[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] Bishop Stacy Sauls, Episcopal Church Chief Operating Officer, has announced the awarding of a $150,000 grant devoted to Asian Ministries at the Li Tim-Oi Center for Chinese Ministry in San Gabriel, CA (Diocese of Los Angeles).

The funding, to be distributed in increments of $50,000 annually, was approved by the Episcopal Church Executive Council at its October 2014 meeting.

The grant will be dedicated to building costs, program funding, staffing, and spiritual offerings at the center to be located in five+ acres in San Gabriel Valley in connection with the Church of Our Savior.

The Li Tim-Oi Center  will be “the nexus of Chinese ministry services: connecting people to needed social services; providing sacramental and pastoral care; supporting evangelism and seeker discovery; creating resources regarding Chinese ministry; and sustaining the ministry through a mission driven business enterprise,” the proposal outlines.

Among the myriad of programs are a summer cultural exchange program; an after-school program; a theological Institute; and parish, health, youth and community services.

“The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Los Angeles have taken this great step to partner for ministry at the Li Tim-Oi Center,” noted Bishop Stacy Sauls, Episcopal Church Chief Operating Officer.  “I am particularly pleased that we, as The Episcopal Church, can reach out to meet the needs of an underserved community in this way.”

“I give thanks for the willingness of The Episcopal Church and the Executive Council to assist with the new Li Tim-Oi Center begun by the Diocese of Los Angeles,” said Bishop J. Jon Bruno of Los Angeles. “This partnership unites us in service and strategic ministry serving God’s people in both local and international contexts.”

“We are very excited to have been awarded this grant to aid us in developing our dream to enhance and expand Chinese mission and ministry, which has already begun here in the Diocese of Los Angeles and which we hope to spread throughout The Episcopal Church,” commented Bishop Suffragan Diane Jardine Bruce of the Diocese of Los Angeles.

The Li Tim-Oi Center is named for the Rev. Florence Li Tim-Oi, the first woman to be ordained to the priesthood throughout the Anglican Communion in 1944 and who is honored in Holy Women Holy Men January 24.

The website for the Li Tim-Oi Center is currently being finalized; link will be announced shortly.