Summary of Actions of The Executive Council
Episcopal News Service. February 18, 1983 [83035]
CHARLESTON, S.C. (DPS, Feb. 18) -- The Executive Council of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church met here Feb. 9-11.
The Council -- which sets policy and develops programs for the Church between the triennial meetings of the General Convention -- consists of 40 members: 20 elected by the Convention; 18 elected by the Church's nine internal provinces, and the Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, and the President of the House of Deputies, Dr. Charles R. Lawrence. The Rev. Canon.James R. Gundrum is secretary.
Changes in the Church's laws in the fall of 1979 have doubled the number of provincial representatives -- provinces previously elected one each -- and pared back the representation elected directly by each Convention from 14 to 10.
Most resolutions for Council action came through six standing committees and occasionally a special committee or sub-committee.
The Council took the following actions:
- Heard Presiding Bishop John M. Allin for "motivating every member of this Church we can positively motivate to increased participation and giving in the mission of Jesus Christ to the increasingly desperate human conditions of this world."
- Approved a response of endorsement to the Presiding Bishop's address made by a committee composed of the chairmen of the standing committees.
- Received from the secretary, the Rev. Canon James R. Gundrum, a list of communications received and the disposition he made of each.
- Received a report from the secretary on the correspondence the Novemher 1982 meeting of Council generated.
- Received from the secretary a list of Council members who have been appointed liaison to the interim bodies of General Convention.
- Approved courtesy resolutions to the following: St. Michael's Church Charleston, for providing space for some meetings; Bishop and Mrs. C. FitzSimons Allison for their hospitality; John and Harriet Goodbody and their daughter Joan for their services to Council members; the family of retired Bishop Henry Wise Hobson of Southern Ohio who died Feb. 9: Management and staff of the Mills House Hotel for services to the Council; the Hon. Joseph P. Riley, Jr., mayor of Charleston who extended greetings to the Council; Council member Tom Tisdale and his wife Courtenay for their hospitality; the ten couples who received Council members and staff into their homes for dinner; Bishop A. Donald Davies and the new Diocese of Fort Worth; and Council member the Rev. Alex D. Dickson, Jr., who was recently elected bishop of the new Diocese of West Tennessee.
- Learned that a total of $173 million has been pledged or given to the various Venture in Mission campaigns throughout the Church and that several dioceses are in the midst of campaigns with several other jurisdictions scheduled to begin in a few weeks.
- Approved the combining of a Venture project for the self-sufficiency of the Diocese of Liberia with a project for the support of Cuttington College in Liberia.
- Approved a resolution for the listing of a Theological Education Scholarship Fund for Asian and Pacific Island Americans in the Catalogue of Mission Opportunities under Project #570 in the amount of $500,000.
- Approved a resolution calling for the listing of the Theological Education Scholarship Fund for American-Alaska Natives in the Catalogue for Mission Opportunities under project #570 in the amount of $500,000.
- Approved a resolution which released $8,000 -- and any subsequent funds as received -- designated by the Diocese of New Jersey for the Instituto Pastoral Hispano.
- Voted to revise the Episcopal College Endowment Fund from an endowment for chaplaincies to a $1 million project for the endowment of the Charitable Service Scholarship Fund, to be established and administered by the colleges.
- Affirmed the appointment by Presiding Bishop John M. Allin of the following to serve as missionaries of the Church: The Rev. Richard C. Nevius and his family of Utah to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; and the Rev. and Mrs. Luis A. Quiroga from Long Island to the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church.
- Affirmed the following Volunteers for Mission personnel changes: Mrs. Nilah Tripp as administrator for the Episcopal Theological School of the Diocese of Guatemala; Dr. Robert Walton, a plastic surgeon, and his wife Laura, a nurse, to three hospitals in Kampala, Upanda for a month; the Rev. Julio Torres who will work with a refugee program in Nicaragua while his wife, Katherine Pettus will help with relief work among children and women; John Hauser who will be part of a medical team in Nicaragua; Dr. and Mrs. Charles bock of Minnesota who will serve at Bukedi Primary Health Center in Uganda; and Jacklyn Wilkes and Bettie.lean Allen of Springfield, Ill., amateur wine makers, who spent two weeks in Bukedi, Uganda, assisting the diocesan staff in making communion wine.
