#002 GS2010: The Anglican Foundation; Report to General Synod, 2010
Download report #002 GS2010
More than fifty years ago, when a small group of concerned Anglicans met to undertake the creation of a new vehicle to serve the church they expressed their intention in this statement of purpose:
“to acquire, accept and receive, from members of the Anglican Communion and others, money and property, both real and personal, and to apply the income therefrom or any portion of the capital thereof to and for such religious and educational purposes carried out within Canada, including the promotion and advancement of dioceses, churches, parishes, missions, seminaries and other institutions and programmes and projects within the communion of the Anglican Church of Canada as the directors in their discretion shall think advisable.”
And so the Anglican Foundation of Canada was established as a Registered Canadian Charitable Organization.
The very first grant was made in 1957 for a church and rectory in Schefferville in the Diocese of Quebec and since then we have awarded more than twenty-six million dollars in grants and loans to a wide variety of Anglican ministries in every diocese, hundreds of parishes and thousands of individuals from coast to coast to coast. Our members take great pride in having shared in such a remarkable achievement.
Our Directors who are chosen from our membership represent every ecclesiastical province and represent both clergy and laity. They meet three times each year and consider the applications with great care following the guiding principle ‘where the need is greatest’.
Our work is funded by bequests, membership dues, memorial and special gifts, gifts of life insurance and gift annuities as well as fees for financial and trust services.
The Foundation is a member-based organization and our present membership lies at fewer than one thousand members. Over the past few years our Directors have expressed a desire to see many more Anglicans and Anglican organizations welcomed into our family. We inaugurated the first observance of Anglican Foundation Sunday on May 2nd, 2010.
One initiative we have recently developed is to offer trust services to particular ministries within the Anglican Church of Canada, whether it be a parish, a diocese, or an innovative way of being the Church. We already have trusts in support of the Anglican Military Ordinariate to enable the work of the Bishop Ordinary, the Council of the North, and Contemplative Fire — one of the new Fresh Expressions within our Church — along with a great variety of donor-designated trusts designed to financially support parishes, dioceses and other important ministries of the Church.
We are prepared to offer financial trust services to any Anglican charitable organization holding funds in trust. Parishes, dioceses and other organizations are invited to pool their financial resources with the investments of the Foundation and benefit from having the Foundation fulfill the administrative, regulatory and reporting requirements involved and by enhancing the return on their assets in a professionally managed, low cost and socially responsible manner. Please visit us at our booth and plan to join us for our presentation at the Anglican Foundation Port of Call.
The Very Rev. John vanNostrand Wright
Executive Director