wfn.org | Anglican relief arm names refugee advocate as first president

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

PWRDF names refugee advocate as first president

Leanne Larmondin
Web Manager

Jackson's Point, Ont.
The incorporated of the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund has
named an advocate for refugees as first president of its board of
directors. Janet Dench, head of the Canadian Council for Refugees, is a
former member of the primate's fund committee, when PWRDF was still a
department of Anglican Church of Canada. She is now faced with the
challenge of heading the board of directors of a not-for-profit corporation.

PWRDF incorporated in 2000 but held off its first annual general meeting as
long as possible. The first board of directors and members met in early
November at a resort north of Toronto, on the shores of Lake Simcoe.

The meeting gathered the corporation's new board, one representative from
each of Canada's 30 dioceses (who make up the corporation's voting members)
and 12 youth delegates.

The primate's fund incorporated May 30, 2000 and registered as a charitable
organization effective Sept. 1, 2000. The national church's relief and
development arm sought incorporation to protect its donations, said PWRDF
director Andrew Ignatieff, who describes the change as a financial and
legal procedure that needed to happen.

"We were a department of General Synod with a somewhat different
structure," explained Mr. Ignatieff in an interview. "People have always
donated specifically to the Primate's Fund, ever since it was founded."

For that reason, he said, "In October, 1999 it was recommended to us, by
the lawyers, that we seek incorporation as a means of guaranteeing the
intent of all future donations and contributions."

Mr. Ignatieff is encouraged that its donations appear to be increasing
slightly even in a time of transition for the church, as it faces
uncertainty about its future due to residential school litigation.

PWRDF donations totalled $1.384 million by Sept. 30, 2001. Financial
manager Jill Martin said this is "good for this time of year." Donations to
special appeals were particularly successful in early 2001. The bulk of the
primate's fund donations usually come at the end of the calendar year.
Donations in 2000 totalled $3,094,992.

Though it is more than a year since the incorporation, PWRDF waited before
holding its first meeting "to give the organization time to evolve;" the
delay also gave staff time to concentrate on new administrative and
structural concerns arising from the incorporation.

As significant as the incorporation was, Mr. Ignatieff said, it was
surprising how smoothly the first meeting went.

The gathering clarified for members and the board the so-called "strategic
themes" by which the primate's fund carries out its work:

* weaving a culture of peace and justice;

* building a moral economy;

* accompanying communities in crisis.

Those themes, explained Mr. Ignatieff, are the basis for how PWRDF staff
organize their work, how they deliver their programs and how they work in
partnership with other countries. In explaining the themes to the
gathering, staff used case studies of sample projects to demonstrate how
they suit the strategic themes.

The gathering, which featured a presentation by Toronto's A.J. Finlay on
her April visit to war-torn Sudan, also acknowledged its first honourary
members, the diocese of Huron's Three Cantors. The honourary membership is
awarded to those making a significant contribution to the Primate's Fund;
the Three Cantors - three Huron priests plus an accompanist - have been
performing for PWRDF's benefit since 1997.
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Links:

Primate's World Relief and Development Fund

http://www.pwrdf.org/

PWRDF giving down this year
December 2000 Anglican Journal news story
<http://www.anglicanjournal.com/126/10/canada04.html>

PWRDF studies incorporation
April 2000 Anglican Journal news story
<http://www.anglicanjournal.com/126/04/canada12.html>

The Three Cantors

http://www.3cantors.com/

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Leanne Larmondin
Web Manager
Anglican Church of Canada
600 Jarvis St.
Toronto ON  L5E 2G1
(416) 924 9199 ext. 307
ll@anglican.ca
http://www.anglican.ca
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