wfn.org | Episcopalians: Budget seeks to reconcile abundance of faith with scarcity of fun

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

June 13, 2003

2003-135

Episcopalians: Budget seeks to reconcile abundance of faith with 
scarcity of fun

by E. T. Malone Jr.

(ENS) Reconciliation will be not just a spiritual goal, but a 
financial one as well for this summer's General Convention in 
Minneapolis. Mission goals must be reconciled with financial 
realities. Deputies and bishops face the problem of how "to live 
abundantly in a time of scarcity."

General Convention will be asked to approve a proposed budget 
for 2004-2006 that attempts to fulfill compelling mission 
priorities while keeping a sharp and conservative eye on 
expected revenues. The proposal calls for only slightly 
increased spending of $146,395,000 for the triennium, compared 
with the $138,353,000 budget adopted for  the 2001-2003 
triennium.

"This proposed budget draft has built-in conservative 
projections of income, yet continues to strategize for mission 
and ministry based on priorities," said Dean George Werner, 
president of the House of Deputies, in a written introduction to 
the budget document. Projected revenue figures anticipate a 
continued fall in investment income but predict increased giving 
from dioceses.

Amid threats of war and terrorism, and in a stalled economy, 
resources are shrinking rapidly, he said. "Yet dread and enmity 
are not Gospel values," Werner noted. "It is precisely in times 
such as these that we must set an example of our faith in God's 
abundance and in our commitment to use that abundance for the 
good of all God's children," he declared.

Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, in a message to convention, 
spoke of the theme, "Engage in God's Mission." This mission "is 
not an abstraction," he declared. "And, it is very clear in 
these days that there is an urgent need to participate in God's 
reconciling work in the world."

How do we get more money?

Alabama bishop Henry Parsley, co-chair of General Convention's 
Standing Commission on Stewardship and Development (SCSD), said 
that his group has for the past three years been focusing on the 
idea that Christians being created in the image of God will 
"draw us away from a life of sinful self-centeredness."

He noted, "The nature of our group is to really look at the 
income side, not on spending." In its report to convention, the 
commission focused on the theology of stewardship, especially in 
holding up the biblical standard of the tithe and in its 
expression in "first-fruits" tithing. This is, explained 
Parsley, "giving off the top" to the church, in gratitude to 
God, from one's income before using it for anything else. The 
report also speaks of "legacy stewardship," in which "Gifts at 
the end of our lives express our gratitude for the whole of our 
lives."

Yet the reported pointed out, "We recognize a deep chasm between 
our stated norms and our corporate and individual giving." 
Statistics from the year 2000, the most recent available, show 
that the average pledge in the Episcopal Church throughout all 
100 domestic dioceses is $1,564. Surveys have shown that, 
between 1969 and 1998, giving in American churches has not kept 
pace with increases in income. Within the Episcopal Church, 37 
of 100 dioceses still give less than the full asking to support 
the mission and ministry of the whole church.

SCSD is conducting a survey of seminaries to determine what they 
are teaching about stewardship and has held several of its 
meetings on seminary campuses, holding discussions with 
students.

Annual report on ministries?

Parsley emphasized several "nuggets" that he hopes will not be 
lost in the details of the SCSD report. The national mission 
narrative/annual report proposed in Resolution A136 "could have 
real power," he said. It calls on the Episcopal Church Center 
staff to create and publish every year a comprehensive and 
visually interesting report of the wide variety of important 
ministries being carried out throughout the Episcopal Church and 
in the broader Anglican community of which it is a part.

"We hope that it would give those dioceses who do not fully 
support the national budget a better sense of what the money is 
going for. We need to be accountable to each other and that 
needs to be communicated," he added. The Journal of General 
Convention, published only once every three years and in a 
text-only format, has not been an adequate vehicle to publicize 
the good news of what the church is doing, he said. This new 
annual report "could communicate better what we're actually 
doing in the church."

Additionally, he pointed out Resolution A135, "Holy Habits," 
which encourages personal spiritual disciplines, including 
respect for Sabbath time, "which is so important," he said. 
Setting aside Sabbath time, for renewal and refreshment, should 
be a priority for laity just as much as for clergy, he noted.

Finally, he suggested that Resolution A140, which calls for 
immediate creation of a Mission Funding Office for the Episcopal 
Church, is extremely important. The Episcopal Church Center in 
New York, he revealed, does not have a development officer on 
its staff, a fact unknown to most people in the Church. "It's 
simply terrible that we have no development function at the 
national level," Parsley concluded. "We know that this effort 
requires professional expertise."

Other resolutions proposed by SCSD call for implementation of 
the Alleluia Fund, accountability of mission partners, 50/50 
outreach for congregations, and affirmation of the work of TENS, 
the Episcopal stewardship network.

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--The Rev. Ted Malone is director of communications in the 
Diocese of North Carolina and a member of the ENS news team at 
the 74th General Convention in Minneapolis.