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	At the start of the new millennium, leaders from 191 nations, including the United States, agreed on a plan to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015. Together, they created the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):         Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger         Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education for Children         Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women         Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality         Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health         Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases         Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability         Goal 8: Create a Global Partnership for Development The Episcopal Church has also committed itself to achieving the MDGs.  In two consecutive General Conventions, the Church has embraced the MDGs as a framework for action.  Dioceses and churches across the nation have begun to respond. http://www.episcopalchurch.org/programs_36756_ENG_HTM.htm?menu=menu36744

	Our Commitment At St. Mark's, we are excited by the Millennium Development Goals and their promise to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and improve health, education, environment, and quality of life worldwide. As part of our commitment to the MDGs, we have created a new mission of the church to support the Millennium Villages Project in Mbola, Tanzania. This project, managed by the Earth Institute at Columbia University, will research a number of approaches to improve the village's education, health, environment, sanitation, and infrastructure. The goal for each Millennium Village is for its people to live in environmentally sustainable ways within five years, and for the lessons learned in the project to be available to other villages across the globe. We will contribute $5,000 per year to the Earth Institute to support this project for the next five years. Approximately one half of this amount will come from a 1% allocation of our plate and pledge revenues. The remainder will be made up from special fundraising. (We began this mission in November 2006, and by December we had already raised funds for our first year's commitment). We welcome other churchs and organizations and individuals to join with us in this important endeavor. Below are some links to more information about the Mbola village project: http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/mvp/locations/mbola/index.html (project Web page). Project Progress Report - July to November 2006 Photographs and testimonies from Mbola

St. Mark's Episcopal Church and Academy

	For More Information: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3654_74932_ENG_HTM.htm ONE Episcopalian ™ is a grassroots partnership between The Episcopal Church and the ONE Campaign to rally Episcopalians - ONE by ONE - to the cause of ending extreme poverty in our world and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). http://www.e4gr.org/mdggoal.html Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation - MDG Updates   http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/main.cfm The Anglican Cycle of Prayer  http://www.fivetalents.org/ Five Talents International is an Anglican initiative to combat poverty in developing countries using micro-enterprise development. http://jubileeusa.org/jubilee.cgi   Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of 75 religious denominations and faith communities, human rights, environmental, labor, and community groups working for the definitive cancellation of crushing debts to fight poverty and injustice in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/mvp/ The Millennium Villages Project, based at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, is a new bottom-up approach to lift developing country villages out of the poverty trap that afflicts more than a billion people worldwide.

Christmas Services: Saturday, Dec. 24, 2005:     Christmas Eve Services at 7:00 PM                   and 11:00 PM Sunday, Dec. 25, 2005:      Single Service at 10:00 AM