wfn.org | Episcopalians: General Seminary trustees advance redevelopment

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project with national church

February 8, 2002

2002-036

Episcopalians: General Seminary trustees advance
redevelopment project with national church

(ENS) At their February 4 meeting in New York City, trustees of
the General Theological Seminary (GTS) unanimously approved a
14-page Memorandum of Intent on the proposed relocation of the
national offices of the Episcopal Church to the seminary campus
and the creation of a new conference and education center on the
site.

Presented by GTSs three representatives on the six-member joint
committee that prepared the document, the memorandum spells out
a series of five major phases and decision points leading from
preliminary space allocations and budget creation, through
obtaining governmental approvals and the development of an
ownership structure, to the execution of definitive agreements
and subsequent design and construction phases, leading to final
occupancytentatively projected for 2006 or 2007. In an
afternoon session, the GTS trustees moved paragraph by paragraph
through the memorandum.

The churchs Executive Council will now consider the memorandum
at its February 22-25 meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Present for
the meeting of the GTS trustees were Patricia C. Mordecai,
assistant to the presiding bishop for administration at the
Episcopal Church Center and vice president of the Executive
Council, and Ralph OHara, treasurer of the Episcopal Church.
They answered questions and clarified details concerning the
on-going discussions of the project, acknowledging that there
were many items still to be resolved.

In the next few months, the financial implications will become
much clearer, said Mordecai, and we will be in a better
position to determine whether this will work for both parties.
She pointed out that the purpose of the Memorandum of Intent is
to provide the framework and structure by which both parties
can move toward a final agreement about the legal, financial and
governance issues.

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