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Summary of Actions of the Executive Council

Episcopal News Service. December 20, 1979 [79392]

GREENWICH, Conn. -- The 44-member Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, at its Dec. 12-14 meeting here, took the following actions:

Presiding Bishop
  • Heard the Rt. Rev. John Maury Allin, Presiding Bishop, address the Council in a homily on some of his concerns and hopes at the beginning of a three-year term of service for the Council. (See DPS #79393 and #79394).
  • Heard Presiding Bishop Allin introduce the following new members of the Episcopal Church Center staff in New York City: Steven Charleston, Indian Ministries Officer; the Rev. William Weiler, Associate Ecumenical Officer for Washington Affairs; and the Rev. Thomas Carson, Executive for Stewardship/Development.
  • Heard Presiding Bishop Allin nominate Matthew Costigan to be Treasurer of the Council and elected him unanimously.
  • Heard Presiding Bishop Allin report on a demonstration relating to the crisis in Iran at the Statue of Liberty in which he had participated, where four principles were enunciated: safe release of hostages, affirmation of non-violence, affirmation of non-vengeance, and the addressing of just grievances; and by a rising vote, affirmed full support for Bishop Allin and endorsed the principles. (See DPS #79401).
Secretary
  • Heard the Rev. Canon James R. Gundrum, Secretary of Executive Council, present a conflict of interest form for Council members to fill out and sign.
  • Received from Canon Gundrum, Secretary of General Convention, a list of resolutions approved by the Convention in Denver in September which were referred to the appropriate standing committees of Council for action or information.
  • Received from Canon Gundrum, Secretary of General Convention, a summary of the minutes of the Church Deployment Board which met in Chicago, Nov. 6-7.
  • Heard Canon Gundrum, Secretary of Executive Council, request members to purchase airline tickets to attend Council meetings as far in advance as possible in order to take advantage of any possible savings on air fares.
  • Heard Canon Gundrum, Secretary of Executive Council, remind members of the dates of the three scheduled meetings for 1980 (at Seabury House, Greenwich, Conn.): Feb. 13-15, June 4-6, and Nov. 12-14.
Education for Mission and Ministry
  • Heard from the Education for Mission and Ministry Committee that 140,000 books from the new seven-volume Church's Teaching Series, published by the Seabury Press, have been sold.
  • Received a brief statement of major emphases and goals from the component offices of the Education for Mission and Ministry section, including Evangelism and Renewal, Lay Ministries, Youth and Young Adult Ministries, Christian Education, Church Deployment, Theological Education, Council for the Development of Ministry, and Higher Education.
  • Appropriated up to $3,000 from the Constable Fund for the training of leaders to develop evangelism and renewal in congregations of the Diocese of Northern Mexico during 1980.
  • Appropriated up to $3,400 from the Constable Fund to strengthen congregations in evangelism and renewal in the three dioceses (Southern, Central, Northern) of the Philippine Episcopal Church in June 1980.
  • Appropriated up to $15,000 from the Constable Fund for the publication and distribution of educational materials for "Celebration of Age in Action Week" in May 1980, which is sponsored by the Episcopal Society for Ministry on Aging.
  • Heard the Education for Mission and Ministry Committee suggest that appropriate Episcopal Church Center staff and Council consider children in urban areas as a possible recipient of the Church School Missionary Offering.
  • Requested the Education for Mission and Ministry staff, in collaboration with staff of other Church Center program groups, to prepare a summary of present Episcopal and ecumenical programs and resources for urban ministry.
  • Requested the Executive for Education for Ministry to offer to work with the Coalition of Urban Bishops in the development of materials, particularly case studies, for use in the educational work of the Church.
  • Heard the Education for Mission and Ministry Committee report that it will present to Council urban demands on education and ministry at its June 1980 meeting and education of youth in November 1980.
Stewardship/Development
  • Expressed gratitude for the $750,000 gift by the Brown Foundation of Houston, Tex., to be used in support of a Venture in Mission project for the training of Mexican Americans for ministry at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, Austin, Tex.
  • Approved a budget of up to $362,614.40 for Venture in Mission for 1980, with funds to be advanced from reserve deposits and repayment to be made at interest from Venture receipts.
  • Received a report from the Rev. Thomas H. Carson, Jr., Executive for Stewardship/Development, which indicates that $38.7 million (including challenge gifts) -- of which the national program may receive $15 million -- have been subscribed in Venture in Mission campaigns, representing reports from 24 dioceses; heard that 38 dioceses plan to conduct campaigns during 1979-1980 and 29 look forward to participation during 1980-1982; and received a list of Venture projects which have been reserved for designation as of Oct. 31. (See DPS #79396).
