by Herb Gunn

[Plymouth, Mich: March 1, 2008] As the Combined Episcopal Services Appeal (CESA) wound down its 45-year history last year, it appeared doubtful that the umbrella agency for outreach ministries would reach its final commitment of support to the network of Episcopal-based outreach ministries. Approximately $87,000 was commitment for 2007, but throughout most of the year, contributions from the normal sources lagged behind expectations.

But in the closing months of the year, supporters of the appeal staged a successful surge and final payments for grants committed for 2007 were mailed to the 18 CESA agencies in early 2008.

In the meantime, the re-constituted board of the Episcopal Community Services (ECS) began to establish ECS as the oversight agency for outreach ministries in the diocese, moving forward.

In addition to the bishop as its chair, the initial ECS board consists of four members: Gary Parker, Jill Pavka, Jim Toy and Tim Wittlinger. The first order of ECS board business will be to activate the legal authorizations necessary to be a not-for-profit agency in Michigan and to revise the board’s bylaws and membership criteria.

ECS also will immediately begin to determine which outreach ministries will share the $100,000 that Diocesan Convention approved in the 2008 budget. Diocesan Council empowered the ECS board to evaluate the qualified agencies and return to council with recommendations for the disbursement of funds.

ECS created a 2008 funding application form for agencies that previously received outreach funding as well as former CESA agencies that might qualify for support.

Parker acknowledged that without ongoing CESA funding, the total diocesan level for outreach support is about 60 percent of recent years. The application form is available through The Record Weekly dated March 17 in the Weekly archives.

“We feel that this is the new outreach arm of the diocese. All outreach programs in the diocese will come to Episcopal Community Services both for guidance with their ministry and funding,” said Parker, who is serving as the board convener. “We don’t see ourselves doing hands-on ministry, but we see ourselves knowing who’s doing things and putting them in contact with other people who want to do similar things so that we don’t keep reinventing the wheel.

“Secondly, we see ourselves as a resource for information and, hopefully, financing as we get going,” Parker said. He explained that by the end of the year, ECS will be prepared to launch funding appeals.

“The message we would like to send out to everyone who was involved with CESA—both parishes and individuals—is to keep Episcopal Community Services in mind because ultimately you can expect bigger and greater things from this new ECS than CESA was ever able to do,” said Parker.