City council has agreed with the community services advisory board (CSAB) that religious groups will still not be permitted to apply to St. Albert's community capital grant program, but can now establish fundraising arms that might qualify.
Council passed changes to the grant program Monday night, which provides up to one-third in matching dollars to community groups for capital projects. The changes include increasing the frequency groups can apply – from every three years to every two years – and no longer carrying balances forward.
But choosing not to fund religious groups such as churches is disappointing, said United Church Rev. James Ravenscroft, who also represents St. Albert Christian Ministerial, a group of 16 of the city's 28 churches.
"I guess my reaction is I'm not surprised, but still disappointed, primarily because the mandate includes community and for me there's a failure to appreciate how connected to the community churches are," Ravenscroft said.
The CSAB, which reviewed proposed changes, felt the grant program's primary mandate – to fund groups that provide sports, recreational, arts, cultural, family and community services – did not need to be changed and that religious groups do not meet that mandate.
"We had a big debate on whether or not it would need to be adjusted," said Anna Royer, business manager with community and protective services. "The CSAB was very firm in their decision it should stay as is."
The board did say religious groups, much like schools, could establish a "Friends of" society to apply to the grant program, similar to what school groups do to solicit funding for a new playground.
Any such organization, though, would need to be in good corporate standing for a period of five years and the project would have to fall within the program's primary mandate.
Ravenscroft said he found that idea interesting.
"As long as we're being treated the same as others then that's cool," Ravenscroft said, but he still feels churches serve some of the uses outlined in the primary mandate.
"Churches at their very foundation are about helping people in the community, reaching out to people in the community, assisting where there are needs," Ravenscroft said.
"Churches are about members and what they do to their members is empower them through the teachings of Jesus to be people to look out for other people in the community."
Other changes
The CSAB did propose some other changes, including allowing groups to apply for funding every two years instead of every three years because the program was undersubscribed. It also recommended sticking with one intake date per year instead of two, but will continue to review applications after the spring intake until that year's funding is exhausted.
"They're concerned about how the funding might be distributed. As well, they wanted to see if there are emerging issues that come forward," Royer said. "That would also lessen their workload in the fall when there are other issues they look at."
But the recommendations did not sit well with everyone on council. Coun. Len Bracko pointed out that potential big-ticket items might not be eligible for the program if organizations are no longer allowed to carry forward funds.
"Will we ever be able to have another project like the [St. Albert Curling Club] if the funds are not carried forward?" Bracko asked.
"It would be very unlikely and for a large $800,000 project they would have to go through another avenue and probably wouldn't be eligible," Royer said.
Coun. Cathy Heron said council can always decide to add more money to the program if big projects come along.
"I think if you want to adjust that in the future, it could go to the higher number, so this is a very good way to prevent it from building it into a huge war chest," Heron said.
