The joyous news arrived on the morning of June 25, when The Rt. Rev. Dr. Jonathan H. Folts sent a text message to The Rev. Michelle Dayton, Superintending Presbyter of the Pine Ridge Episcopal Mission:
“Congratulations!!! Y’all just got approved for a $69,050 grant!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🙏”
The United Thank Offering grant to Church of the Mediator, Kyle, will bring water to the church for the first time since it was opened in 1910, and will enable the people to “better serve their community as a place to gather, pray, and serve,” especially during wakes and funerals.
“For 115 years, our members have had access only to an outhouse, and needed to travel back to their homes to carry water in order to have it available for basic church functions (coffee, baptism),” Mother Michelle explained in the grant application to UTO.
“Water access and indoor plumbing in an Episcopal church seems like a 19th century issue; however, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, only three of the nine Episcopal Churches have such facilities,” she wrote. “The churches were built by the Lakota, on land deeded to the Diocese, so the Tribe cannot provide these services. The people are generous, and without financial resources to provide this necessary update. With the help of UTO, this grant will acknowledge the humanity of this congregation and will help us be a sign of welcome and God’s love in a new and more profound way.”
The UTO grant will enable Mediator, Kyle, one of nine congregations that make up the Pine Ridge Episcopal Mission, to host vacation bible school, sewing groups for the community, and birthday and anniversary celebrations, in addition to the approximately 40 wakes and funerals that take place annually.
“We are extremely grateful for this very generous grant from United Thank Offering,” Bishop Folts said. “UTO has been actively participating in God’s mission with us in South Dakota for quite some time, and they are a valued partner in ministry. I also want to commend Mother Michelle and the people of Mediator for dedicating the time and effort to organize this project. It was no small task. They took both initiative and responsibility, placed themselves in the Spirit’s capable hands, and transformation occurred!”
Mother Michelle originally applied for the maximum grant of $55,000 from UTO to go toward the total cost of the $69,050 project, which will build two bathrooms, run water lines, and install the septic system. The congregation of Mediator was prepared to seek other grants, as well as to raffle off star quilts and hold food sales to make up the $14,050 difference.
However, the UTO Board decided that meeting this basic need of the people was so important that it granted the entire amount needed to bring water to the church.
When she received the news on June 25, first via Bishop Jonathan and then via an official notification from UTO, Mother Michelle replied, “There are no words to express my overwhelming gratitude. (Tears of joy may have been involved.)”
“Our expectations were exceeded by the generosity of the (UTO) board,” Mother Michelle said.
“We feel seen,” she said.
The UTO funds will be used to build two bathrooms, run water lines, and install the septic system. The septic system required will cost $30,000, almost half of the grant monies. “This is a rural area, and water is available at the edge of the property,” Mother Michelle wrote in the application. “Because this is property deeded to the Diocese, the Tribe cannot provide these resources, even though the church is within the Pine Ridge Reservation.”
She added, “The entire cost of the project was granted, so we hope to begin construction as soon as the contractors are available.”