SGM Annual Appeal | Invest in our Shared Future
pbkwee, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
SGM’s Innovation & Development Appeal June/July 2024
As kaitiaki (guardians) of Spiritual Growth Ministries we extend an invitation to you to make a donation to our Annual Appeal.
Our focus this year is on three development initiatives as outlined below.
Bruce Maden
SGM Workgroup Convenor
Kia ora SGM Community,
We are in good heart as we experience God’s provision and grace in a chapter of change for Spiritual Growth Ministries (SGM).
We feel the support of the contemplative community as we seek to remain true to our roots in financially sustainable ways.
Your generous response to SGM’s Appeal last July made a huge difference.
This June/July, we invite you to invest in our shared future by giving to SGM’s Innovation and Development Fund.
Workgroup is committed to discerning and developing SGM’s growing edge.
We feel called to develop the following strategic initiatives at this time:
Developing a Spiritual Formation Programme
We are in the early stages of developing online resources to nourish spiritual formation and contemplative practices for both individuals and communities of faith. We are attuned to the hunger that exists for such guidance and note the positive response to offerings from Practising the Way and 24/7 Prayer.
We believe SGM has a unique part to play by offering spiritual growth resources that are grounded in Aotearoa, New Zealand and informed by indigenous wisdom.
Fran Francis and David Crawley, will take the lead in creating this new offering.
2. Strengthening Our Singapore Connection
For many years we have had participants from Singapore, and surrounding areas, in our Spiritual Directors Formation Programme. Fran Francis is spending a week in Singapore at the end of her sabbatical to train, encourage and support the contemplative community there. (Read more from Fran below)
3. Refreshing Refresh
Guided by your responses to the Refresh survey, we are in a several year process of ‘refreshing Refresh’. We would like to fund a visual re-design of Refresh for the July 2025 issue.
Feel moved to support these initiatives?
Thank you for considering this invitation to invest in our shared future.
Every bit counts. Whether you can afford to give $5 or $5000, we are grateful for your support.
How to Donate
Donations to Spiritual Growth Ministries are tax deductible. You can give in two ways:
Via online banking to Spiritual Growth Ministries 03-0166-0198782-00 (Add your name and town in reference line, and Annual Appeal in particulars)
Via credit card on the ‘Donate’ page on the SGM website
Please email SGM administrator, Jenna Edgar at admin@sgm.org.nz with any donation payment enquiries.
Ma te Atua koutou katoa e manaaki, God’s blessings upon you all.
Bruce Maden
Convenor SGM Workgroup
Fran Francis | Strengthening Our Singapore Connection
Fran Francis, Spiritual Directors Formation Programme Leader
The ecumenical kaupapa of Spiritual Growth Ministries is reflected in fresh faces, denominations, and cultures in the Spiritual Directors Formation Programme (SDFP).
The programme has been enriched over the years by participants in Asia - in India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and counting!
Currently we have eight participants who are in Asia, our highest number ever.
So, in June, on my way home from sabbatical I’m stopping in Singapore to lead a few events there.
We have planned a training workshop on The Art of Leading Contemplative Retreats, a ‘taster’ event for those interested in knowing more about spiritual direction and becoming a director, and a celebration dinner for SGM alumni and current participants.
The regional groups we enjoy here are the envy of our overseas people, so I hope to connect them with one another and thereby create ongoing support and collegiality for new ones coming in.
We plan to train supervisors from among our Asian alumni so there is culturally safe supervision for SGM participants in these countries. This also signals an intentional move towards a decolonised approach to the formation of spiritual directors.
The SGM relationships with Asian directors whakapapa to Andrew and Margaret Dunn, Sheila Pritchard and also the Bible College of New Zealand (now Laidlaw College).
On Margaret Dunn’s death she bequeathed some money to SGM. Her gift is helping support the outreach events in Singapore, along with funds raised by the 2024 SGM Annual Appeal. I hope Margaret Dunn is rejoicing at what her money is up to in the world!
Ngā mihi nui for your prayers, support and love towards the SDFP, its work and the many people it touches.
