Regional Episcopalians will share in a $1.45 million health and wellness benefit package devised by Episcopal Church leaders to address the trauma suffered as a result of schism within the church, according to the Rev. Canon Rick Cluett.

Cluett is a member of the Presiding Bishop’s staff appointed to help the Diocese of Quincy and three others reorganize and rebuild after former leadership left the Episcopal Church last year, taking financial assets and leaving behind faithful Episcopalians who in many cases found themselves locked out of their church buildings.

The announcement came at a meeting of Diocesan leadership on the eve of the 132^nd Synod of the Diocese of Quincy, held Saturday (October 17, 2009) at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Peoria.

“What has become apparent to me after hearing people’s personal stories is that, time after time, people in our church have been left traumatized,” said Cluett. “We have looked at the financial costs and the institutional costs of schism, but what we must now pay attention to is the personal, human cost,” he said. Cluett and the Rev. Canon Gay Jennings made a presentation before Synod deputies on Saturday, explaining that the Episcopal Church Pension Fund has awarded a grant to be administered through the CREDO Institute, Inc., offering a series of wellness conferences that would be tailored to the needs of the Diocese.

Traditionally CREDO has served Episcopal clergy and lay employees, but Jennings said the wellness initiative, named “Strength for the Journey,” is being opened to any laity that the Diocese thinks might benefit from participation.

Initially, clergy and lay leaders from the Peoria-based Diocese will be invited to one of three 8-day wellness conferences planned in the coming year with all-expenses paid for by the grant. The intensive workshops focus on spiritual, mental, emotional, financial and physical health and recovery. Additionally, the grant will fully fund a Friday-Saturday conference open to the entire Diocese membership that will provide an opportunity for Episcopalians region-wide to come together in celebration of a new life forward and togehter.

The grant may also fund the Fresh Start program, offering individualized development assistance and counseling to parishes and congregations who are suffering in the wake of those departed.