The Lovett Fund, established by the will of the late Lucy Lovett, has as its express purpose the maintenance and building of mission churches.
The principal of the fund is managed and invested by the Trustees of Diocesan Funds and grants are made from the accumulated income of the fund at the discretion of the Bishop and the Diocesan Council. Over the years, the following guidelines have been established:
Guidelines
1. Grants are to be used solely for the maintenance and improvement of mission churches. Improvements are to be made on the church building structure and not on vicarage or parish house if they are separate buildings.
2. The maximum grant to any one mission church will be $7500.
3. Only one grant will be made to any one mission church within a twelve month period; that date beginning on the date of approval by Diocesan Council.
4. A grant for unforeseen circumstances may be considered if it is applied for within the twelve-month period of a previously approved grant, however the total of the grants will not exceed the maximum of $7500.
5. The mission church will be required to raise, on its own, an amount of money equal to one third of the money requested from the Lovett Fund; this applies to both planned and unforeseen projects.
6. Work undertaken or completed prior to the grant application will not be eligible for consideration. An exception may apply in the case of an emergency.
7. Procedure:
The application is first sent to the Chair of the Finance Committee and the Diocesan Finance Officer to be reviewed and found in order, then it is posted to the Diocesan Council Basecamp, by the Finance Committee, within two weeks.
Within a two-week period from posting, Diocesan Council members will post any questions and discussion.
The requesting mission church is notified of the result by the Diocesan Finance Officer and/or the Finance Committee Chair.
8. Upon completion of the project the mission church will forward copies of bills and all paid expenditures related to the project, to the Diocesan Finance Officer for review before additional applications are considered.
9. The Diocesan Council must insure that a minimum balance is maintained in the Fund in order to respond to emergency grant requests.
Application for Lovett Fund grants should be made on the forms here which you must download to your own device (PDF version or Word version) and submitted to the Finance Committee, Episcopal Diocese of Maine, PO Box 4036, Portland, ME 04101-4036.