[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs press release] The 2014 Roanridge Trust Award Grants, totaling $170,000.00 for nine grants for transformative work across the church, have been announced by Sam McDonald, Episcopal Church Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Director of Mission.

“All of the grant applications submitted exhibited the high level of commitment of many dioceses for the importance of the work of our church in small towns and rural areas,” McDonald noted. “Many of them showed great creativity to meet the changing realities and opportunities to bring the Good News in these communities. There is wonderful mixture of innovative ideas which range from the particular needs of addressing rural poverty, to the training of both lay and ordained leaders, to specifically engaging young adults to be partners in the mission of a rural area. The vision for mission in all these initiatives is inspiring.”

The Roanridge Trust Award grants are awarded annually for new and creative models for leadership development in small communities across the Episcopal Church.

The Roanridge Trust was established by the Cochel family, who originally gave a working farm in Missouri called Roanridge to the Episcopal Church. The interest from the sale of the farm generates the grant funds.

Awarded for 2014 work were:

The Episcopal Diocese of Alaska, The Episcopal Church in Navajoland, The Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota, The Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota: $20,000 for the Bishop’s Native Collaborative

The Episcopal Diocese of Kansas: $50,000 for the Bishop Kemper School for Ministry

The Episcopal Diocese of Lexington: $20,000 for Reading Camp

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles: $15,000 for Seeds of Hope – Farm Advisor Training Program

The Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota: $20,000 for NW Minnesota Indigenous/Ojibwe Total Ministry Training Program

The Episcopal Diocese of Spokane: $20,000 for Congregational Developer Intensive Trainer Workshop

The Episcopal Diocese of Vermont: $5,000 for Franklin Alliance for Rural Ministries

The Episcopal Diocese of Western Kansas: $10,000 for Western Kansas Clergy Training Program

The Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana: $10,000 for The Servant Leadership Corps

For more info on Roanridge Trust: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/roanridge