wfn.org | Episcopalians: Executive Council affirms Church Center move (UPDATED)

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UPDATED October 17, 2002

2002-235

Episcopalians: Executive Council affirms Church Center move 
(UPDATED)

by Jan Nunley

(ENS) After what was described as "a bruising two days" of 
heated discussion and debate, the Executive Council, meeting 
October 11-14 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, voted to continue 
pursuing a joint project which would move the New York-based 
Episcopal Church Center from midtown Manhattan to the campus of 
the General Theological Seminary (GTS) in Chelsea Square. 

The vote came despite a strong recommendation from the 
Standing Committee on Administration and Finance (A&F) and the 
management team of the Church Center that the project be 
abandoned because of differences with the GTS team, the budget 
circumstances of the national church, and the uncertainties of 
the U.S. economy. 

The resolution, which passed by a vote of 27-6, authorizes 
"the continuing pursuit of the DFMS/GTS project" as approved at 
the Executive Council meeting in Durham, New Hampshire in June. 
The council then voted to authorize the creation of a project 
development committee, whose first task would be to draft a 
binding agreement for action at its January meeting. 

The committee includes council member Russ Palmore of the 
Diocese of Virginia; Dall Forsythe, chief administrative officer 
of the Diocese of New York; Andrew McMaster, partner, Deloitte & 
Touche LLP and member of the DFMS Audit Committee; DFMS 
treasurer Ralph O'Hara; and chief operating officer Pat 
Mordecai.

According to the Memorandum of Intent signed in February, 
neither DFMS nor GTS is legally bound to go forward with the 
project until both have signed a joint development agreement. 
That was originally not scheduled to happen until the end of the 
project's Phase II, but Mordecai says it now seems more 
appropriate to put such an agreement in place before hiring a 
project manager and architect.

The letter of agreement would bind both parties to the 
completion of the project, to an agreed timetable, and an "exit 
strategy" should one of the parties decided not to go forward. 
It would also define under what conditions both parties might 
agree not to continue with the project--for example, if 
construction costs are much higher than the original estimates.

A different risk climate

In committee hearings and plenary sessions on Saturday and 
Sunday, council members heard concerns that the Domestic and 
Foreign Missionary Society (DFMS), the corporate name under 
which the Church Center operates, would be "taking on a 
disproportionate amount of the risk" of the project compared to 
that of the seminary. 

According to treasurer Ralph O'Hara, the uncertainties of the 
American economy, the trauma of last year's terrorist attacks 
and the threat of further wars, and the crisis in financial and 
other institutions have eroded confidence to the point where 
"we're in a very different risk climate" from the period when 
the project first surfaced for consideration. According to 
O'Hara, the project would show no favorable cash flow for DFMS 
until 2016. 

Mordecai told the council that a series of "difficult 
conversations" with GTS had not resulted in a better balance 
between debt and risk for the DFMS side of the equation. Under 
the current plan, DFMS would assume 89 percent of the debt for 
the project and receive 83 percent of the asset value.

Analysis of the project by Staubach Financial Services showed 
that GTS would need to make substantial budget cuts in order to 
preserve its endowment income. DFMS would have to commit $70 
million of its approximately $100 million unrestricted endowment 
as collateral for 30 years. The DFMS endowment has dropped 
approximately 30 percent since January 1, 2001.

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, who promised to support 
whatever decision the council made on the project, raised the 
question of "what national church headquarters are going to look 
like in the future." He asked whether a thirty-year commitment 
to "bricks and mortar" would leave the church flexible enough to 
respond to changing management styles. 

Called to the podium, GTS dean Ward Ewing called it "an 
unfortunate process" and told the council he had a "dramatically 
different understanding" of the conversations with the 
management team. "This has been a bruising two days," Ewing 
said.

Church of "enormous abundance"

Council members reacted to the recommendation with concern 
about what some saw as its negative assumptions. "We're 
forgetting that we are a church of enormous abundance," remarked 
Judge Jim Bradberry of Southern Virginia. "We can't afford to 
stop acting like Christians just because the market takes a dive 
and there are threats of war. Where's our courage?" 

Others were concerned, however, that there had been a 
breakdown of the relationship between the DFMS and GTS teams 
which needed repair. That prompted the council to go into a 
closed session which lasted more than an hour on Sunday evening, 
and to agree to return for a vote the following morning. In a 
move unusual for the council, the vote was taken by written 
secret ballot. 

Following the vote, Ewing thanked the council and expressed 
"a strong conviction that this project was being guided by the 
Holy Spirit, however it turned out." Later, he told reporters 
that while "too many folks have been chewed up" for him to be 
exhilarated about the affirming vote, he was "excited" that the 
project would go forward in a "new beginning, with the Presiding 
Bishop and myself working more closely together." 

In a statement released later, Ewing said that he was "very 
pleased by the action of the Executive Council and the support 
of the Presiding Bishop to move this project forward. I am 
excited by the promise of greater collaboration between the Dean 
of General Seminary and the Presiding Bishop.

"I believe we have taken a significant step what will provide 
a strong foundation for the work that must be done in the coming 
years," he concluded.

"I am grateful that Executive Council engaged with care, 
candor, and in good spirit the next steps of the possible move 
of the Episcopal Church Center to the grounds of the General 
Theological Seminary," said Griswold in a separate statement. "I 
am confident that the Project Development Committee, as 
established by Council, will go about their work with due 
diligence as they prepare a binding agreement for Council 
deliberation in January, and I look forward to collaborating 
with Dean Ewing in support of their efforts."

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--The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of Episcopal News 
Service.