Executive Council Meets-- A Summary
Diocesan Press Service. September 28, 1972 [72141]
(NOTE: The actions of the Executive Council are listed below in capsule form. These brief reports are complementary to the notes by the Secretary of Council)
GREENWICH, Conn. (DPS) -- The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church held its regular quarterly meeting here, September 26-28. In its business sessions, Council:
* Heard Presiding Bishop John E. Hines disagree with the pessimistic reports "that Church Union has reached its ' high-water-mark' and is fast receding as a critical issue and goal in Christendom. " He reported that a recent survey of union negotiations indicated that "no less than 22 of the 36 are healthy." (See # 72133 and # 72134.)
* Confirmed the appointment by the Presiding Bishop of Mrs. David R. (Carman) Hunter to be Deputy for Jurisdictions, succeeding Dr. Paul A. Tate who has retired.
* Heard a report of the appointment of William Clay as Associate Secretary for Training in the General Convention Special Program, and of Miss Maria Cueto as Assistant to the Hispanic Officer.
* Heard a report of the retirement of Miss Frances M. Young, staff member for Lay Ministries, effective December 31, 1972, and the resignation of staff member Kent FitzGerald, Indian Affairs Officer, effective October 20, 1972.
* Expressed gratitude to the Very Rev. Charles A. Higgins, Little Rock, Ark., representative of Province VII, who is retiring from the Executive Council.
* Commended Gulf Oil Corporation for its disclosure of its interests in Cabinda, South Africa, and for its policy of not investing "as an employer in any country where laws prohibit the equal opportunity hiring and promotion policy and practices of the Corporation. " (See # 72136 and # 72137).
* Adopted 11 program recommendations of the Committee on Social Responsibility in Investments for 1972-73, and approved several resolutions dealing with stockholder resolutions. (See # 72137).
* Advised that the Executive Vice President, " in filling staff vacancies for support of Education and Lay Ministries, seek a team ministry of two people with complementary skills, at least one of whom is a lay person, to coordinate their areas of responsibilities," and that the chairmen of Council's Lay Ministries and Education committees "be consulted about both appointments."
* Approved a grant of $5,000 from Windham House Specials to the Boston Theological Institute to assist in establishing a Laity Information Centre, which will be housed at Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, Mass., with the cooperation of the Audenshaw Foundation. The Centre will fill the need for a North American ecumenical information center where books and other publications on the Laity, files on current experiments in laity education and development, papers on ethics and other concerns of the laity are available.
* Heard a report from the Young Generation Program Group which announced the intention to prepare a film on the work of the General Convention Youth Program, and which noted that all of the seven regional committees of the General Convention Youth Program now consult with bishops on grants in their particular jurisdictions. (See # 72139).
* On recommendation of the Program Group on Empowerment, requested the Management Team to "explore with the Union of Black Episcopalians the problem of liaison with Black Episcopalians and solicit from UBE any suggestions which they may have toward the solution of the problem. " The Empowerment Group noted that there is no staff person "to represent the UBE or Black Episcopalians," though "the Black minority is the largest minority within the Episcopal Church."
* Referred to the Program Group on Empowerment a resolution requesting "the Presiding Bishop to appoint a committee to initiate steps to conduct, at all levels of the Church, a social audit of The Episcopal Church as an institution and to examine its policies as a corporation with regard to racism."
* Approved a grant of $10, 000 from the Gallaher Fund to the National Association of Episcopal Schools for their fiscal year August, 1972 to August, 1973, as a final grant to support their work.
* Appropriated $7,500 from the Constable Fund "to pay the Episcopal Church's share of the invitational conferences on community education with Sr. Paulo Freire in January - February, 1973," to be held in Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, and Portland. Sr. Freire, a leader in thought and experience relating to the educational process, will work especially with poor people of Hispanic and Appalachian background.
* Voted to extend until May, 1974, the Companion Diocese Relationship between the Dioceses of Florida and Trinidad and Tobago, and voted to establish a Companion Diocese Relationship between the Dioceses of Indianapolis and Haiti, effective until Sept., 1975.
* Asked the Council's Program Group on Jurisdictions, Overseas, to do a study of the options open for Cuttington College in Liberia. The study is to include the College's "relationship to the University of Liberia, its funding independently of the Church and its relationship with other educational institutions and general educational planning in Liberia and West Africa." This study, the Program Group said, will help it deal with two broader questions: " (a) 'How do we divest Overseas Dioceses of large and burdensome institutions as they move toward autonomy and self-support and (b) What is the role of the Church in higher education in Developing Nations ? "
* Adopted resolutions relating to the Bicentennial of the Nation, calling for the appointment of a committee "to develop plans by which this Council may assist the Dioceses and members of this Church to observe the Becentennial of the Nation; and to formulate an appropriate strategy for participation by the Executive Council in the national observance. " The Council appropriated $20,000 for this purpose. The Council also appropriated $15,000 toward publication of a special issue of the Anglican Theological Review "on an Anglican contribution to creative recovery of the American Tradition, " as an observance of the Bicentennial of the Nation.
