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Committee Previews Venture Program in Chicago Meeting

Episcopal News Service. December 1, 1977 [77391]

CHICAGO, Ill. -- The first meeting of the Episcopal Church's Venture in Mission Committee of 200 met in Chicago on Nov. 29 to be briefed on the various steps taken to carry out the action of the 1976 General Convention which launched the Venture program, which is a major three-year renewal/fund raising effort.

More than 100 of the 200 active sponsors who make up the committee gathered at the O'Hare Hilton to hear Presiding Bishop John M. Allin, Mr. Paul N. Howell of Houston, chairman of the Cabinet, and others lead a presentation and discussion of Venture plans, particularly a preview of the Case -- or Mission Opportunities -- which will be presented to the Executive Council for approval at its Dec. 7-9 meeting.

The 32-member Cabinet -- formerly the Executive Committee -- met the same day just prior to the Committee of 200 and voted to present to the Council a diversified list of proposals, all of which meet the eleven criteria set by the General Convention, totaling some $89 million. A contingency fund for unexpected opportunities ($7 million) and an allocation for campaign expenses ($3.9 million) will bring the total to $100,587,948.

The Rev. Canon W. Ebert Hobbs of the Diocese of Ohio and a member of the Cabinet, reported that the projects which will be presented to Executive Council for approval are in four categories as follows: evangelism and congregational growth ($11,125,075); Christian education for a more effective ministry ($20,060,975); mission to those suffering from deprivation, neglect, and isolation ($18,536,287); and world outreach, Episcopal Church overseas and Anglican partners ($39,965,611).

Mrs. Seaton Bailey, Griffin, Ga., and co-chairman with retired Bishop Harold Gosnell of West Texas, of the diocesan visitation aspect of the program, reported a complete "turnabout" in the response of dioceses during the second visit by trained teams this fall.

The first round of visits last spring, she pointed out, revealed a cautious acceptance of Venture in Mission and even a little hostility. "On the whole the visitors were very well received" this fall, she said.

During the second visits the 36 presenters went to 89 of the 93 domestic dioceses and several overseas areas and asked four basic questions: What attracts you about Venture in Mission? What gaps or omissions (in areas of concern) do you find? Where is the diocese in its Venture program? What suggestions can you offer for working together?

Mrs. Bailey said that the features of Venture most liked were that the program "is a basis for unity of purpose in the Church" and that dioceses were "able to choose a specific mission opportunity." Among the omissions listed were the lack of an evangelistic emphasis and the failure to identify an "accountability which works both ways."

Many diocesan conventions have already made decisions to support Venture, she said, but definite and final plans have not been made in many dioceses.

She said that several dioceses -- such as Central New York, Fond du Lac, Iowa, Utah, and Vermont -- had negative reactions to the Venture program, though there is still hope that at least some of these dioceses may participate in some way.

Robert M. Ayres, Jr., of the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn., spoke of the Advent/1977 through Advent/1978 mission study which the Executive Council approved in September. The year of "study and commitment" will focus on "Response to the Risen Lord" and material is being mailed to each congregation, he said.

During the discussion period several questions were raised, such as matters relating to funds for the National Cathedral in Washington and the three Episcopal Black colleges. Members of the Committee of 200 were informed that comments and suggestions made at that meeting or later would be forwarded to the Executive Council for consideration before action is taken in mid-December.

Bishop Allin challenged the committee "to give your energy, time, talents and money in this Venture. " In a prepared statement he said that Venture in Mission is a call to "commitment to initiating, reconciling and sharing holy, healthy, wholesome, just relations among the people of this sin-plagued earth and, please God, with the Creator and the Creator's universe. "

"The Venture is not the presentation of a completed plan for adoption or approval by some for the activity of others," he said.

"For the next three years," he said, "One Hundred Million dollars is a reasonable, practical and achievable measure for the Episcopal Church to achieve in this Venture to fund Mission. Although today such a sum in insufficient to develop a new tactical bombing plane or new atomic submarine or missile system, such a sum can still do both measurable and immeasurable good in Christian Mission."

Mr. Howell told the members of the committee that he hoped they would pledge their support and would enthusiastically carry the program back to their dioceses and churches. "The diocese is at the heart of Venture in Mission," he said.

"Does this Church really need the $100 million?" he asked. "What the Church needs is the revitalization that comes from the faith that we can raise $100 million in these times of turmoil. "

"It would be fatal," Bishop Allin said, "to wait for the Church to get ready" for Venture in Mission.

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