The Council for World Mission (CWM) has published a new “The Onesimus Project: Guidelines to Access Different Funds” to help member churches access three different types of funds. The booklet was launched on 4 October at the CWM Member Churches General Secretaries’ Conference.
The Onesimus Project seeks to address the roots of racialised inequalities and injustices within the CWM family of churches and the wider world. The three funds described in the guide are the Reparatory Justice Fund, Healing of Memories Fund, and Modern Day Slavery Fund.
For each of the three funds, the guide outlines a description, aim, and guidelines on how to access. Another section of the publication offers guidelines for writing proposals, including a detailed suggested outline.
Member churches are asked send project proposals with a cover letter from the general secretary of the church to CWM 90 days prior to the board meeting. CWM management will process proposals and submit them to the board for approval.
The Onesimus project is named after an enslaved member of Philemon’s household, who as the guide’s introduction says, “offers us a Biblical perspective on the issues of enslavement, release, confession, agency, and discipleship that poignantly speaks to the human tragedy experienced in the transatlantic slave trade and which continues to mutate into complex forms of modern-day enslavement.”
Download “The Onesimus Project: Guidelines to Access Different Funds”