The Alleluia Fund

The Alleluia Fund

Flashlights of faith converging into a spotlight

Through the Alleluia Fund, individuals and congregations can make a significant difference in the lives of many by supporting diocesan outreach and mission in the areas of Food, Shelter, Education and International programs.

In this video, Shantia Clyburn of St. Paul's After School Program describes how the Alleluia Fund supports their work providing enrichment programming and one-on-one homework assistance to second through fifth graders in Paterson, NJ.

In this video, Jaclyn Cherubini of the Hoboken Shelter describes how the Alleluia Fund enables them to shelter the homeless and provide meals to the homeless and working poor.

Each year during the Easter season, the people and congregations of our diocese join together as "flashlights of faith" to support outreach and mission by making gifts to the Alleluia Fund.

Join Bishop Beckwith to celebrate the special work of the ministries that receive support from the Episcopal Diocese of Newark through the Alleluia Fund outreach grants. Engage in conversations and learn about the impact of their ministry and how they are improving the lives of people in our diocese. Tea and refreshments will be served.

This event is free, and you are welcome to bring guests. To help us in providing refreshments, please register.

During the Advent season of reflection, examination and planning, it’s natural to consider "giving back" for the many blessings bestowed during the past year. But often, after reviewing the numerous needs of so many, a common question arises: What difference can just one person make?

If you are a member of one of the more than 200 households that contributed to the 2011 Alleluia Fund so far this year, you made a major difference in improving the lives of hundreds of individuals through your support. Established in 2010, the Alleluia Fund provides an opportunity for individuals to contribute to a variety of outreach programs and ministries on a diocesan level.

This past year, the Alleluia Fund bestowed 22 grants, focusing on the areas of food, shelter, education and international programs. Here are just a few of their stories.

In 2011, $105,000 in grants was distributed to 22 organizations through the Alleluia Fund. The recipients were:

The Youth of St. James’ Church in Upper Montclair presented a special night of scary ghost tales and spooky tours on Sunday evening, October 30, 2011.

Ghosts and Spirits that hide in secret corners and hallways of St. James came out to hear their stories shared with visiting tourists on the eve before Halloween.

The Youth Group collected $150 in donations which will go to the Alleluia Fund in support of diocesan outreach programs.

One of the benefits of my new job at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey is the opportunity to see so many people come and go in their pursuit of gathering food for the hungry. Unfailingly on any given day upon entering the building, I am greeted by someone new. "Hello, how are you," I say. And the response is always the same. "I'm blessed. How are you?" Every time this happens it makes me stop and smile.

Nestled in the eclectic bedroom community of Montclair, New Jersey is one of the country's fastest growing college campuses. Spreading over 246 acres, Montclair State University has a diverse population of 18,000 students (3,700 of them resident on campus) and 4,500 faculty and staff. Every fall there are new students launching an entirely different experience of their life journey. Others are returning, perhaps to their final year of college. But, they share a common bond of life, love, fear, joy, pain, expectation...

Easter is the liturgical season set aside for the purpose of celebrating new life in the risen Christ. For centuries, “Alleluia” has been the verbal response to this extraordinary gift. The Easter season ends on Pentecost Sunday, June 12; but the “Alleluias” continue, because new life continues to be offered.

In their impressive book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn tell story after story of women in the developing world in order to create a call to arms against what they call “our era’s most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.”

Inspiration is one of those things that can’t be described very easily. What is the source of an idea that floats from our unconscious mind into our awareness? Those of us who believe in God will give credit where credit is due, at the hands of our Creator. But whether we believe or not, inspiration leads to actions and concrete creations from that one moment of illumination. And all who are involved – in very immediate ways or as witness to the creation – are touched.

Although our society promises the magic of anti-aging elixirs, the psalmist affirms it is only in God that we can find true renewal. Not just as we get older, but at all times in our lives, God’s love and care strengthen us enough to give us wings. It is hard to imagine that children need that kind of renewal; it is usually the adults who can’t keep up. But some children have experiences that limit their abilities or weigh them down.

“Haven” has a different meaning from “home” or “house.” Broader than the simple sense of place, it includes the connotation of protection. A haven, like the word “sanctuary,” means a place of safety. Even more than safety, according to Webster, a haven can also be a place offering favorable opportunities.

Over the last two decades, the local community food pantry has become as ubiquitous as a Dunkin Donuts or a Starbucks. The Community Food Bank counts over 1500 of these pantries among its partners in the state of New Jersey. That means 1500 individual small community food pantries deliver an astounding 37 million pounds of food yearly. Sadly, there is that much need. But that also means there are over 1500 places and infinitely more opportunities to bring about healing and connection.

"The 'Great Truth': Episcopalians Are Softies"

We will be starting our tenth year of serving the working class families of Boonton, ten years since the “Great Truth” was revealed. To the people of the Diocese of Newark, it must seem more like a hundred that we have been standing in front of them with our hands out -- dragging kids or pictures of kids that dared them to resist.

Christ Church, Ridgewood pursues several forms of “hands-on outreach," but one of the most compelling connects the rural, suburban and urban realms of our metropolitan area. The result, when all goes as planned, is a delicious and nutritious meal for the residents of the St. Paul’s Men’s Shelter in Paterson.

"Food for thought can't live without it"
Most everyone has donated food to help the hungry. Many have cooked and served a hot meal. But on May 18, thousands of children all over the state provided their voice, and by doing so may contribute to providing millions of dollars that can help feed hungry children for the next ten years.

Over 1 million meals. Over 100,000 volunteers working over 600,000 hours. Twenty-five years of service. Watch Bishop Beckwith, Executive Director Terry Connolly, and others relate the history of the Community Soup Kitchen of Morristown on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, in this moving video written and produced by Diana Wilcox of Redeemer, Morristown.

Sometimes it takes another person to help us appreciate what we have and show us that nothing is impossible. The other day I stopped for a moment in front of The Apostles' House building and a woman came up to me in tears. Just leaving the food pantry with bags of food she wanted to thank me. Recently she lost her job, had two children at home, and was afraid that her car was going to be re-possessed.

One year ago, Episcopal Community Development had a budget of $700,000, and a staff of 5.5.Fast forward to the Alleluia Season of 2010, and ECD has doubled its budget & tripled its staff. Not bad for a tiny non-profit that was launched with diocesan funds in 1990. In fact, ECD has enjoyed diocesan support every year since.

So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us… (2 Corinthians 5:20). While Paul can go on at times, this half verse in today’s language of fast communication, would make a perfect sound bite for the overarching vision of the mission of the Church.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be... (Isaiah 55:10). How are people watered? What are the things that nurture people in order that they sprout -- not just grow but flourish and bloom?

For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock. (Psalm 27:5) Shelter is one of the necessities along with food that psychologists have identified as one of the most basic and profound needs that a human being requires.  Without it, we die or at the very least are so consumed that we can think of little else.  This knowledge makes the words of the ancient psalm about seeking shelter in the house of God and God's protection that mu

You shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket ...

Originally published on Feb. 11, this article was updated on Mar. 25.

What is the Alleluia Fund?

The Alleluia Fund was created to provide a means by which the whole diocese, both congregations and individuals, can, around the resurrection season of Easter, focus, communicate and celebrate the way we incarnate our mission and raise the capital for us to do this work.