2015 DREAM Grant
Office of Mission Program Grants
Presbyterian Mission Agency, Presbyterian Church (USA)
100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202-1396
(888) 728-7228, Ext. 5230 / 5251
Fax: (502) 333-7251
Tim.McCallister@pcusa.org, Bill.Moore@pcusa.org
DREAM GRANT
(2015 SECOND CYCLE)
ACTS 2:17, ACTS 10
Date Prepared October 7, 2015
Synod
Southern California and Hawaii
Phone
Contact Person
Presbytery
E-mail Address
San Diego
Phone
Contact Person
E-mail Address
Partner Congregation/Ministry
Fletcher Hills Presbyterian Church
Contact Person Kim Dawsey-Richardson
Phone 619-463-6631
E-mail Address Kim.Dawsey-Richardson@fhpc.org
Address/City/State/Zip 455 Church Way/El Cajon/CA/92020
DREAM Initiative Name
PIN # 6536
FHPC Moves (into the Neighborhood)
Date DREAM Initiative Began or plans to start
DREAM Initiative Leader
October, 2015
Daniel Ambler
Address/City/State/Zip 455 Church Way/El Cajon/CA/92020
E-mail Address
Daniel.Ambler@fhpc.org
Web Site Address
www.fhpc.org
Phone
619-463-6631
The Developmental, Risky, Experimental, Adaptive Mission (DREAM) Grant is being offered by the Presbyterian
Mission Agency in order to encourage dreamers, risk-takers, pioneers and trailblazers. We need such people who
are not afraid to fail and church cultures that will encourage people to risk failure in order to find new ways to
succeed. We are seeking to find persons and ways to invigorate the Church anew.
This grant is designed to encourage the birth of new ventures through congregations and presbyteries rather than
to support the expansion of existing programs within congregations. For the purpose of this grant, new is defined
as an initiative that was created no earlier than January 1, 2014. This grant will be offered as long as resources
are available. This grant will not support the creation of new worshiping communities and congregations. If you
need funding for the establishment of new worshiping communities and congregations, please contact Tim
McCallister for more information.
The DREAM grants are the result of funds that have been given to support the following historic missions of the PC
(USA), particularly among racial ethnic and rural populations:
-
Rural, remote, or urban churches that are establishing ministries that will enable them to better accomplish
mission in an appropriate context;
Ministries that are charged with reaching, loving and teaching college age or young adults so that they
may be lifelong followers of Jesus Christ;
Congregations that are effectively becoming more multi-ethnic in character;
Ministries with Racial/Ethnic and New Immigrant populations that are thriving and wish to accomplish
even more;
Emerging leadership models for mid councils that create safe space for innovation.
We encourage proposals from mid councils that wish to inspire and support new and creative ways for ministry
ventures that relate to the historic missions of our church and honor the vision and generosity of past donors.
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An initiative will receive a one-time DREAM Grant of up to $10,000. Matching funds or in-kind contributions are
encouraged, but not required. These grants may be used to support the DREAM initiative in any way that will
enable the initiative to achieve its goals. These grants are limited to ministries that are related to the Presbyterian
Church (USA), and are located within the United States and Puerto Rico.
This application is available from the Office of Mission Program Grants and allows the writer to add typing space as
needed. Photos and/or videos are welcome. After obtaining appropriate partner congregation/ministry and
presbytery approval, e-mail as a single attachment the completed proposal to your synod leader, who will then
forward the final approved proposal to the Office of Mission Program Grants.
2015 Second Cycle proposals should be received from synod by the Office of Mission Program Grants no later than
November 23rd for a mid-December review.
It is expected that applicants will have spent time in prayer, discernment and fact-finding regarding the resources
needed, the intended short and long-term results, and in creating a plan to address them. Please consider using
Starting New Initiatives to assist with your discernment process.
Please answer the following questions on no more than two pages, using Times New Roman, 12-point font,
single-spaced:
-
Describe the initiative to be supported and how the applicant(s) are invested with its progress;
Describe how this initiative will support one of the ministry ventures listed on page one;
How will this initiative venture connect to one of the DREAM Grant definitions, i.e. Developmental, Risky,
Experimental, Adaptive Mission;
If this is to be an ongoing initiative, please describe how you intend to provide for sustainability;
Describe how this initiative will benefit the congregation, presbytery, synod and others;
How will you know if the project is accomplishing what you hoped? Please be as specific as possible.
Recipients will be asked to provide a description of their outcomes that will be shared with congregations and mid
councils in order to serve as encouragement and inspiration for future potential ministries.
Please list your funding sources below. Under DREAM Initiative, please list funding you will provide. List any
funding provided by your presbytery and/or synod. Under DREAM Grant, list the amount for which you are applying
from the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Finally, if a partner congregation or other entity is providing resources,
please list those amounts under “Other”.
DREAM Initiative
$ 26,000
Presbytery
$ 10,000
Synod
$
DREAM Grant
$ 10,000
Other
$
TOTAL
$ 46,000
This proposal was reviewed and approved by the appropriate mission strategy body of this presbytery and synod
as fulfilling the guidelines of the DREAM Grant. Congregations, ministries, presbyteries, and synods participating
as funding partners and giving oversight and assistance, should date and sign below.
NOTE: If any signing below is a current member of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, please inform the Office
of Mission Program Grants Staff.
Date
Date
Partner Congregation/Ministry (If Applicable)
Presbytery Executive or Designee
After presbytery has approved this proposal, please forward as a single e-mail attachment the completed
proposal to the Synod Leader who will then forward the final approved proposal to the Office of Mission
Program Grants no later than August 24, 2015.