  • Heard that as of July 1, 1980, the full responsibility for Venture in Mission will shift to the Stewardship/Development office.
  • Heard the Stewardship/Development Committee urge dioceses and individuals to consider designating Venture in Mission gifts to urban mission program items.
  • Heard the Stewardship/Development Committee report that it plans to enter into dialogue with representatives of the Board for Theological Education and the seminary deans to search for ways and means by which the Council might assist seminaries in developing the theology and practice of Christian stewardship.
National Mission in Church and Society
  • Heard the National Mission in Church and Society Committee report that it is re-writing its charter for presentation to the Council in February.
  • Heard that a report from the Energy Task Force is being printed and will be available in early 1980, and that two booklets dealing with energy matters for churches and residences will also be available.
  • Acknowledged with gratitude the Coalition of Urban Bishops' working paper entitled The Challenge for Evangelism and Mission which the standing committees of the Council considered during their meetings, and pledged continued cooperation in mutual concerns.
  • Heard that the book, Church and Society Social Policy of the Episcopal Church, is being updated and will be available to dioceses and seminary libraries.
  • Approved by a vote of 24 to 13 a stockholder resolution initiated by an ecumenical group in Rochester, N. Y., to be filed with Eastman Kodak, requesting that corporation to withdraw its operations from South Africa until that government ends its apartheid policies. (See DPS # 79399).
  • Received from the Social Responsibility in Investments Committee its work calendar.
Communication
  • Heard the Communication Committee report on its discussion of its charter, goals and objectives, on its consideration of the range of concerns under its jurisdiction, and extending its work in 1980 and beyond.
Finance/Administration
  • Approved the adjustment of current pension supplements to retired missionary bishops and widows.
  • Heard Matthew Costigan, Treasurer, give an optimistic report on the 1979 budget Income and the acceptance of 1980 apportionments, and a report on the various funds of the Church.
  • Approved a loan up to $262,000 at 9 percent interest to the Diocese of Costa Rica which is to be repaid in not more than 10 years or upon sale of hotel, with the interest to be effective Jan. 1, 1980.
  • Adopted its 1980 General Church Program budget in the amount of $15,848,185 with the stipulation that 5 percent of specified program items not be committed as a protection against an income shortfall, with a review of this action scheduled for the February meeting of Council. (See DPS #79395).
  • Established a trust fund of approximately $200,000 from a bequest of Ethel A. Clark, Pepperell, Mass., with the income from the invested fund to be used for the support of domestic and overseas missionaries.
  • Established the Scaife-Anderson Fund with $17,902 that was raised a few years ago, with the income -- when it is sufficiently large -- to be used as scholarships to young people from the United States to study and work overseas in order to strengthen relationships between Eastern and Western Churches.
  • Approved an optional diocesan balance sheet to be included in the Manual of Accounting Principles and Reporting Practices for Episcopal Dioceses, Parishes and Missions.
  • Approved the sale of Brugler House, located on the Seabury House property, originally a home for missionaries on furlough, to the Seabury Foundation, and approved adding the sale price to Trust Fund #658, with the income to be used for housing for missionaries on furlough wherever they choose to reside.
  • Established a trust fund of approximately $162,000 from the Diocese of Pittsburgh Venture in Mission program as an endowment fund for the training of indigenous ordained ministers for the Church in Chile.
  • Approved a loan of $74,000 at 9 percent interest for the Episcopal Church of Liberia for a period of not more than 10 years, to enable them to pay unexpected real estate taxes on their property.
  • Established from a bequest by Josephine Wells Greene, Paramus, N.J., a new trust fund in memory of James S. Chester Wells, the income of which is to be used for missionary work among American Indians.
  • Approved a lay retirement plan with New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, and appointed Matthew Costigan trustee.
  • Heard that the Finance/Administration Committee has referred a medical insurance proposal for retired staff to the Church Center staff for study and report later.
  • Heard the Finance/Administration Committee report that its reviews of aided dioceses, to be done every two years, has almost been completed.
  • Heard the Finance/Administration Committee report that it has referred to the Education for Ministry Committee an invitation from St. Augustine's College, Raleigh, N. C., for the Executive Council to meet on its campus, with the suggestion that the committee might hold one of its meetings there.
  • Approved a revised travel expense policy with increases in allowed charges.
  • Heard the Finance/Administration Committee report that it will propose 1981 Council meeting dates in February.
World Mission in Church and Society
  • Expressed thanks for a fraternal visit by a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church, including a Baptist and a Roman Catholic, received a Communique of the consultation, and sent its greetings to His Holiness Patriarch Pimen of Moscow and All Russia and to the Holy Synod.
