Episcopal Press and News
Executive Council Takes Steps Towards Reshaping National Program
Episcopal News Service. November 23, 1993 [93205]
Faced with evidence of anger and frustration emerging from diocesan visits and the projection of a $4-5 million shortfall in 1995, the Executive Council took steps towards a total reexamination of the church's program and structure at its November meeting in Hartford, Connecticut.
"We have reached an open door -- we can either slam it shut or walk bravely through," Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning said in his address from the chair (full text in Newsfeatures section). While commending the council for its commitment to the long-range planning and listening process, he said that "now we are called to make hard and courageous decisions. Some will be extremely painful. Others will be very exciting. All will be renewing."
The year-long visits to 118 dioceses of the church by council members and staff uncovered some deep-seated frustration with what some church members perceive as an issue-driven national program that responds to special issue groups. (See separate article on diocesan visits.)
While the presiding bishop acknowledged that changing the budgets and priorities may mean wrestling with some special interests and constituencies, he said that he is troubled by the allegations regarding an issue-driven church. "We have dealt with our fears and we have dealt with issues," he said. As a result women now play leadership roles in the church -- including the episcopate, "we have dealt openly with and challenged our own institutional racism," and "we have wrestled with attitudes about human sexuality that have denied the dignity of personhood."
Several council members expressed discomfort with the emphasis on the local congregation as the core of the church's mission and what that implied about the church's global role. "We could be a marvelous congregational church if we followed that direction in the diocesan reports," observed the Rev. Abigail Hamilton of Newark.
Diane Porter, senior executive for program, challenged the council to move into small groups for day-long "open, candid and frank discussions" on the church's program -- examining what is most appropriately done at the national level and how to shape a program in response to what council members heard during the listening process. "If the shoe doesn't fit, redesign the shoe," she said. The program can't continue to "hobble along" with budget cuts so it is time to make some decisions, making it clear that "this is what we can afford to do, this is what we need to do, this is what we must do."
The small groups valiantly tackled their assignment but it proved almost impossible, given the time restrictions, and they confessed their frustration in a plenary session. "We weren't willing to make as many hard decisions as you asked so we ended up throwing it right back to staff," said Harold Nicrosi of Alabama.
The immensity of the task facing the council and staff face took on a whole new meaning when the treasurer, Ellen Cooke, reported that more dioceses each year are unable to meet their financial obligations to the national church (33 dioceses in 1994) and that they are questioning the whole funding process.
For example, in 1994 the total askings for General Convention program budget was just under $34 million, yet the budget, based on patterns of giving in recent years, was realistically set at $27.8 million. If that gap and the "lack of enthusiasm for current funding procedures" continue, Cooke projected that revenues in 1995, the first year of the new triennium, would be 65-68.5 percent of the asking, or between $22.7 and $24.1 million. "We could be facing a shortfall of almost $5 million in 1995," the presiding bishop reported to the staff after the council meeting.
"The current funding and spending policies of the General Convention have been in effect for approximately the last 50 years," Cooke said in tracing the history of funding. The dioceses are moving, however, to "a single asking of congregations and one budget for program and administrative expense," she said. The Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance is therefore considering a change to national funding that is more consistent with "current policy and practice" at the local level.
Changing the formula for financing the national program of the church to one based on diocesan income instead of parish income would mean an asking of between $25 million and $28.3 million and a program budget of $23 million in 1995, Cooke reported.
"We are being called to make drastic changes, even revolutionary changes," Browning told his staff last fall in reporting early responses from the dioceses. In a special staff meeting following Executive Council, he said that a "great deal of anxiety" would accompany the impending changes. And yet he contended that the downsizing following Phoenix General Convention and the one looming in the future should be regarded as "an expression of solidarity with the dioceses we are called to serve," many of them caught between meeting obligations to the national church and carrying out their own mission. No matter what happens, the resources given to the national program are a "sacred trust of partnership" with the local church, he said.
It is now imperative to "go back to the drawing boards and look at all possible networks of funding," said Browning in announcing that in the coming weeks the staff will try to project funding for the rest of the triennium, in light of "what we have learned from the listening process." Staff and Executive Council representatives will meet December 20 to "put together as much of the budget as possible." By January 20 a balanced budget will be sent to council and they will be asked to take a hard look at it before they meet again January 31 in Norfolk, Virginia. That council meeting must make final recommendations about the budget for the next triennium and forward them to the General Convention next August in Indianapolis.
Bishop Elliott Sorge said he hoped it would be clear that "we will be doing things different, not only reducing a budget" and that it will be clear to those who participated in the listening process that the council is making a direct response to their deepest concerns.
"We are not just cutting back, we are creating something completely new," said Diane Porter. "When people see the budget they should see that it is not business as usual."
While attempting to respond to what the dioceses are asking, Browning said that the church must also "continue to uphold our commitment to the global church and community," within the limits of resources. The key is helping the dioceses see that they are part of the transformation. Part of that transformation is a different style of funding, most likely a unified budget based on "percentages across the board."
"We are doing this so that the dioceses can be strengthened in their mission and ministry -- in partnership with the national staff," Browning said. "We must find a way for people in the pews to find engagement with what we do."
- heard that the Episcopal Legacy Fund has received $434,000 so far, and that another $700,000 has been committed by diocesan bishops and $200,000 from other sources towards a goal of $1.5 million;
- affirmed the proposed covenant with the emerging Anglican Church of Mexico and welcomed presentations by Mexican members of the covenant committee;
- asked that the linkage program between national staff and dioceses be enhanced and strengthened;
- was challenged by the presence of youth from Province I who shared their vision of the church and asked some penetrating questions of council members.