Episcopal Press and News
In Diocesan Struggle to Make Ends Meet, Support of National Church Is on the Plate
Episcopal News Service. November 21, 1991 [91233]
A survey of recent diocesan conventions across the country reveals that the nation's economic recession is forcing Episcopal dioceses to consider trimming funds that support local and national church programs.
"We were forced to make some significant cuts because of the severe recession in New England. Some of our programs were decimated," said the Rev. Canon Gene Robinson, executive secretary of Province I and canon to the bishop of New Hampshire. "And we could be in worse shape down the road if the situation doesn't improve," he added.
Robinson's comments are echoed in resolutions throughout the diocesan conventions that are struggling to make ends meet. "In some ways the dioceses are the real losers in the struggle," Robinson added, "because they are caught in the middle between the demands of the national church and the parishes." According to Robinson, the diocese decided to pay the entire pledge to the national church, even though it meant that some local programs will have to be cut back further. "The delegates decided that we would not hold the national church hostage."
Delegates in several diocesan conventions asked whether supporting national church programs was the best use of money during times of decreasing financial resources. Yet, there seemed to be no trend building at this point for withholding funds from the national church as a means to protest the actions of the General Convention.
A proposal in the Diocese of Springfield (Illinois) suggested reducing the contribution to the national church so that funds might be directed toward a rural, cluster ministry program. "There was outspoken opposition to cutting support of the national church," said Betsy Rogers, editor of the Springfield Current, the diocesan newspaper. "And those who supported the cut made a point of saying that this was not a political statement," Rogers added. In the end, the delegates defeated the proposal, and instead, called upon the parishes to contribute more for the cluster ministry.
In the neighboring Diocese of Quincy, a proposal to fund diocesan mission programs at the expense of the national church apportionment failed. A second proposal to put contributions to the national church in escrow to protest recent General Convention actions originally passed by a slim margin, and then was defeated on a motion to reconsider. "There were some clergy and lay people who wanted to send a critical message to the national church, but who said that the budget was not an appropriate way to do it," said the Rev. J. C. Emerson, canon to the ordinary.
In Minnesota, the decision by the national church to lower the apportionment and assessment formula for the local parishes by the national church at the last General Convention was seen as a very positive sign, according to Walt Gordon, editor of Soundings, the diocesan newspaper. Gordon reported that the diocese enacted a plan that will reduce the contributions of their parishes to the diocese, but also establish a higher rate of compliance with the pledges to the diocese. "We are seeing a trend toward decentralization and support of the local ministry," Gordon added.
"Since we are a large diocese, we send a significant amount of money to support the national program," said Barbara Ogilby, director of communication for the Diocese of Pennsylvania. "There was some sentiment that we should freeze our contribution to the national church at 25 percent of the diocesan budget until the next General Convention could revise the apportionment formula," she said.
Although delegates to the Pennsylvania convention passed the request for a revision in the apportionment formula to be based on diocesan income -- rather than parish income -- the effort to freeze contributions to the national church failed. "There were some impassioned and beautiful speeches on the convention floor about stewardship and the support of the national church," Ogilby said.
In the neighboring Diocese of Pittsburgh, support of national church programs became a topic in a debate over the actions of the recent General Convention and the House of Bishops. By a 2-1 margin, delegates registered a note of protest in a resolution charging that some "bishops have deliberately and publicly chosen to ignore our polity and discipline, thus violating our unity. In addition, many other members of the House of Bishops have been silent about this and thereby have given... tacit permission for variant practices."
The resolution also will permit parishes in the Diocese of Pittsburgh to designate a portion of their national church apportionment to an alternative ministry of outreach -- including the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, the United Thank Offering, a diocesan companion relationship in Chile -- or to continue supporting the national church program.