One Body & One Spirit

Annual Appeal

The diocesan One Body & One Spirit Appeal is once again accepting grant applications for ministry projects in congregations, schools, and affiliated institutions while continuing to allocate wildfire-relief funds according to guidelines set by the Corporation of the Diocese. Donors may choose for their One Body & One Spirit donation to go to funds for ministry projects or to fire -relief.

Donate to the fire-relief fund

Fire-relief grant application form

Donate to the ministry projects fund

Ministry project grant application

Frequently Asked Questions

April 11, 2025

One Body & One Spirit Appeal grant recipients at work (from left): Parishioner Eddie Vcelikova rings church bell recovered from rubble at St. Mark’s Church in Altadena; at Holy Faith Church in Inglewood, construction manager Francisco Rebollah — recipient of a diocesan fire-relief grant after his Altadena home burned — stands with the Rev. Joseph Oliomooja, rector; St. Matthew’s School staffer Josh Chamberlain and the Rev. Stephanie Wilson, chaplain, receive donation of new school supplies — some 30 boxes — from Sonia R. Hernandez, site director of the Westside’s Neighborhood Youth Association, a diocesan institution specializing in 100% college placement for students from low-income families. Two NYA parents who lost employment due to the Palisades fire also gratefully received one-time relief grants from the One Body & One Spirit Appeal.

[Photos: St. Mark’s Church and The Episcopal News]

One Body & One Spirit Appeal grants resume for ministry projects as fire-relief allocations continue

The diocesan One Body & One Spirit Appeal is once again accepting grant applications for ministry projects in congregations, schools, and affiliated institutions while continuing to allocate wildfire-relief funds according to guidelines set by the Corporation of the Diocese. Deadline for the next round of ministry grant applications is May 1.

“Our diocesan appeal began in the depths of Covid, to help our institutions with emergency needs,” Bishop John Harvey Taylor notes. “Then we broadened the focus to support a wider range of projects and ministries. Beginning the week of the wildfires, we pledged that every dollar raised from that point forward would be set aside for fire-related needs. The response from all over the world has been astonishing. And now, based on the recommendation of our hard-working special committee, we’ll be accepting gifts, and making grants, for both fire-related projects and general ones. What has remained the same for five years is that that every dollar we collect goes back out the door in the form of a grant. I extend heartfelt thanks on behalf of our whole community to all of our benefactors.”

Fire-relief donations may be made here, and the fire-relief grant application, for one-time allocations of $3,000 per household, is here.

Similarly, click here to make gifts for ministry project grants, for which the application packet is here. The Corporation of the Diocese is scheduled to approve the next ministry grants at its upcoming June meeting.

This week, 15 new fire-relief grants totaling $44,000 have been approved, bringing to $341,800 the amount awarded in 112 allocations from $655,743 raised in gifts from 1,181 donors.

As wildfire-response work continues, the special committee of representatives of diocesan fiduciary bodies reports that it envisions making grants in larger amounts to institutions hardest hit by the devastation.

Meanwhile, new grants for local ministry projects – not only repairs, but also any unbudgeted program initiatives – may be drawn from the $384,646 raised in 541 gifts from 286 donors to the diocesan One Body & One Spirit Appeal in 2022-24.

Detailed accounting procedures are in place in the diocesan Finance Office to assure that gifts are credited to the restricted purpose for which they are given, with diocesan Appeal funds recorded separately from contributions to Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD), and that donation acknowledgement letters are sent promptly.

Ongoing reports of grant awards will continue in The Episcopal News and on the diocesan website.

Please join the 1,164 donors who, to date, have raised $643,806 raised in over 1,172 gifts to the 2022-25 One Body & One Spirit Annual Appeal.

Thank you for your support of the Annual Appeal – and for making a donation today by clicking the button below.

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