The EGR Rule of Life
- direct the Church's attention to alleviating the extreme poverty of the world. (Matthew 25:31-46);
- make explicit the Christ-centeredness of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), believing that for Christians today following Jesus involves commitment to the MDGs, and commitment to the MDGs involves commitment to Jesus (John 10:10);
- turn life around (conversion) at the individual, congregational, diocesan, national, and global level for the sake of the poor and suffering of the world. (Luke 18:18-23).
EGR invites individuals, congregations, dioceses, and other institutions of The Episcopal Church to enter into this Rule of Life as a way of living out these commitments.
The Rule is as simple as it is radical in that it reflects the heart of the Gospel and calls for a comprehensive personal and institutional response.
Click here to commit yourself, your congregation or your institution to the Rule.
The individual, congregation, diocese or other institution of the Episcopal Church pledges to:
Pray: Regularly hold before God the Millennium Development Goals and pray with an unrelenting intention for the poor.
Study: Undertake regular education on issues and faithful responses related to global poverty.
Give: Make sacrificial and regular financial contributions to help achieve the MDGs, including annual support to Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation to build the movement.
Act: Direct one’s life and activities by agreeing to:
*Connect:Seek to engage in real and tangible ways with the impoverished and others committed to the achievement of the MDGs;
*Witness: Speak, write, create, and make life choices that advance God’s mission of global reconciliation through the MDGs;
*Advocate: Bring before secular and church bodies your personal and institutional commitment to meet the MDGs.
Click here to commit yourself, your congregation or your institution to the Rule.
For our part, Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation pledges to:
Pray: EGR Board and staff regularly pray by name for each individual, parish church, diocese or other institution of The Episcopal Church committed to maintaining the Rule;
Provide: make available comprehensive resources on the MDGs as an expression of Christian discipleship;
Empower: serve as a central network of communication and common support for all of those who agree to this Rule;
Promote: provide fresh and innovative approaches to translating faith into action that helps to alleviate the extreme poverty of the world.
Click here to commit yourself, your congregation or your institution to the Rule.
Click here to download a .pdf of the Rule of Life card in English
(Spanish coming soon)
The first and foundational Rule of Life is always Holy Scripture, so the living of every Rule must include a regular study of scripture. For the EGR Rule, that means regular study of scripture as a lens through which we view the world's brokenness and our call to be God's agents of healing.
What does this look like...
Some ideas of how this rule can be incarnated at different levels of our common life.
For a congregation
Pray - Always pray for the global poor/MDGs in the Prayers of the People.
Study - Provide regular educational opportunities for adults and children about global poverty and What One Can Do. In Bible Study groups, look at how scripture is calling us to engage communities of extreme poverty.
Give - Include a budget line item for support of the MDGs, including support of EGR.
Act - Provide opportunities for engagement with communities of global poverty such as mission trips, advocacy actions, etc.
For a family
Pray - Include the global poor/MDGs in table graces and prayers with children before bedtime
Study -On family movie nights include movies that teach about global poverty and What One Can Do. Read news stories together about global issues (Time for Kids regularly highlights global poverty issues). Use Heifer International resources to teach kids about global poverty.
Give - Include a budget line item for support of the MDGs, including support of EGR.
Act - Spend an evening as a family writing letters to your Congressional leaders promoting legislation supporting the MDGs. Volunteer for a local agency doing refugee resettlement, get to know a refugee family, invite them into your home and share stories of your lives with each other.
For a seminary
Pray -Include MDGs/global poverty in community prayers. Commit to use liturgies from around the Anglican Communion.
Study - Ensure that world mission is taught as part of core curriculum. Bring in speakers -- particulary people from developing nations -- who can engage students with Christ's call to seek and serve him in the global poor.
Give - Include a budget line item for support of the MDGs, including support of EGR. Support student efforts to raise funds for MDG-related projects
Act - Encourage or mandate travel plunge experience to developing world.
For a diocese
Pray -Include MDGs/global poverty in diocesan cycles of prayer.
Study -Host a Diocesan Global Reconciliation Day (see Dioceses of Rio Grande, Chicago and Minnesota for examples).
Give - Include a budget line item of at least 0.7% for support of the MDGs, including support of EGR. Promote congregational efforts to raise money for the MDGs.
Act - Establish a companion diocese relationship with a diocese in the developing world, build partnerships, share gifts, pray and work together for God's mission of global reconciliation.
