The Bishop’s Church Emergency Fund (BCEF) provides financial support for church buildings in the diocese needing repairs and renovation, usually with a special focus on emergency and unforeseen needs. Through the BCEF, you can support the critical needs identified by the Bishop.
The fourth BCEF call of 2022 is for parking lot repaving at Calvary, Summit. You can donate online, or mail a check payable to Diocese of Newark with BCEF Call #4 in the memo line to: Diocese of Newark, Attn: BCEF, 31 Mulberry St., Newark, NJ 07102.
Calvary Church in Summit, one of the larger parishes in our diocese, will already be known to many of you since they graciously hosted our 148th Annual Diocesan Convention in 2022. Calvary’s campus consists of five buildings. In addition to the church and parish hall, these buildings also provide housing for the rector, associate rector, music director, and sexton. Located in the heart of Summit, a community of some 20,000 residents, Calvary is a sacred space offering a broad range of spiritual, educational, and artistic opportunities. For the past two years the congregation has been prayerfully engaged in a search process for a priest who will become their 14th rector.
Calvary considers its outreach ministries to be an important expression of the congregation’s faith. The parish’s website lists fifteen local outreach ministries for which Calvary provides funding and often direct hands-on support. SHIP (Summit Helps Its People) provides hot breakfasts and bagged lunches to those in need. It operates out of Calvary’s own kitchen. The parish is also directly supportive of Family Promise, the diocesan ministry serving incarcerated people and their families. Both this year and last, Calvary collected and filled backpacks with school supplies for the children of incarcerated parents. These ministries are in addition to the significant support the parish provides for global ministries that help resettle refugees, impact world hunger, and address environmental concerns.
All of Calvary’s external ministries are under girded by its strong emphasis on worship. During the COVID crisis, the parish invested in a state-of-the-art camera system, which now continues to share Sunday services with those unable to attend in person. The average in-person attendance at the two Sunday services is 72. Calvary has long maintained a special emphasis on music with choirs for adults and children and also through partnerships with community choirs and those of other parishes,
Bebe Lee and Susan Favate serve as wardens for Calvary, with Susan having primary responsibility for church property. “In recent fundraising we have focused on making the church fully accessible,” she explained. “Our last capital campaign was to install an elevator and a cloister walkway from the church to our parish house.” BCEF funding is now being sought both to help create several new handicapped parking spaces as well as to resurface the entire parking lot which is in terrible condition. The price tag for the costly project is $225,000 — more than half of which has already been raised. Ministries around the world as well as those in Summit depend on Calvary’s generous support. In this our fourth BCEF call for 2022, please be as generous as you can to enable more of Calvary’s financial resources to be directed to those of our sisters and brothers in greatest need.
God's peace,
+Carlye J. Hughes
The Rt. Rev. Carlye J. Hughes
Bishop of Newark