- Established the following companion diocese relationships: Iowa and Brechin of the Scottish Episcopal Church; Minnesota and Butare, of the Province of Burundi, Rwanda and Zaire; and North Dakota and the South-Central Diocese of the Episcopal Church of Brazil.
- Received a report from the Province of the Indian Ocean's second Partners in Mission Consultation.
- Affirmed grants totalling $87,595 from Trust Fund #809 -- on recommendation of the Commission on Theological Education for Latin America and the Caribbean -- for theological education projects in the following dioceses: Nicaragua, $7,000; Western Mexico, $1,500; Guatemala, $5,700; Costa Rica, $12,000; Haiti, $10,000; Puerto Rico, $6,100; Dominican Republic, $15,000; Virgin Islands, $10,000; Colombia, $6,595; and Cuba, $10,250.
- Accepted Partners in Mission consultation invitations and appointed representatives as follows: South Pacific, Bishop Edmond L. Browning of Hawaii; West Africa, Paul Frank and the Rev. Patrick Mauney; Ireland, Harry Griffith; Southeast Asia, Bishop Donald J. Davis of Northwestern Pennsylvania.
- Approved resolutions concerning a recent 60 Minutes program on CBS News which criticized it for using "inferior journalistic standards... resulting in an unfair and biased presentation" on the National and World Council of Churches; authorized Presiding Bishop John M. Allin to continue to work with heads of other member-churches in the councils to protest the unfair presentation; and called on the Episcopal Church's representatives to the governing bodies of the two organizations to keep Episcopalians informed on their work.
- Elected members of the Anglican Consultative Council as follows: Bishop Edmond L. Browning of Hawaii, to serve for three meetings, and the Rev. Frederick Borsch of Princeton, N.J., to serve for two meetings.
- Approved a resolution of appreciation and best wishes for the Rev. Samuel Van Culin, executive for world mission, who has recently been elected secretary general of the Anglican Consultative Council.
- Heard a report form Bishop Donald J. Davis of Northwestern Pennsylvania on his recent trip to the Philippines.
- Heard a report by officials of the Seabury Press on the working relationships between the Episcopal Church Center and the Press.
- Allocated from the Constable Fund up to $6,000 for the translation and publication of communication education material in Spanish for use in Province IX in 1983.
- Affirmed the following persons for election to the class of 1986 on the board of trustees of the Seabury Press: Mrs. Avery Brooke, the Rev. George W. Brandt, Jr., the Very Rev. James C. Fenhagen, the Rev. Henry B. Mitchell, the Rev. Robert R. Parks, and Mrs. Deborah E. Wiley.
- Approved a resolution of thankfulness and praise for Mrs. Margaret II. Andersen, associate communication officer at the Church Center, who will retire June 1, after 20 years on the communication staff.
- Viewed a video tape program of the Jan. 16 ecumenical service at Washington Cathedral when the presiding bishops of the Episcopal Church and three Lutheran Churches joined in the celebration of the Eucharist.
- Designated the Minnesota Committee on Indian work as the recipient of the Church School Missionary Offering for the period of Advent 1983 to Advent 1984, to assist in the Indian Child and Youth Ministry Program of the Diocese of Minnesota.
- Endorsed the policy of developing educational materials and resources for the Church by the Education for Mission and Ministry unit in close cooperation with the Seabury Press.
- Learned from the committee that "Custer's Revenge," an arcade video game which the Council had called "prurient, lascivious and pornographic" at its November 1982 meeting, is being withdrawn by the manufacturers.
- Learned that the Education of Mission and Ministry committee had spent some time discussing the matter of appropriate time for the Trienniel Meeting of the women of the Episcopal Church to convene.
- Received in the docket the printed report of the treasurer.
- Learned from the Finance/Administration committee that the acceptance of diocesan apportionments for 1983 is 97.4%, the highest percentage of acceptance in the Church's history.
- Voted to designate the 1982 lapsed budget balance as follows: $600,000 for the 1984 budget and $390,000 for reserve for emergencies in the 1985 budget or to cover any shortfall in the 1983 budget.
- Re-elected Matthew Costigan as its treasurer to serve until the next General Convention (1985).
