progress on the MDG's in TEC's executive council

From ENS: Read the whole thing here. There are three things about this that I think are good:

1. Our church is willing to put a million dollars of its money where its mouth is to help those who need it. Nothing wrong with that - quite the contrary, this is a gospel mission. And the MDG's, for all their faults, aren't too bad a way to define, on a global scale, the Gospel imperative to do alms.

2. Instead of this being a faceless contribution by our denominational representatives, they want to use TEC's million-dollar commitment to stimulate personal giving among Episcopalians. Hopefully this will help us all live the lifestyle of generosity and charity that Jesus enjoins upon us. Just like a good ol' tithing sermon in the parish - again, nothing wrong with that.

3. Although ERD has its problems (most notably the creation of a conflict of interest in Global South Anglicans who condemned the actions of GC03 on the one hand but who relied on TEC's deep pockets on the other), and although I wish they were including ARDF in this commitment -- still, at least it's not all going to the UN, as if giving to the UN constituted mission. Plus, that place leaks money like a sieve. (And btw, ARDF includes the MDG's on their homepage as part of their mission, too. Pity the two funds can't cooperate.)

Three task forces made reports to the Executive Council on March 2. One group proposed a resolution for a Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Inspiration Fund, using the $924,000 MDG line item in the church's budget.
That money would be used to match contributions to build a $3 million budget for anti-malaria projects by Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), Jubilee Ministries and the Episcopal Church through the Executive Council.
ERD, which would manage the fundraising efforts, would identify additional contributions to bring the $924,000 amount up to $1 million in order to "seed the fund" and then individuals, congregations and dioceses would be encouraged to contribute $2 million.
The proposed resolution would allocate $2 million to ERD's work with the "NetsforLife" initiative in Africa, with a possible similar pilot project in Asia. The other $1 million would be allocated to initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean.