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[Daphne Mack <dmack@dfms.org>]

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James Solheim
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GC2000-095

Episcopal Church budget focuses on mission and growth

by Joe Thoma

     (ENS-DENVER) The Episcopal Church's $138 triennial budget, 
approved by the General Convention, might seem like a dry, 
dollars-and-cents matter, but it is inseparable from the mission 
of the church, said members of the Program, Budget & Finance 
Committee (PB & F).

     Budgeting is one of the most difficult tasks of the General 
Convention, agreed those asking for program funding--as well as 
the church officials charged with allocating money.

     "We see the whole budget as the mission of the church," said 
PB&F chairwoman Bonnie Anderson of Michigan, noting that the 
committee sought to develop a "vision-driven" budget. The 
triennial budget is up about 14.8 percent from the last budget, 
set at the 1997 convention. Committee members highlighted several 
proposed budget allocations, including: 

     *$250,000 to establish an Episcopal Youth Corps;

          *an increase of $1.2 million for a total of $4.05 
million for historically black colleges;

          *$22,500 to increase congregational development and 
leadership training to the deaf and aging;

          *$90,000 for a prison ministry task force; 

          *and $26,000 to gather data about the needs and shapes 
of ministry in the church.

     Supporters of those programs expressed gratitude for what 
they received.

     The Rev. Jacqueline Means, prison ministry director, said 
she was "both surprised and pleased" by the prison ministries 
allocation. "I've looked back at all of the resolutions passed on 
prison ministry that have led to no action. This will enable us 
to study the issues and develop educational materials for local 
use."

     Bishop Mark MacDonald of Alaska said he welcomed the 
$375,000 allocated to the Indigenous Theological Training 
Institute, on whose board he sits, and funding for mission in 
general. "We're very excited about the focus on mission and 
evangelism and the mention of diversity in the context of that," 
he said.

     Support for provincial program coordinators was expressed 
with a $600,000 line in the budget, a detail that pleased Bishop 
Jack McKelvey (Rochester), president of Province II. "It's a 
great move to allow us to do the mission of the church that we're 
called to do. This will enable us to coordinate our efforts and 
strengthen our ministry."

Getting and spending

     Perhaps the most talked-about initiatives in the months 
before General Convention were evangelism efforts called 20/20 
and the Alleluia Fund. Church legislation gives them $75,000 
annually each and creates a $200,000 reserve fund for 20/20, 
pending results of an Executive Council study.

     Debate over those initiatives centered on the very nature 
and purpose of church spending - and income.

     Some have argued that the Church Pension Fund's phenomenal 
investment returns should fund evangelism efforts. The fund's 
assets have grown more than 50 percent in the past year alone, 
from $4.2 billion as of March 31, 1999, to $6.7 billion. 
Suggestions have included using the surplus for evangelism or 
other "core missions" of the church, or giving some of the money 
back to congregations. Fund executives pointed out, however, that 
their discretion is limited by regulatory limits on use of the 
surplus.

     After convention adjourned, Deputy Ted Mollegen Jr. of 
Connecticut, a strong proponent of 20/20, suggested that wherever 
the money comes from, evangelism could be seen more as an 
investment than an expense. "If the DFMS were to fund some church 
plantings, should the cost of the plantings be considered an 
expense or an investment?" he asked. "New congregations 
ultimately become sources of new income to the church, fitting 
the definition of an investment," he said. He added that churches 
obviously aren't started for that reason, "but in my opinion one 
should account for them as investments if they have this 
characteristic."

     The size of the pension fund's surplus is what prompted the 
Church Pension Group (CPG) to adopt "The Stewardship of 
Abundance" as the theme of its two reports - the Annual Report 
and the Report to the General Convention, Mollegen said. "It 
should also be noted that the CPG has a non-contributory 
retirement plan for its own employees," he said.

     Because that plan is overfunded, the CPG has stopped making 
payments into it for its own employees. "In contrast, the CPG has 
not reduced the continuing burden on congregations since the 
Clergy Pension Fund became overfunded," said Mollegen, who says 
he wouldn't suggest weakening the clergy's chances of drawing 
their full pensions.

'Asking' not always answered

     On the income side, most dioceses respond to the church's 
"asking" of 21 percent of diocesan budgets after the first 
$100,000, said Treasurer Stephen Duggan. "As to diocesan giving, 
it remains strong and is again over budget for 2000," Duggan 
said. 

     About a dozen dioceses are significantly below the asking, 
however, though the reasons vary greatly. Some have made internal 
growth and evangelism a priority; others hold a philosophical 
"10-10-10" view that people in the pews should tithe 10 percent 
to their parish or mission, churches 10 percent to the diocese 
and the diocese 10 percent to the Episcopal Church. In a few 
cases, withholding funds is an expression of disagreement with 
church policies.

     Some voices in Denver called for the church to "monitor" 
those dioceses below the asking, or to send official teams to 
work with them in bringing them up to parity.

     But the PB&F is taking a more "pastoral" approach in dealing 
with the under-contributors, members said. "We remain in close 
contact with [dioceses sending less than the asking], and where 
visits or other involvement by 815 personnel might help, we make 
ourselves available," Duggan said.

     On the other side of the fence was Resolution C005, which 
called for the national church to adopt the tithe as the basis 
for funding. The Committee on Stewardship and Development 
recommended that the houses reject the resolution because, 
although the tithe has long been the standard for individual 
giving, such a basis for giving to the national church could mean 
reduction of giving by half of the current 21 percent of 
"asking."

Exclusions lamented

     Supporters of programs that received less than they had 
requested were disappointed.

     The Prayer Book, Liturgy and Church Music committee reduced 
an original $750,000 asking to $180,000, but received only 
$75,000 in the proposed budget, said Sister Barbara Jean Campbell 
OSH of New York. "I'm disappointed that a church [which] is 
seeking to put an emphasis on evangelism does not seem to take 
seriously that liturgy is the primary tool of evangelism in the 
Episcopal Church," she said.

     The last General Convention called for a program of 
liturgical enrichment and renewal, and she said she expected it 
to do the same this time. "And yet we continue to be unable to 
obtain the funds to move forward on this." The smaller budget 
"means fewer voices are at the table," she said, adding that the 
group failed to garner funding for liturgical enrichment and 
renewal last convention as well.

     Bishop Leo Frade (Honduras) expressed disappointment about 
receiving no funds to "export" Cursillo to Cuba and Spain, where 
it originated but was later banned. "Maybe it's a 
misunderstanding, because many people misunderstand Cursillo. 
There's no question Cursillo is an exciting branch of the 
church," he said. He added that the program would seek funding 
elsewhere.

     In the end, the proposed budget is balanced, as required, 
said Bishop Russell Jacobus (Fond Du Lac), PB&F vice chairman. 
The total cost of the vision of the church, as expressed through 
committee and commission reports and General Convention 
resolutions, exceeded $144 million, while only $138 million was 
available - including 2 million derived from unrestricted 
endowments, he said. But if every diocese paid the 21 percent 
asking, income would surpass requests by nearly $5 million, 
Jacobus said.

Better information to help

     PB&F will help church officials members on all levels make 
better plans, after the convention adopted additional resolves 
proposed by Mollegen. The PB&F report and proposals by the 
presiding bishop and Executive Council to General Convention, 
should include information from the preceding triennium about 
actual income and expenditures of the church; relation of the 
expenditures to the church's priorities; and the endowment 
balance and return. That information would be posted on the DFMS 
website when sent to bishops and deputies. A narrative would 
accompany each item.

--Joe Thoma is director of communications for the Diocese of 
Central Florida