wfn.org | ABCUSA: American Baptist Foundation Awards Grants

["SCHRAMM, Richard" <Richard.Schramm@abc-usa.org>]

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 12/11/03)--The American
Baptist Foundation has announced the presentation of grants of $15,000 and
$10,000, respectively, for the Academy of Congregational Transformation
(ACT), a project of the American Baptist Churches of the Northwest and the
Evergreen Baptist Association, and the Revive/Alive School for
Congregational Renewal, a program of the American Baptist Churches of the
Rochester/Genesee Region.  The foci of the two grants, to be provided in
March 2004, fulfills the guidelines of the Palmer Trust.  

ACT began in June 2000, offering pastors in Idaho, Montana, Utah and
Washington 20 training days over a two-year period, monthly meetings with
local peers, and the availability of facilitators for personal mentoring in
and out of class.  The project began with 18 pastors, several of whom became
leaders for a new class that started in June 2002.  The ACT experience
endeavors, in part, to provide participating pastors with the professional
skills and confidence to lead significant change in the churches they serve.

Revive/Alive is a new program growing out of the finding that some churches
have been successful in ministering to younger generations without losing
their current members.	Four weekend seminars are planned each year for
clusters of lay/clergy teams in the greater Rochester, N.Y. area.
Additional special seminars, which will focus on specific settings such as
rural, urban, etc., also are planned. 

Funding for both programs includes not only grants from the American Baptist
Foundation but also participant and church fees as well as support from the
budgets of the regions involved.

The grants from the American Baptist Foundation are made possible because of
the vision of Gordon and Virginia Palmer, who established a trust with the
Foundation to fund a variety of American Baptist ministries.  The American
Baptist Foundation provides this service as one way to fulfill its mission
of encouraging individuals to include American Baptist ministry and mission
in their estate plans.

K/2003ABNS/03ABN153

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (800)ABC-3USA x2077
/ (610)768-2077; fax: (610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org;
richard.schramm@abc-usa.org