Christmas comes early at the World Communion

["Daphne Martin_Gnanadason" <Daphne.Martin_Gnanadason@wcrc.ch>]

>World Communion of Reformed Churches  
>News Release
>27 September 2011

>Christmas comes early at the World Communion

In these hard times of austerity, with governments and churches across the 
Global North cutting their budgets right, left and centre, it's exceptional to 
find a church organization anxious to give money away.

Today, the World Communion of Reformed Churches is that exception.

The WCRC Partnership Fund finds itself in the happy position of wanting to give 
its member churches up to USD 450,000 before the end of 2011.

The Partnership Fund is one concrete way in which the WCRC shows itself to be a 
communion, helping member churches to carry out projects in mission or service 
that otherwise they could not afford.

"Thanks to the generosity of the Protestant Development Agency (EED) in Germany 
and other donors, we find ourselves in September 2011 with significantly more 
money to award in grants than we had expected," explains Douwe Visser, 
coordinator of the fund.

"We want to make up to USD 450,000 available for projects before the end of 
this year."

Member churches - either individually or in regional groups - may apply to the 
Partnership Fund for a grant of up to USD 33,000 and sometimes more.

Douwe Visser encourages churches to apply as soon as possible - preferably 
before the end of October, he says, to give the fund time to process the 
application.

For further information and details about how to apply, please visit the 
Partnership Fund section of our website: www.wcrc.ch or send a message to 
partnership@wcrc.ch. 

WCRC was created in June 2010 through a merger of the World Alliance of 
Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC). Its 230 
member churches representing 80 million Christians are active worldwide in 
initiatives supporting economic, climate and gender justice, mission, and 
cooperation among Christians of different traditions.

>Media Contacts:
>Kristine Greenaway
>Office of Communications
>Email: kgr@wcrc.ch 
>tel: +41 (0)22 791 62 43;
>fax: +41 (0)22 791 65 05
>www.wcrc.ch ( http://www.wcrc.ch/ )