Millennium Development Goals

I am en route today to The General Convention of the Episcopal Church. The every three years meeting with 8 deputies each from the 109 dioceses, plus the House of Bishops, is one of the largest legislative bodies on earth. What do we do? Talk a lot, vote a little and trust God that we can't actually wreck Christ's One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

One thing voted on at the past two conventions is to endorse the Millennium Development Goals as a plan of action in our church reaching out to the world. The MDGs are a set of eight goals to reduce human suffering across the globe. In September 2000, the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, the World Bank Group, and 189 governments pledged to accomplish these goals by 2015.

• Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty.
• Achieve universal primary education.
• Promote gender equality and empower women.
• Reduce child mortality.
• Improve maternal health.
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
• Ensure environmental sustainability.
• Develop a global partnership for development.

These eight goals have been endorsed by the Episcopal Church as a framework for taking action around the world. Here is what Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) is doing to help achieve these goals. At King of Peace, we support the goals in small ways, through buying fairly traded coffee and donating 15% of every Coke purchased at the church to ERD's Clean Water Fund. While small steps, they are means of working toward a large, worldwide goal.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor + King of Peace Episcopal Church