Bishop's Church Emergency Fund

In 1910, Bishop Edwin Lines, the third Bishop of Newark, established the Bishop’s Church Extension Fund (BCEF) to do as its name implies, extend the work of the bishop, specifically for the increase of mission and the building of new churches. In 2012, its name was changed to the Bishop’s Church Emergency Fund.

A series of five calls per year go to members of the BCEF who have pledged in advance to support work the bishop deems important.

The BCEF’s original purpose of missionary expansion came to a near halt during the depression when call after call paid mortgages and saved church buildings from being sold. In recent decades a majority of calls have helped congregations in aging buildings to repair and renovate. Our churches, like our bodies, are temples of the holy. They draw us inward to worship and grow spiritually. They propel us outward to work for justice and to offer hospitality where it is needed. They house the nurture of our congregations and their service to their neighborhoods. BCEF calls repair buildings, and they provide seed money for new mission programs.