The Episcopal Church Executive Council, at its January meeting in Linthicum Heights, MD, approved the recipients of the Constable Fund Grants, totaling $200,000 for six projects.

The Constable Fund Grant Review Committee was chaired by the Rev. Tanya Wallace, an Executive Council member from the Diocese of Western Massachusetts.

The Constable Fund provides grants to fund mission initiatives that were not provided for within the budget of the Episcopal Church as approved by General Convention. Wallace explained, “The criteria used for the ranking, in conjunction with the expectations of the grant and its benefactor, were a clear focus on religious education, potential impact of the project, cost-effectiveness and clarity of budget, level of collaboration, and consistency with the priorities of General Convention and the Episcopal Church.”

Wallace said the Executive Council Constable Grant Review Committee received 19 applications, which carried combined requests totaling over $1.2 million.

Recipients
The six projects receiving 2018 Constable Grants are:

• All Our Children Webinar (Province VIII):  Support for 2018 webinar program to build community partnerships between congregations and public schools. $35,000

• Deputies of Color Pre-Convention Conference (Ethnic Ministries): Support for conference to build mentor relationships among deputies who identify as persons of color, and promote fuller participation, interaction, and leadership possibilities throughout the church. $30,000

• General Convention Children’s Program (General Convention Office): Support for the Children’s Program coordinators, curriculum, and scholarships for participants at General Convention 2018. $17,000

• Leaders for the Movement (Young Adult and Campus Ministries):  Support for Episcopal Service Corps project to build an emerging vision of young adult leadership based in service, justice, and spiritual formation. $30,000

• Province IX Youth and Young Adult Event Leadership Development (Youth Ministries):  Support for project to create 2019 Spanish language Episcopal Youth Event (Evento de Jóvenes Episcopales) in Province IX. $71,000

• Toward Becoming Beloved Community (Province VII):  Support for creative multi-diocese Province VII antiracism project, including the Dioceses of Arkansas, Dallas, Rio Grande, Texas, and West Missouri. $17,000

Named for Mary Louise Constable
The Constable Grants were named for Mary Louise Constable, who was a visionary philanthropist.  In 1935, in the midst of the economic catastrophe known as the Great Depression, Constable made a monetary gift to the Episcopal Church to establish the Constable Fund.  Her desire and intent to add periodically to the fund during her lifetime was realized and culminated with a very generous final gift at the time of her death in 1951. The language of Constable’s will states that the fund exists “in perpetuity … to apply the net income for the purposes of the Society, preferably for the work in religious education not provided for within the Society’s budget.