In 2000, the 191 member states of the United Nations agreed to achieve the following goals by 2015:
• 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• 2. Achieve universal primary education
• 3. Promote gender equality and empower women
• 4. Reduce child mortality
• 5. Improve maternal health
• 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
• 7. Ensure environmental sustainability
• 8. Develop a global partnership for development

During the 2006 General Convention, the Bishops and Deputuies of the Episcopal Church approved a resulotion that:

• Establishes achieving the MDGs as a stated mission priority of the Episcopal Church for the next three years;
  Urges each diocese, congregation and parishioner to give 0.7 percent toward the MDGs by July 7, 2007; i.e. by 07/07/07;
• Designates the Last Sunday after Pentecost as a special day of prayer, fasting and giving in the Episcopal Church toward global reconciliation and the Millennium Development Goals;
• Calls on every diocese to establish a global reconciliation commission to mobilize Episcopalians to work for achieving the goals of the MDGs;
• Endorses the “ONE Episcopalian” campaign that calls on the U.S. government to spend an additional 1 percent of its budget to combat global poverty; and
• Asks the budget committee of the Episcopal Church to consider a line item equal to 0.7 percent (or roughly $900,000) in the coming three-year budget for work that supports the MDGs.

Click to watch Bono speak about the ONE campaign.

The Episcopal Church began a partnership with the ONE campaign in 2006 called “ONE Episcopalian” which aims to “rally Episcopalians – ONE by ONE – to the cause of ending extreme poverty in our world and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”

Part 1: What on Earth is a U2charist?
Part 2: Who Are U2? Are they a Christian Band?

written by AmyGee