Murdock Trust grant given to local chapter of ex-gay ministries

PORTLAND -- The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust gave a grant of $27,400 to The Portland Fellowship for renovation of its ministry house and the institution of a leadership development program to train para-church ministry leaders.

The Portland Fellow-ship, a ministry to men and women struggling with unwanted homosexual desires, has been active in the local community and the national network of ex-gay ministries for 13 years. The new leadership development program is designed to teach skills the ministry has learned for operating a healing ministry within the Body of Christ.

“The Murdock Trust is paying for a portion of our renovation costs but they are really funding the vision of this program,” says Phil Hobizal, director of The Portland Fellowship.

The program, The Upper Room, will include four interns who will live in the newly refurbished third floor of the Fellowship House in southeast Portland. The interns will participate as small group leaders in The Portland Fellowship's discipleship program. They will work eight hours a week in the office and they will participate in an educational seminar series that will teach them specific ministry skills.

The Upper Room Seminar Series will begin in September and be open to all interested members of the local Christian community. Gifted professionals and teachers from local churches and ministries will teach the seminars. Lessons will include small group facilitating, prayer in ministry, lay counseling, worship, teaching, development of a board of directors, fundraising, Web design and conference planning among others. “It will be an opportunity to get others involved in what we're doing here. We’re excited about the networking and community building potential of this new endeavor,” Hobizal says. “God’s been opening doors to make this program happen. The grant from Murdock has been a blessing.”

The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, based in Vancouver, Wash., is one of the largest charitable donors in the Portland metro area. The trust provided The Portland Fellowship with a topping-off grant that required the ministry to raise half of the project’s budget before the trust would supply the balance. The renovation will turn the unused third floor of the 6,000 square foot Fellow-ship House into four dorm rooms with a shared bathroom and a common area. It also will include a wheelchair accessible ramp into the house. Construction will be complete in time for the first class of interns to arrive in late August.

For more information about the program call Portland Fellowship, 503-235-6364.