Alleluia! Christ is risen! Easter is a pure gift. We are given fifty days – longer than Lent – to be transformed by the new life that Easter brings.
One of the ways that individuals and congregations throughout our diocese celebrate and share the abundance of Easter is with gifts to the Alleluia Fund for Outreach. This fund supports programs providing practical, hands-on support to those most vulnerable in our diocese and internationally, and sponsored by our communities of faith or their members.
Through the 50 days of Easter (and all year long), our Alleluia Fund ministry partners in northern New Jersey are feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and educating vulnerable, at-risk youth and adults. Our partners include the Jubilee Center of Hoboken where after school, academic support programs are equipping children with tools not only to survive, but also to overcome the many barriers they face. Another partner, Homeless Solutions in Morristown, is offering shelter and the support services needed to help families rebuild their lives and successfully return to independent living. Our feeding ministry partners are supplying groceries and serving thousands of meals to our neighbors. Internationally, two of our Alleluia partners are fighting poverty and disease in sub-Saharan Africa. (A complete list of Alleluia Fund grant recipients can be found on the diocese’s website, www.dioceseofnewark.org/alleluia.)
These ministries – God’s work in our neighborhoods, communities, and the wider world – are funded in part by Alleluia Fund grants. I invite you to join me in celebration of God’s abundance this Easter season with a gift to the Alleluia Fund for Outreach. Together, our Episcopal charity transforms lives.
Happy Easter!
+Mark M. Beckwith
