CMO Awards $50,000 In Ministry With Grant Funding

The Center for Missional Outreach is pleased to announce Ministry With Grant Awards for 2021.

This year, the Ministry With Grant application review process paid particular attention to ways that intend to catalyze efforts that focus on building racial justice and equity led by or in mutual partnership with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) churches and communities. The Grants Team prayerfully discerned through 14 applications from every District, awarding $50,000.

List of recipients:

• Reading with Friends, First UMC Wichita Falls ($10,000): creates a summer literacy-focused program by deploying summer interns and volunteers, with the coordination of local educators and church partners.
• Pilot Point Multicultural Choir, Pilot Point UMC ($3,700): creates infrastructure to create a community-wide multicultural choir.
• Los Vecinos Community Center, First UMC Sherman ($10,000): builds out church-based community center and programming to respond to needs of Latinx immigrants in the Sherman community.
• Students Connecting Students, Wesley Center, Paris Junior College ($8,000): deploys student interns to build a network within a variety of college groups to broaden connections with a diverse student body.
• One + One Dallas ($4,000): supporting North Texas Conference churches in efforts to partner with Dallas ISD schools as well as resourcing for students in care of Child Protective Services.
• Faces, Holy Covenant UMC ($2,500): builds out effort to support diverse foster and adoptive families through finding ways to fill gaps among those impacted.
• BIPOC Solidarity Coalition, Owenwood Farm & Neighbor Space ($5,000): creates cohorts “to focus on anti-racism within BIPOC communities, creating space for BIPOC to address bias within their own communities and the impact that bias has on other BIPOC groups.”
• Network Community Missions, partner of First UMC Royse City ($2,000): funds the next stage in development of coalition of civic leaders, school partners, social services and churches to support young people most likely to suffer the effects of racial inequity.
• Rockwall County Clergy Coalition, First UMC Rockwall ($4800): partners with local faith communities to organize a deep listening campaign in county to understand the on-the-ground racial justice and other concerns of neighbors.

Opportunities for the 2022 grant cycle will be announced in January. If you would like to discuss your ideas for being in ministry with your neighbors, please email Rev. Andrew Fiser.

Published: Wednesday, May 19, 2021