* Received a report from the Screening and Review Committee, which indicated that recently funded programs by the General Convention Special Program are:
– Society for Co-operative Improvement for Africans, Canton, Ohio, $43, 800. S.C.I. A. has a publishing house and is developing an arts and science school and would like to create innovative radio and television shows.
– Learning House, Atlanta, Ga., $24,295. This is a community pre-school.
– Freedom, Inc., Youngstown, Ohio, $65,530. The primary objective of Freedom, Inc., when it was organized in 1968, was establishing a Consumer Cooperative Supermarket. They have expanded to include a bookstore and a press. They expect to become self-supporting in 1973.
– Peoria Organization for Achievement and Unity, Peoria, Ill., $41,500. P.O. A. U. is the fund-raising and economic development arm of the Mid-West Regional Coalition, and it has developed a school.
– East Harlem Mini-School, New York, N.Y., $9,500. This school was organized by a group of parents who were concerned about the quality of the education their children were receiving in the New York City public schools.
– Chad School, Newark, N.J., $216,334.
– Marcus Garvey School, Youngstown, Ohio, $80, 000.
* Was notified of the election of the Ven. Henry Irving Mayson, Diocese of Michigan, to represent the Union of Black Episcopalians on the Screening and Review Committee, replacing the Rev. James Woodruff.
* Elected five Council members to be a committee to summarize and evaluate data from the fall diocesan visits, and directed the Development and Finance committees to prepare the model or form of the General Church Program for 1974. (See # 72138.)
* Designated the Very Rev. Dillard Robinson, Newark, N.J., and representative of Province II on the Council, and the Rev. John F. Stevens, Secretary of Council, to be members of the board of the Joint Strategy and Action Committee (JSAC).
* Nominated the following persons to the Governing Board of the National Council of Churches: The Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, Presiding Bishop; the Rt. Rev. Roger Blanchard, Executive Vice President; the Rt. Rev. William E. Sanders, Bishop Coadjutor of Tennessee; the Rt. Rev. John H. Burt, Bishop of Ohio; the Rev. Paul Washington, Philadelphia, Pa.; the Rev. Canon Gerald N. McAllister, San Antonio, Tex.; the Very Rev. Harry W. Vere, Fargo, N.D.; Ronald E. Taylor, Indianapolis, Ind.; Mrs. G.C. Hazard, Port Washington, L.I., N.Y.; Peter Day, Ecumenical Officer; Mrs. Howard Bateman, Cranston, R.I.; Clarence A. Jones, Reno, Nev.; Miss Gretchen Zimmerman, Seattle, Wash., and Miss Ervene Twin, South Dakota.
* Heard the Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, Presiding Bishop, report informally on the meeting of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches which was held in Utrecht, The Netherlands, in August.
* Approved a new Article VI of the By-Laws of the Executive Council and of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society providing for indemnification of members.
* Heard a report that United Thank Offering grants for 1972, totaling $1,323,075, have been made to 79 applicants -- 39 U.S. dioceses, 29 overseas dioceses (including both Episcopal and Anglican), and 11 miscellaneous.
* Adopted resolutions from the Standing Committee on World Relief and Interchurch Aid pledging support of resettlement of Asians from Uganda. (See # 72144).
* Heard the Standing Committee on World Relief and Interchurch Aid report that recommendations concerning the report of the Ad Hoc Committee to Review the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief and Interchurch Aid will be presented to Council in December.
* Heard the Standing Committee on World Relief and Interchurch Aid report that recent grants have been made as follows:
-- $17,500 each to the Dioceses of Bethlehem, Central New York, and Central Pennsylvania for emergency relief following tropical storm Agnes;
-- $3, 000 to the World Council of Churches emergency flood relief program in the Philippines, and $5, 000 to the Joint Council of the Philippine Episcopal Church and the Philippine Independent Church;
-- $14,000 emergency grants during the summer to Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, Korea, Rapid City (S.D.), and to 17 dioceses affected by tropical storm Agnes.
-- $30,000 to Bangladesh for relief work.
* Concurred in a recommendation of the Joint Committee on Agenda and Arrangements of General Convention that the Sixty-Fifth General Convention be held in Minneapolis, Minn., and expressed appreciation to Bishop Philip McNairy and the Diocese of Minnesota for the invitation. (See # 72135.)
* Heard a report from the Program Group on Relations to Jurisdictions, Overseas, regarding policy and practices in overseas work.
* Heard a report by Dr. Norman Faramelli, Associate Director of the Boston Industrial Mission, who is also a priest in the Diocese of Massachusetts, on the United Nations Conference on Ecology, and a statement on "Eco-Justice."
* Received and referred to the Management Team a report from the Standing Commission on the Structure of the Church, dealing primarily with the organization, operation and grouping of committees and commissions.