  • Expressed thanks to the following overseas personnel: the Rev. David McCallum who has transferred from the Diocese of Nicaragua to the Diocese of Nassau and the Bahamas; and to the Rev. Messrs. David Bergeson (Dominican Republic), John Clarkson (Jamaica), and Jacques Hadler (Tanzania), who have resigned after the completion of their tours.
  • Approved the establishment of a Companion Relationship between Province V of the Episcopal Church and the Province of Nigeria, to be in effect until December 1982.
  • Established a three-year Companion Diocese Relationship between the Diocese of West Texas and the Diocese of Northern Mexico.
  • Heard the World Mission in Church and Society Committee report that discussions had taken place with regard to a proposed (possibly June) 1981 Partners in Mission Consultation II, reflecting a general lack of interest, and requested the Finance/Administration Committee to make a pre-planning study with a report to Council as early as possible.
  • Approved the appointment of the following persons to represent the Episcopal Church at overseas Partners in Mission Consultations in 1980: The Nippon Seikokai (Japan), April 21-30, Bishop Edmond Lee Browning of Hawaii; the Church of the Province of South Africa, May 15-June 15, Dr. Paul Neuhauser, Iowa City, Iowa; and the Church of the Province of West Africa, August, Mrs. Leona Bryant of the Virgin Islands.
  • Approved five Anglican Partners Grants, totaling $25,000, as follows: Conference of Anglican Provinces of Africa for travel of participants, $2,000; Central Africa, for vehicle for provincial coordinator, $8,000; Francophone Council, toward support of Council secretariat, $5,000; CASA-Consur, toward support of theological education in Vina del Mar, Chile, $5,000; and Tanzania, toward support of provincial office and travel, $5,000.
  • Accepted the reports of the second Partners in Mission Consultations in both Central Africa and Tanzania.
  • Approved eight grants totaling $61,486 as submitted by the Committee on Theological Education for Latin America and the Caribbean and the President of Province IX: Iglesia Episcopal Dominicana for CET, $15,000; College Saint Pierre, Haiti, $1,350; Iglesia Episcopal Puertoriquena for Estudio, 1980-1981, $15,000; Educacion Continuo de Guatemala, Diocese of Guatemala, $7,650; Preparation for Ministry, Diocesio del Norte de Mexico (1st year of possible three-year grant), $4,286; Programa para Formacion Teologio, Diocesio de Colombia, $10,000; Iglesia Episcopal Costarricense, $5,800; and Educacion Teologica, Oeste de Mexico, $2,400.
  • Accepted a report from the United Thank Offering Committee with gratitude for the 1979 total of $1,917,789.47 (an increase of $149,989.83 over 1978), with a notation that the total for the past five years is $5 million and $52 million for the 90-year history of the Offering.
  • Received a 1979 report on Indochinese refugees (through Oct. 23), which reveals that the Refugee Office of the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief has handled 379 cases involving 1,850 people, has accepted an additional 267 cases involving 1, 261 people; and heard that 499 other refugees have been sponsored as follows: 321 Romanians, 55 Armenians, 41 Iraquis, 28 Ethiopians, 25 Burmese, 24 Chinese, and 5 others.
  • Voted to receive U. S. Government funds totaling $360,000 through Church World Service for refugee resettlement, subject to terms acceptable to the Council, which will fund Church Center and field programs; and voted to continue its sponsorship program, with a commendation to dioceses and congregations of the Episcopal Church for sponsoring more than 4,200 refugees into the U.S. (See DPS #79398).
  • Amended the charter of the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief so that board membership may be increased from 16 to 20 members, plus the ex officio membership of the Presiding Bishop and the Executive for World Mission in Church and Society, with each member serving a four year term; and providing for a refugee subcommittee.
  • Discharged with appreciation an Ad Hoc Committee on Immigration and Refugee Concerns, the Rev. Canon Oliver B. Garver, Jr., Los Angeles, convenor, in as much as its purposes have been accomplished.
  • Received and affirmed a 1980 proposed budget from the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief for a grand total of $2,372,086.
  • Approved the employment of a Network Officer for the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, with support for the triennium to come from the administration/ promotion portion of the Fund's budget.
  • Received the news of the election of the Rev. Emilio Hernandez as Bishop Coadjutor of the Episcopal Church of Cuba with an expression of its good wishes and prayers, and expressed appreciation for the ministry of Bishop Jose A. Gonzalez as he plans to retire as head of the Cuban Church.
  • Expressed appreciation to the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief for setting up a large, effective program for the resettlement of Cambodian refugees.