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A summary of Executive Council resolutions

Episcopal News Service – Fort Worth, Texas. February 18, 2011 [021811-04]

ENS staff

During its Feb. 16-18 here, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church adopted several resolutions, which are summarized below.

Executive Council

  • Amended the charter of the Joint Standing Committee on Audit to allow it to obtain advice and assistance from external legal, accounting or other advisors, and to recommend the appointment and review the performance of the independent auditor (EC015).
  • Consented to the Joint Standing Committee on Planning and Arrangement's selection of Salt Lake City in the Diocese of Utah as the site for the 78th General Convention in 2015 (EC016).

Advocacy and Networking for Mission

  • Authorized a vote in favor of all shareholder resolutions requesting that companies detail all U.S. government subsidies (federal, state and local) they have received. (A&N016).
  • Authorized a vote in favor of all shareholder resolutions asking companies to report to shareholders on the potential adverse impacts associated with genetically modified organisms (A&N017).
  • Authorized a vote in favor of all shareholder resolutions asking companies to conduct an independent review of foreclosure practices (A&N018).
  • Authorized a vote in favor of all shareholder resolutions asking health insurance companies to report on how they are responding to regulatory, legislative and public pressures to ensure affordable health care (A&N019).
  • Authorized a vote in favor of all shareholder resolutions asking companies to adopt a human rights policy that includes prohibition of the sexual exploitation of minors (A&N020).
  • Instructed the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society treasurer to vote "abstain" on all shareholder resolutions asking companies to report on financial impact associated with Arizona Senate Bill 1070 (A&N021).
  • Instructed the DFMS treasurer to vote "abstain" on all shareholder resolutions related to net neutrality within company wireless networks (A&N022).
  • Directed the Episcopal Church to encourage the U.S. government to strengthen protection and assistance for refugees who flee based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and to intensify efforts to work diplomatically in the international community to strengthen protections in all parts of the world and in all aspects of the refugee and asylum process (A&N023).
  • Supported public policies that strengthen disclosure requirements for donors to electoral communications (A&N024).
  • Expressed its thanksgiving for the Anglican Communion Primates' letter on gender violence and renew its commitment to an ongoing witness against gender-based violence against women and girls (A&N025).
  • Expressed grief and outrage at the murder of "our brother David Kato" in his home in Mukon, Uganda, on January 26, 2011, and, in his memory, ask Episcopalians to persist in resisting discrimination at all levels because of sexual orientation or gender (A&N026).
  • Urged the U.S. Congress, the president and federal policymakers, when considering cuts to federal programs, to examine all programs for their efficiency and effectiveness in responding to the needs of the nation, exempting none from such scrutiny; to examine revenue streams to ensure that federal tax policy generates adequate revenue to provide for the common good without causing harm to those who can least afford it; directed the Standing Commission on Social Justice and Public Policy to examine these federal budget issues and to make policy recommendations to the 77th General Convention; urged all U.S. Episcopalians to engage in advocacy for a responsible federal budget that expresses the shared moral priorities of the nation (A&N027).

Finances for Mission

  • Set the dividend rate for 2011 for the DFMS trust fund portfolios available to support the operating budget and for trust funds in its endowment portfolio that are not available to support the operating budget at $1.09 per share based on 5.5% of the average year-end market values of the portfolio for the five years ending in 2010 (FFM033).
  • Established Trust Fund #1038 as an investment account for the Diocese of Lexington in Kentucky (FFM034).
  • Established Trust Fund #1039 as an investment account for the Church of the Epiphany in Pawtucket, Rhode Island (FFM035).
  • Authorized the balance remaining in Trust Fund #872 (Endowment Fund for the Episcopate, Diocese of Honduras) be sent to the Diocese of Honduras as requested by the Right Rev. Lloyd E. Allen and the Very Rev. Gerardo Alonso upon receipt of a properly executed request to assist the diocese to make pension contributions that are in arrears (FFM036).
  • Authorized the co-directors of mission to use income distributed during 2011 from Trust Fund #809, up to $356,875, for educational and theological programs (including continuing education and individual scholarships) as recommended by the Commission on Theological Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (CETALC) at its July 2010 meeting, and directed that any balance not awarded be re-invested. (FFM037).
  • Approved a modification to the 2011 budget for the Episcopal Church, adding $460,000 in expenditures arising due to delayed timing of spending in 2010 (FFM038).

Governance and Administration for Mission

  • Directed the Standing Commission on the Structure of the Church to coordinate concurrent efforts by committees, commissions, and task forces regarding strategic planning and structural change, and hold an in-person consultation with representatives of those groups in conjunction with its June 2011 meeting (GAM009).
  • Directed Episcopal Church Center management to report to GAM at the June 2011 Executive Council meeting with recommendations for implementation, a timeline and a report of actions taken to date regarding the recommendations contained in the Joint Audit Committee report and A&F093 Task Force report concerning the center's human resources practices; management to report to the GAM chair and vice chair by April 15 on recommendations on implementation and timeline for the items which the two reports recommended should be fast-tracked; ongoing implementation of recommendations to be monitored by GAM and that between council meetings a body comprised of the chair and vice chair of GAM and FFM receive regular reports by management (GAM010).

Local Ministry and Mission

  • Reviewed a list of Jubilee Programs (LMM017).

World Mission

  • Reaffirmed full support of the NetsforLife Inspiration Fund and reaffirmed council's commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through NetsforLife, the church's innovative malaria prevention partnership in sub-Saharan Africa, and called all Episcopalians to join the fight against malaria through the campaign (WM016).

The Executive Council carries out the programs and policies adopted by the General Convention, according to Canon I.4 (1)(a). The council is composed of 38 members, 20 of whom (four bishops, four priests or deacons and 12 lay people) are elected by General Convention and 18 (one clergy and one lay) by provincial synods for six-year terms, plus the presiding bishop and the president of the House of Deputies.