and the Trustees, ultimately decided these funds would be used to support two areas: $3.8 million to cover the new Diocesan House lease and ongoing support of the diocesan offices, and $5 million to support new and existing projects and ministries relating to diocesan mission strategy priorities through grants, matching funds, seed funds for projects and revolving loans.
“The work of our mission strategy and our journey to Becoming Beloved Community has always been about, first and foremost, the work happening in our churches and diocesan ministries,” said Rodman when the plan was announced. “As possibilities for the proceeds from the sale of Diocesan House were discussed, conversation returned again and again to the work happening within our churches.”
The disbursement is being offered in three phases. In Phase I, $3 million dollars was designated specifically for historically Black and Latino congregations, as well as churches with an annual operating budget of less than $100,000. All of these churches were directly contacted by members of the diocesan congregational vitality team and invited to submit proposals and requests for funding.
PHASE I RECIPIENTS
By the close of the Phase I submission process, 29 proposals were received with a total asking of $7.54 million. Of the applications received, two churches were not eligible per the Phase I guidelines and were notified that their applications would be included in later phases. Three were eligible for alternative funding sources, and their requests were directed to those sources.
The task force met with many of the remaining 24 churches over the course of the summer to understand better their priorities and needs. The task force also met regularly with Diocesan Council, which had the final approval of fund disbursement, to keep them apprised of the process and progress, as well as to make recommendations on how the funds should be divided.
Throughout the process, “our goal was to shift the mindset [about] struggling congregations to seeing them as opportunities for missional growth and relationship building,” said the Rev. Dr. William Morley, a board-certified executive coach hired to consult and guide the process. “Our recommendations to Diocesan Council reflected a strategic effort to foster new beginnings [with the churches], rebuild trust and begin to reshape the historical narrative.”
Announced first at the 209th Annual Convention, the 24 churches granted mission proceeds funding for their ministries, projects and congregational needs are:
Chapel of Christ the King, Charlotte: $80,000
For repairs to the church, the installation of an ADA-compliant ramp, upgraded internet and the start of removal and architectural planning of adjacent structure.
Good Shepherd, Cooleemee: $30,567
For repairs to the church building.
Iglesia El Buen Pastor, Durham: $250,000
Funding to help with the acquisition of a new site and structure for the church.
St. Titus’, Durham: $275,000
For the rehabilitation of Delaney House on site, including repairs, remodeling, landscaping and the installation of solar panels.
Galloway Memorial, Elkin: $58,400
For completion of an ADA-compliant ramp, installation of ADA-compliant restroom and window replacement.
Redeemer, Greensboro: $200,000
For roof and building repairs.
St. Andrew’s, Haw River: $16,000
Assistance with funding a new parish growth program.
Church of the Savior, Jackson: $33,000
For roof repair.
St. Matthew’s, Kernersville: $16,500
Assistance with salary support and purchasing new signage.
St. David’s, Laurinburg: $20,000
For the purchase of a new organ.
St. Alban’s, Littleton: $37,000
For repairs, painting, the installation of a new HVAC system and personnel assistance.
St. Matthias’, Louisburg: $112,621
For repairs to the foundation and roof replacement.
St. Cyprian’s, Oxford: $175,000
For repairs to foundation issues and the installation of energy efficient doors, windows and battery storage.
St. Mark’s, Raleigh: $265,500
Three-year funding for the founding director’s position at the New Hope Collaborative, the new ministry community on the site of the campus of St. Mark’s, Raleigh.
St. Ambrose, Raleigh: $250,000
For the renovation of the church kitchen.
Good Shepherd, Ridgeway: $39,500
For roof and building repair.
St. Matthew’s, Salisbury: $20,000
For the installation of a new audio system.
St. Mary’s, Speed: $25,000
For repairing flood damage in parish hall and the renovation of the church kitchen and bathroom.
St. Luke’s, Tarboro: $62,000
For repairs to the church kitchen and the roof of the sanctuary and bell tower; repairing tree damage and new signage for the church cemetery, and the installation of handrails and a new HVAC system.
All Saints’, Warrenton: $280,000
For a new roof and foundation grading as part of the ongoing revisioning of the site.
La Iglesia de Guadalupana, Wilson: $250,000
Funding to help with the acquisition of new site and structure for church.
St. Mark’s, Wilson: $150,000
For building needs.
Christ’s Beloved Community / La Comunidad Amada de Cristo, Winston-Salem: $250,000
Will be used toward the building of a new church space.
St. Stephens, Winston-Salem: $100,000
For roof repairs and the installation of an HVAC system and kitchen range.
Some the the Phase I recipients include (clockwise from top left) Redeemer, Greensboro; Saviour, Jackson; Good Shepherd, Cooleemee; St. Titus’, Durham; St. Mary’s, Speed; and Galloway Memorial, Elkin.
HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS
If there is a trend to be identified in the Phase I applications, it is the number of churches whose buildings and property are in need of repair. The need, and the struggle for resources to meet those needs, reinforces that the approach taken with the mission proceeds disbursement was correct and fair.