- Elected the following members of the Committee on Trust Funds: Elbridge T. Carry, Sr., chairman (1 year), Mrs. Karen Goukassow Loud (1 year), Arthur L. Thompson (1 year), Mrs. Joyce Phillips (2 years), Thomas D. Cunningham, Jr. (2 years), Edward B. de Selding (2 years), William C. Breed III, (3 years), John S. Buckley (3 years), and Douglas T. Yates (3 years); and noted that Bishop Milton L. Wood and Matthew Costigan are also members of the committee.
- Established the Ethel M. McDougall Golson Fund ($59,000) for the general purposes of the Church.
- Established the Theological Education Scholarships for American Indian/ Alaska Natives Trust Fund and the Theological Education Scholarships for Asian and Pacific Island Americans Trust Fund.
- Established the Diocese of Liberia Endowment Fund for the receipts for the Venture in Mission project #674.
- Heard presentations from an advisory committee on Jubilee Ministry/Next Step by Harry Griffith of Winter Park, Fla., and John Cannon of Detroit in which it was affirmed that the two programs are really "two sides of the same coin."
- Previewed a new film on the Episcopal Church's black ministry.
- Accepted a report from the National Council of Churches on the Ecumenical Bail Bond Fund and voted to continue to participate in this project.
- Received a report from the Episcopal Church in Nicaragua and called for the end of all acts of violence in that country and for the establishment of an international dialogue to achieve peace there and in all of Central America.
- Commended the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine which has developed a uniform determination of death statute, and encouraged Episcopalians to "consider and comment" on the proposed Uniform Determination of Death Act.
- Commended the bicentennial celebration of the signing of the Treaty of Paris, Sept. 3, 1783, by which this nation secured independence and joined the world of sovereign states, and that dioceses and parishes of the Episcopal Church consider participation in the various national and local events.
- Approved the procedures for designating Jubilee Centers of an Episcopal congregation or ecumenical clusters, which is a function of the diocese where the congregations and centers are located.
- Approved criteria for the designation of an Episcopal congregation or ecumenical cluster as a Jubilee Center and criteria for Jubilee Ministry Funding.
- Approved a report from the Rev. Charles Cesaretti, public issues officer, on peacemaking plans and developments since the meeting of General Convention last fall.
- Instructed the treasurer to abstain on a stockholder resolutions with Philip Morris which asked that company to refrain from operations in countries that have not developed laws warning of the hazards of cigarette smoking because the Council felt that to do so might imply an endorsement of smoking.
- Instructed the treasurer to abstain on a resolution with Smithkline, a pharmaceutical firm, which asked for a report on effects and mechanisms for supporting developing nations in evolving "essential drug list" laws because the list has not been adequately defined.
- Approved support for a stockholder resolution with AT&T which would require the firm to provide shareholders with descriptions of its employment policies.
- Endorsed a resolution asking AT&T to withdraw from its contract to manage the Sandia National Laboratory because that facility is the primary United States source of nuclear weapons technology.
- Voted in favor of a resolution asking J.P. Morgan to prepare a report on its loan activities with Chile for the past 10 years.
- Approved a resolution asking IBM's board to formulate "social, economic and ethical criteria" for prospective military-related contracts.
- Endorsed a resolution asking Motorola to provide information on its employment practices in its South Korea facility and its support for workers' rights under the restrictive regime of that country.
- Approved a resolution that would scrutinize Alcoa's operations in Sao Luis, Brazil, calling for a report on environmental impact, displacement compensation for natives, and jobs programs for local youth.
- Confirmed the appointment of the following members of the Social Responsibility in Investments Committee: L.L. Biddle, Pittsburgh; the Rev. Richard Tolliver, Washington; Mary Lynn Tuley, Clark, N.J.; Mrs. Susan Stodghill, Louisville, Ky.; Mrs. Jane Aglesby, Indianapolis; Byron Rushing, Boston; John P. Wheeler III, Bethesda, Md.; Robert Rodecker, Charleston, W.Va,; William L. Lane, Columbus, Ohio; Mrs. Jeanne R. Johnston, Birmingham, Ala,; John E. McGinty, Upper Montclair, N.J.; and Harry Havemeyer, New York.