Date
Revised September 25, 2015
Synod Leader or Designee
Page 2 of 4
DREAM Grant Application
Submitted by: Fletcher Hills Presbyterian Church (Presbytery of San Diego, Synod of
Southern California and Hawaii)
Describe the initiative to be supported and how the applicant(s) are invested with its progress
Fletcher Hills Presbyterian Church has longed to be a church that reflected the ethos of Acts 1:8, “You
will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Many in our
congregation prayed for and sent checks to mission projects, but few engaged missional activities
themselves. In an effort to engage missional living and relational service, we streamlined our ministry
commitments to reflect an Acts 1:8 model, with five local mission partners (Jerusalem), one regional
partner (Judea), and one international partner (ends of the earth). Over the last few years, we also have
sought to be a “Simple Church” – Gather in Worship, Grow in Faith, Go in Mission. Our efforts in
International and Regional mission have benefitted from this simplicity, and we are seeking to extend
that success and the lessons learned in those areas to our local mission endeavors. For several months,
the FHPC Mission Committee has felt a strong call to engage with and address the needs of our
immediate neighborhood where we have the least missional participation among congregants.
We have focused our service and deepened our relationships with our international and regional mission
partners. We long to do the same with our neighborhood but our efforts are inconsistent, poorly staffed,
and unfocused. Our pre-school and VBS programs are two tangible ways we reach into the
neighborhood. We are interested in building from this. The majority of our preschool families are
unchurched and our Vacation Bible School draws families from diverse life places. We know there are
more opportunities and we are not meeting them.
We are leading our parishioners through transformational and organizational change. We expect them to
catch the vision of who we are in our neighborhood, get on board and eventually fund the ongoing staff
that will shepherd our community involvement for many years to come. This has been a difficulty for
our church and we’ve not had success with the nature of rotational Mission Elder leadership. Our best
missional effort is our partnership in Haiti in part because we have a clearly established handbook
(crafted with staff oversight), and have had staff leadership on most trips. Yet, this is outside the job
description of our staff members and is unsustainable with our current staffing structure. One of the
clear reasons why our local mission involvement has had difficulty gaining traction is because it has
been led primarily by earnest volunteers who have conflicting ideas, skill sets, and time to give. We
need a paradigm shift that provides the leadership for a consistent and focused vision of local mission,
reflecting our values as a church.
Describe how this initiative will support one of the ministry ventures listed on page one
This DREAM grant request focuses on being a missional presence in the context of our immediate
neighborhood. Thanks to the data available from MissionInsite, we know that our church sits in the
middle of a neighborhood that is now moderately diverse and somewhat low in religiosity. And we
know that our neighborhood is less prosperous than the State overall. We also recognize that our
congregation is beginning to exhibit more diversity in income, age, family makeup, faith traditions and
ethnicity than it did 20 years ago, reflecting the demographic of the surrounding neighborhood. This has
happened, not through a deliberate focus, but solely through the movement of the Spirit. We long to get
on board as the Spirit moves.
How will this initiative venture connect to one of the DREAM Grant definitions, i.e.
Developmental, Risky, Experimental, Adaptive Mission
This initiative is an Adaptive Mission as well as a Developmental opportunity for FHPC. Our
neighborhood has changed, hence our congregation sits in a different context than it did just 20 years
ago. If we do not adapt our ministries, we will miss opportunities to serve and to welcome those who are
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not like us (those who are less attached to their faith than state-wide averages, non-whites, non-English
speakers and new immigrant populations). Our congregants must make the leap from writing checks to
being a presence in our neighborhood if we are to develop the deep relationships that allow us to share
the gospel of Jesus. This transformation of who we are (individually and as a church family) requires
development over a sustained period of time, incorporating study, prayer, guidance, coordination and
action.
If this is to be an ongoing initiative, please describe how you intend to provide for sustainability
This DREAM grant will provide a much-needed financial cushion to allow us to name a staff member
NOW while we make adjustments in other staff responsibilities and priorities within our budget. We will
be able to jump start our neighborhood mission with this staff focus while we gently shift our priorities
and staffing across other areas during the coming year. We long to live our simple ethos of gather in
worship, grow in faith and go in mission. This grant will help us reset our priorities for staffing and
spending to reflect the importance of each of these areas.
Describe how this initiative will benefit the congregation, presbytery, synod and others
This is a beautiful opportunity for FHPC to show how a congregation listens to God’s call on us and gets
on board - even without a windfall of funds to ease the way. Doing what we’re called to do within the
context of our neighborhood and prayerfully discerning what we should de-emphasize to help our
congregants live in a balance of Gather/Grow/Go.
How will you know if the project is accomplishing what you hoped? Please be as specific as
possible.
 We expect to personally know the families who live and work in our neighborhood -- to be able
to walk through the neighborhood and tell the story of those who live in our midst.
 We expect God to show us needs that are currently unmet in our neighborhood (or met outside
our neighborhood) and which specific need we at FHPC can meet.
 We expect to make changes to mission partners and programs to focus on that need within our
neighborhood.
 We expect God to teach us how to live our values by prioritizing neighborhood mission in our
staffing, spending and congregant participation.
All of these elements of our transformation can be measured. Congregant participation in neighborhood
mission will rise as the focus intensifies and the transformation takes hold. Our neighborhood will
improve as we address a gap in much-needed services. Our congregation will reflect (even more closely)
the diversity of our neighborhood.
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