The decision to offer funds first to churches that include historically Black and Latino congregations was an intentional one. In July 2021, the Rev. Rhonda Lee, who has a doctorate in history and was at the time a diocesan regional canon, researched the diocese’s racial history from its founding through the 1960’s. Her “Initial Report: The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina’s History of Institutional Racism (Founding through 1960)” made clear that the funds and resources the Diocese of North Carolina has available today are directly traced to historical actions by and within the diocese. Too, it traces how the profits and wealth were accrued through generations in white churches in ways denied to Black churches.
The report presents evidence that a significant number of Episcopalians were slaveholders in the founding days of the diocese. The implications of wealth shared with the church that derived, at least in part, from the labor of enslaved persons cannot—and should not—be ignored. The diocese’s history also shows that ongoing racist societal systems allowed support of some at the expense of others.
In its section reviewing diocesan support for both Black and white churches from its founding through the 1960s, the report details, “In reviewing diocesan newsletters, reports, and correspondence to understand how churches were physically built and ministries were funded, clear patterns of racism emerge. Three phenomena are particularly obvious.
- “Whether grand in scale or more modest, white church buildings were frequently paid for over a short period of time, funded by gifts from wealthy members or, in the case of working-class churches, patrons. These members and patrons almost always had roots in the slaveholding class.
- “Black church buildings were paid for over longer periods, due to white Episcopalians not sharing resources in their control, and also to a relative lack of capital among Black churches’ members. This, in turn, was due to the fact that formerly enslaved persons had had their labor stolen from them, and were emancipated without compensation. It was also due to the fact that the Jim Crow system deliberately kept Black workers’ wages low by strictly limiting their options and enforcing those boundaries through white violence like threats, arson, lynching, and the organized terrorism of groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Black Episcopal churches were often supported by networks of African Americans beyond North Carolina, and sometimes by white organizations in the north. Black clergy and laypersons often built, repaired, or renovated their buildings with their own hands.
- “The white majority of the diocese put Black churches and clergy in the position of having to beg for support from their diocesan colleagues and siblings in Christ, often to no avail. Bishops would periodically appeal to white churches to contribute financially to the work of what was then called ‘the colored convocation’ of the diocese. Requests to devote the offering from one Sunday each year to that purpose went unheeded.”
Some might read the report and think it is in the long past, and today’s actions in support of all diocesan churches are different. In some ways, that is true. The Diocese of North Carolina is committed to its pursuit of racial equity and social justice, and part of that commitment is reckoning with its racial past.
And part of ensuring that today’s decisions do not repeat the mistakes of the past is understanding past patterns and how they impact both patterns and decisions today. For while current actions and decisions may be working to be far more fair, the damage done by the past will take time to repair.
A FIRST STEP
Though the approach is thought by some to be a form of reparations, that is not the case, because it’s not that simple an equation. Reparations require a full accounting of past mistakes before amends can be made and relationships fully rebuilt.
The approach taken by the mission proceeds disbursement offering is, instead, a first step toward recognizing the inequity in resource sharing over the years and its impact on the affected churches. It is the start of a journey the diocese must and will travel; acknowledging and reckoning with its racial history, and how to address past mistakes and restore relationship in the form of reparations and restitution is going to take time, intention, prayer and discernment. As the Rev. Lindsey Ardrey, canon missioner for diocesan reparations and restitution ministry, explains in “Jesus Saves,” “[This ministry, with Jesus as our teacher, is a healing balm…we are talking about Jesus-work.”
“Our hope is that by offering funding from the sale of Diocesan House in this way, two things may happen,” said Rodman. “First, we will make a right beginning as we address and continue to reckon with our racial history. Phase I revealed the need to help churches take steps forward with resources denied to them in the past. It is only a first step, both in terms of our reckoning and finding ways to fill all the needs of the churches, and we are continuing to walk with them on that journey.
“Second, we hope congregations, whether alone or in partnership, will have the space to dream and discern and then realize those dreams. The goal of this process is to provide congregations and ministries with the resources and the tools they need, and the chance to build relationships, to create opportunities for ministries and partnerships that can make a difference in their communities.
“We are grateful this initial round of funding is helping our churches meet the needs they have identified as being crucial to their health and vitality. And we are grateful to all who helped bring about this disbursement of funding that embodies our commitment to our congregations, who are the heart and center of our mission and purpose as we continue to build beloved community in the Diocese of North Carolina.”
THE NEXT PHASES
The Phase I funds were disbursed to recipients before the 209th Annual Convention. The diocese will share the stories of the projects and the churches undertaking them as work is completed. The first, the story of St. Matthew’s, Salisbury, can be found on the next page.
Phase II began on January 15 of this year, with $1 million designated for disbursement. Any church may apply for the Phase II funds, provided the proposed use is to fund works or projects done in collaboration, whether the partnerships are with Phase I-eligible churches, other Episcopal churches, community partners or other organizations. The only criteria are that the applying church be a church of the Diocese of North Carolina and a partner in the proposed mission strategy related work.
Phase III will open following the completion of Phase II and will offer the last $1 million with no applicant restrictions.
Learn more about Phases II and III of the mission proceeds offering.
Apply for Phase II Funds
Phase II applications are now being accepted through March 28. Learn more about Phase II and the application process.
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