2020 Innovation Fund grants into action

These 2020 grants [a full summary can be found here] were awarded in October 2020 and recipients then began the process of commencing the initiatives the grants were to support.

The Covid pandemic continued to influence this implementation process. The two Brazilian Dioceses had hoped to be able to have face-to-face contact with those on their training courses, but Covid was going to prevent this until, at least, early 2022. The Diocese of Pelotas decided to use virtual meetings in the early sessions of their programme to get the training started. The Diocese of Sau Paulo asked if they could delay the start of theirs until early 2022.

Holy Cross Theological College in Myanmar not only had Covid to contend with but also the internal civil strife in the country. They adapted their approach to the training as well and the Principal, Revd. Dr. Paul Myint Htet Htin Ya, reported, “currently we are running our classes by means of online and distance correspondence. I will inform you about this in detail later. Covid is still a big threat, and we are not allowed to gather in order to prevent the spread of Covid. Well, thank you again for all your kind help and understanding.” 

Other grantees were not affected in the same way so soon after receiving their grant The Angolan Anglican High School of Theology reported the purchase of the books they requested funding for and said, “we send our thanks to the managerial staff of the St. Augustine Foundation making our dream reality: we have now many books [over 150] for the training of Servants of God in Angola.” These books were both new and used many of which were in Portuguese.

Uganda Christian University very quickly mounted the internal course they sought funding for and their report is in another of the news items, “Online theological education in and after Covid-19 pandemic”.