Episcopal Press and News

A summary of Executive Council resolutions

Episcopal News Service. February 22, 2010 [022210-03]

During its Feb. 19-22 meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church adopted several resolutions, which are summarized below.

Executive Council

• Approve engagement of Grant Thornton, LLP to audit all accounts under the management or control of the council and the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society for 2010-2012 triennium (EC005).
• Challenge the Episcopal Church to raise a sum of up to $10 million for the long-term rebuilding of the Diocese of Haiti with the final amount and the eventual disbursement of the money to be done in partnership with the bishop of Haiti (EC007).

Advocacy and Networking for Mission

• Direct the Episcopal Church join the Jobs for America Now Coalition (A&N003).
• Reassert the Episcopal Church's "long-standing belief that war is inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ"; remember "with sorrow those on all sides of the hostilities in Afghanistan who have been wounded, traumatized or killed"; recall the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001 that led to military action in Afghanistan; support the goal of just and lasting peace in Afghanistan; welcome the setting of a timetable for withdrawal; urge the U.S. and its allies to use force judiciously and protect the innocent people of Afghanistan; assert that "an escalation in forces need not lead to an escalation in force"; call on the Afghan government to end corruption and strengthen its security forces; encourage the U.S. and its allies to promote economic development and human rights in Afghanistan; pray for the safety and well-being of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, all those who have been wounded, traumatized or killed, and for a swift and peaceful end to the war; urge Congress to provide for the needs of troops and their families; acknowledge the pastoral challenges presented by multiple deployments and combat stress, and commend the Episcopal Church's federal ministries office for its work (A&N004).
• Instruct the church's treasurer as to how to vote on a variety of shareholder resolutions (A&N005-A&N008).
• Authorize General Convention planners to negotiate with the Indianapolis Hyatt Hotel for the 2012 General Convention (a matter having to do with concerns over a labor dispute with another Hyatt hotel group to which the Indianapolis property does not belong) (A&N009).

Finances for Mission

• Set the dividend rate for 2010 for the DFMS trust fund and endowment portfolios available to support the DFMS operating budget at $1.10 per share (FFM010).
• Establish the Mid-Hudson Catskill Rural & Migrant Ministry Inc. Endowment Fund (FFM011).
• Adopt a gift acceptance policy (FFM012).
• Adopt procedures applicable to all forms of fundraising by DFMS staff and officers (FFM013).
• Approve the 2010 budget for the Episcopal Church (FFM014).
• Thank those individuals who include the Episcopal Church in their wills and recognize the generosity of all who endow the Episcopal Church and thus support its ministries (FFM015).
• Authorize co-directors of mission to use income distributed during 2010 from Trust Fund No. 809, up to $337,584.16, for educational and theological programs as recommended by the Commission on Theological Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (CETALC), conditional upon receipt of appropriate documentation (FFM016a).
• Approve a write-off from DFMS' balance sheet of outstanding funds receivable ($3,188,084) from the land lease sale to St. John's School, Guam (FFM017).

Governance and Administration for Mission

• Change the name of the Board of Governors of Episcopal Life to the Episcopal News Service Advisory Committee, revise its mandate, outline its membership, require the committee to report annually to Executive Council and maintain contact with the provinces, and set other terms of committee's operations (GAM003).
• Establish the Committee on Strategic Planning per General Convention Resolution A061, adopt the council's strategic plan and direct Church Center management and staff and council standing committees to report to the committee on progress towards implementation of plan (GAM004).

Local Ministry and Mission

• Direct the presiding officers to appoint members to a Task Force on Employee Benefits and Policies as stipulated in Resolution A137, and require the task force to report at council's June 16-18 meeting about work to be completed in triennium, with LMM to recommend funding if necessary (LMM003).

World Mission

• Recognize a new companion diocese relationship between the dioceses of Easton and Northeast Caribbean & Aruba in the Church of the Province of the West Indies until Feb. 28, 2014, unless extended or terminated by mutual consent (WM006).
• Recognize a new companion diocese relationship between the dioceses of Washington and Jerusalem in the Province of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East until Jan. 31, 2013, unless extended or terminated by mutual consent (WM007).
• Reconstitute the committee formerly known as the Joint Committee on the Philippine Covenant as the Joint Consultation on Philippine Companionship, with those persons from the Episcopal Church who were elected to the former now to serve on the latter (WM008).
• Welcome the peace-making initiatives of President Barack Obama and Middle East envoy George Mitchell and urge them to re-double their efforts; acknowledge "the tragic histories of the Jewish and Palestinian people as victims of injustice, wars, dispersion and exile, the existential fear and insecurity this has created for both peoples and the distress their conflict has caused throughout the Middle East"; recognize the commitment of Israelis and Palestinians to the land they regard as their homeland and respect their national aspirations; call on theU.S. to pursue fair and balanced approach to making peace; acknowledge that peace can be achieved only by a division of historic Palestine into two sovereign states; call upon Obama and Congress to press Israel to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip; affirm that a territorial division must include a shared Jerusalem; recognize that the use of force, violence or arbitrary power by Israelis or Palestinians to determine the outcome of this conflict must be condemned absolutely; urge all Episcopalians to work and pray for the liberation of Israelis and Palestinians from generations of conflict and for restoration of harmony among Jews, Muslims and Christians worldwide; affirm that the creation of peace with justice is a compelling priority for the church and for the U.S. (WM009).
• Express solidarity with the Episcopal Church of Colombia, ministering in the midst of Colombia's internal armed conflict; recognize that the resulting social and humanitarian crisis is aggravated by displacement of civil population to the Ecuadorean border; urge the U.S. government to commence a "generous program of resettlement" for those who cannot return to Colombia and are unable to integrate or remain in Ecuador; to work with the UN High Commission for Refugees and other organizations to assist host countries by providing adequate funding; to press for a political solution to the armed conflict between the Colombian government and opposing forces; and voice the church's "strong opposition" to the installation by the U.S. government of military bases in Colombia (WM010).
• Join the international community in mourning the death and destruction resulting from the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti; recognize that the level of destruction and collapse of essential services is "in part the consequence of poverty in which the nations and churches of the West have long been complicit"; express deep solidarity with the Diocese of Haiti; call for relief and development efforts that recognize the human rights and dignity of all Haitians, especially vulnerable groups, ensure that Haitians are fully involved in the planning and execution of all such projects, and that such projects should benefit all Haitians; honor the leadership of Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin; recognize that Haiti's recovery and reconstruction must be directed by the Haitian people, and affirm Duracin's authority and that of the leaders he appoints to request and direct resources required to rebuild the diocese; stand ready to receive Duracin's call for support; commit to review the church's support for those efforts at subsequent meetings of council; commend Episcopal Relief & Development and the Haitian diocesan development staff for its ministry of relief work among survivors; commend Bishop Julio C. Holguín and the Diocese of the Dominican Republic for "its selfless support of its neighbor in need;" urge Episcopalians to continue praying for Haitians and to support the long-term recovery effort; support the presiding bishop's efforts to marshal resources of the wider church in support of Haiti and to work with Duracin in ensuring resources are provided in the most effective manner; commend the U.S. government for its post-quake leadership, including the decision to extend Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in the U.S. as of Jan. 12 (WM011).