Funding Objectives

Spiritual Formation
Target Allocation: $525,000

Spiritual formation and development in the Episcopal Church has been an area of focus for Trinity Grants since 1994. Currently we are seeking projects that deepen and enrich the spiritual quest and encourage the grace of transformation among young adults in their 20s and 30s. Applicants must articulate a sound understanding of and a deep commitment to this population. Programs for funding consideration should be essentially grounded in the Christian spiritual tradition, yet open to the relationship between Christian faith and other faith traditions, or none. Programs may include innovative liturgical forms, unusual types of Christian community, or alternative approaches to ministry in which the Gospel is proclaimed in dynamic and culturally relevant ways, as well as "emerging" or unconventional projects that have a clear and positive effect on spirituality.

Metropolitan New York
Target Allocation: $787,500

The Trinity Grants Program serves metropolitan New York by funding, convening, and providing technical assistance to leaders and organizations that raise a generation of leaders for social transformation, with a special focus on the seven New York City communities that provide many inmates to New York State prisons. For 2008, we have two strategies to support the next generation:

Improving Local Schools

• Provide funding for increased grassroots engagement by metropolitan New York Episcopal parishes in neighborhood public schools
• Fund collaborations that lead to system-wide change

Increasing Access to Living Wage Jobs and Economic Opportunity

• Fund advocacy efforts related to accessible and fair-wage jobs
• Fund grassroots economic development opportunities in neighborhoods through community financial institutions
• Provide "program-related investments" that support job development and economic opportunity

Trinity Transformational Fellows

This initiative provides $25,000 for a six-week sabbatical to outstanding lay and clergy leaders so that they may renew and strengthen their work in social transformation. Trinity Transformational Fellows are chosen by "spotters" who remain anonymous, and are announced annually on Ascension Day. Trinity Fellows are asked to recommend occasional proposals for funding that support "raising a generation" but fall outside the core grantmaking strategies.

The 2007 Trinity Transformational Fellows are:

• Dr. Nell Braxton Gibson, Episcopal Urban Caucus, New York, NY
• The Reverend Ninon Hutchinson, St. John's Church, Monticello, NY
• The Reverend Canon Petero A. N. Sabune, Sing Sing Penitentiary, Ossining, NY

Global South
Total Allocation: $997,868

important focus on Africa and limited funding to other locations. Support for the Church's ministry has five key areas:

• Theological Education by Extension (TEE) to train clergy and laity • Leadership and management training, particularly for women
• Community development programs including agricultural training and local and micro-enterprise development
• Primary and preventive health care (nutrition, hygiene, education on HIV/AIDS and STD prevention, clean water access, waste management)
• Peace building and democratic participation (conflict resolution, consensus building, citizenship responsibility) Programs must be church-based, include participation of the local Anglican church, and serve an entire community. Provincial, regional, or diocesan programs that impact several communities take priority.

Telecommunications
Target Allocation: $462,000

Telecommunications funding seeks to strengthen the global Church's capacity for Mission through access to data and information. A primary focus is funding the creation of databases and online libraries for seminaries and other institutions in the Anglican Communion with limited funding for communication technology such as internet access, email, and radio systems. Priority is given to those programs that make these resources available to seminarians and the next generation of Church leaders, particularly in the Global South. The goal is to provide access to theological information, leadership management training, and resources for community development, preventative healthcare, and citizen participation in public life.

Global Partners
Target Allocation: $101,850

The Global Partners program seeks to strengthen the Anglican Communion through increased companion relationships for mission and recognition of shared challenges and solutions. These grants are open to existing and emerging relationships between dioceses and seminaries in the Episcopal Church of the United States and the Global South, as well as South-South partnerships between organizations in Latin America, Asia/Oceania, or Africa. Successful projects address an issue that both partners identify as important, are jointly planned and executed, and involve the mutual exchange of skills, resources, and best practices. Applications involving Anglican seminaries and institutions in the Global South must have approval from the local bishop or archbishop.

Special Opportunity

Special Opportunity proposals are received by invitation only, when Trinity Wall Street learns of special programs and initiatives that merit attention because they will make a major contribution to the life of the Episcopal Church.

Limitations

Spiritual Formation and Development funding has the following three additional limitations:

• We only consider funding programs that have been running for at least one year.
• We do not fund more than half the program budget.
• We do not presently fund grants to organizations that have previously received a Trinity Spiritual Formation grant. Our intention is to support a wide spectrum of Spiritual Formation programs throughout the United States in order to generate increasing numbers of high-quality programs in spirituality.

Global Partners funding has the following three additional limitations:

• Programs must have the active involvement and participation of at least two Anglican/Episcopal church jurisdictions
• For Anglican institutions in the Global South, proposals must have approval from the local bishop
• Airfare from the United States to the Global South or U.S. staff time is not funded