In the late 1980’s Bishop William Grant Black commissioned a task force to design a free-standing charity in response to the need for more resources for social justice work in the Diocese of Southern Ohio. Using a $10,000 grant from the United Thank Offering to research charities across the Episcopal Church, the task force recommended that our ECSF focus its mission on equipping the ministry of local congregations, rather than on providing social services directly.  This is based on the theology that every Christian is called to respond to human need. As the setting in which Christians connect with their local communities, discern need, identify their gifts for ministry, and respond, the local congregation is vital to living out this part of the Gospel.

 

Before ECSF was envisioned, the diocese had funded human services ministry through a line item in the operating budget, which comes primarily from assessments on congregations.  The diocesan budget is always constrained by the need to fund many other kinds of ministry.  Because the new fund was able to receive freewill donations, its founders envisioned that it would grow to be able to do far more to support social justice work than the previous system.  The wisdom of their plans has been borne out by strong and steady growth in donations which have enabled ECSF to almost triple its grants budget in five years.

Bishop Herbert Thompson

 

Following the election of Bishop Herbert Thompson in 1988, ECSF became a key piece of his vision to equip Episcopalians in this diocese to proclaim the Gospel with more daring and joy. The new foundation was chartered in the State of Ohio in 1991, with Dr. Bob Kell of Columbus serving as the first president. Many of the diocese’s most dedicated social justice leaders have served on its board, grants committee, and staff in the ensuing years.  ECSF’s start-up funding came from the diocesan budget, the William Cooper Procter Fund, and Bishop Thompson’s Vision Covenant Capital Campaign.

In 1999, Diocesan trustee Chet Cavaliere and ECSF treasurer John Harris proposed an endowment for ECSF in memory of Bishop Roger Blanchard, fifth Bishop of Southern Ohio. Blanchard was loved and honored throughout the Episcopal Church for his courageous social justice leadership from the 1960’s until his death.

 

Led by ECSF trustees the Rev. Ron Stenning, Canon Gordon Price, and board president Tom Kirkpatrick, the endowment drive laid the groundwork for ECSF to become self-sustaining as diocesan and Procter came to an end. Thanks to generous gifts from many people and churches, plus an extraordinary grant of more than  $540,000 from the Trustees of the Diocese in 2006, the Blanchard Endowment now generates more than $50,000 a year which covers ECSF’s staff, communications, fundraising, and much of the cost of workshops and conferences.  Special project grants from a variety of regional and national funders supplement these resources, making it possible for ECSF to provide all kinds of training and free planning help to churches and affiliated non-profits.  The Diocese supplies a key operating grant of about $6,800 to help cover the costs of audits and insurance.

 

Thanks to the endowment and these other sources of operating support,  annual giving goes entirely into grants to churches.  We report with joy that the steadily increasing number of individuals and churches who give to ECSF have enabled us to increase grants budget from $52,400 in 2004 to $137,700 this year.

ECSF organizes or co-sponsors many workshops and conferences, including the annual Mountain Grace conference on ministry in Appalachia. Shown here: Mountain Grace II in Lancaster, Ohio in 2007. From left: Jeff Price of Columbus, Jud Ellertson of St. John's, Cambridge, the Rev. Debbie Gamble of St. Philip's, Cincinnati and the Rev. Deacon Carol Callahan of Good Samaritan, Clermont County.

In 2004, ECSF’s staff and trustees launched a major program of technical assistance.  Since then we have organized or co-sponsored an array of conferences and retreats on topics including urban work, prison and re-entry programs, homelessness, and deanery roundtables. ECSF organizes an annual Grantseekers’ workshop and plays a major role in planning and support to the annual Mountain Grace Conference on ministry in Appalachia.  Launched in Southern Ohio in 2004, Mountain Grace now draws presenters and participants from dioceses across the Appalachian region.

Our most exciting project so far has been helping to launch and expand the Ohio Benefit Bank. This free web-based tool, developed through grants to the National Council of Churches, makes it easy for people in churches and small non-profits to complete state and local tax returns, screen for eligibilityand quickly fill out applications for food stamps, school meals, Medicaid, child care, and a growing number of other public benefits that can make a huge difference to the ability of the working poor to provide basic necessities to their families.

 

ECSF was the first non-profit in Ohio to champion the Benefit Bank when the National Council of Churches announced in late 2004 that the program would be launched in this state.  We leveraged grants to ECSF from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and Procter Fund to help the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks (OASHF) forge a daring, low-cost statewide network for training and technical support that has won the Ohio Benefit Bank national renown.  An evaluation by Ohio University published in October 2008 estimated that between 2006 and 2008 the Ohio Benefit Bank had connected Ohioans with tax credits, refunds, and public benefits with an annual value of up to $45 million. 

ECSF's regional gatherings foster connections that can have a big impact. Participants at the March 7 Hocking Deanery Roundtable decided to plan a deanery planting day at the Good Earth Mission.  In just an hour they got 1,000 pounds of seed potatoes in the ground, then enjoyed Eucharist and a picnic in the field.  The Good Earth Mission, directed by organic farmer Paul Clever, is an Episcopal intentional  community which engages volunteers in practical solutions to hunger in southeast Ohio.  With just a few acres including community gardens in Athens, the Mission is on track to produce 25,000 pounds of fresh, locally grown produce to food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the region.

The network continues to grow exponentially. Project partners led by OASHF have already had enormous impact in reducing the many barriers that kept thousands of eligible working families from availing themselves of these benefits.  With state budget constraints forcing county departments of Job and Family Services to cut staff and services drastically, the outreach and application assistance provided by churches and non-profits will be critically important in helping people in need navigate an overwhelmed system.

 

Click here to find out more about how you can become part of the Benefit Bank.

 

Every day we connect people who are working on the same issues, fostering new partnerships among Episcopal churches, other denominations, non-profits, business, and state and local government. Read through this website for a taste of the creativity, knowledge, passion, and prayer at work across this diocese, and tap into it yourself!  Together, we can do so much more than in isolation, by living into our call to be the Body of Christ in Southern Ohio.

 

Our logo comes from the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes.  Reported in all four Gospels, this story starts with the pragmatic disciples counseling Jesus to withdraw from a hungry crowd. “There is no need to turn them away,” he said.  “Give them something to eat yourselves. (Matt14:16).  They complied, against all reason, then witnessed 5,000 people be fully nourished from a pocketful of food.

 

As the Gospel song says, We expect a miracle, every day. 

God will make a way, out of no way.