New Staff Section Established
Diocesan Press Service. November 2, 1973 [73238]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The General Convention of the Episcopal Church, meeting recently in Louisville, Ky., has approved an Executive Council recommendation to establish a new staff section to coordinate the church's program and grant concerns for racial and ethnic minorities.
The new section, to be known as Mission Service and Strategy, will coordinate the program and administrative grants currently managed by the General Convention Special Program (GCSP), the National Committee on Indian Work (NCIW), the National Commission on Hispanic Affairs (NCHA), and new work to be undertaken with Black Episcopalians and Asian Episcopalians.
The proposal to establish the new staff section followed a summary report after the Executive Council visited the dioceses of the church in the fall of 1972, which indicated that while "the concept of empowerment, of helping people to help themselves, has a strong grip on the minds and hearts of many in this Church, " there was also a clear demand for a major revision in the empowerment grant programs.
The call for revision, the report said, "seemed to grow almost equally from a distaste for the principle of having similar programs go their separate ways and the practical concerns of staff duplication, overlapping, lack of coordination, etc."
Further, the report indicated, it was felt that the "special program" designation should be "dropped from all programs and that they be treated as part of the ongoing mission of the Church."
The present program reflecting the Episcopal Church's concern for the poor and powerless and for racial and ethnic minorities began in response to Presiding Bishop John E. Hines' address at the General Convention in Seattle, Wash., in 1967, when he called for "the development of a program . .. by which the Church can take its place, humbly and boldly, alongside of, and in support of the dispossessed and oppressed people of this country for the healing of our national life . . . ." The result was the establishment of the GCSP in early 1968. Subsequent conventions brought into being the NCIW in 1969, the NCHA in 1970, and the new ministries with Black and Asian Episcopalians in 1973.
At its May, 1973 meeting, the Executive Council adopted a resolution from the Program Group on Empowerment to "establish a Staff Section on Grants to Racial and Ethnic Minorities, " and recommended this coordinated program to the General Convention which funded the program under the name Mission Service and Strategy.
In December the Executive Council will create a program group on work among racial and ethnic minorities, composed of Council members and co-opted representatives of ethnic and minority groups. This program group will be responsible for policy planning oversights and evaluative critique.
The section for Mission Service and Strategy will include the staff of five agencies: Committee for Community Action and Human Development (CAHD); NCIW; NCHA; Ministry with Black Episcopalians, and Ministry with Asian Episcopalians. The CAHD will replace the present Screening and Review Committee of the GCSP and will make decisions on all community oriented grant applications from the Black community in accordance with guidelines established by General Convention in 1970. CAHD will have two staff members responsible to this agency and accountable to the Presiding Bishop through the Executive Vice President.
The NCIW, which was chartered in 1969 by the Executive Council, will make decisions on grant applications from the native American communities according to the guidelines established by Convention in 1970. The one staff member will be responsible to the NC1W and accountable to the Presiding Bishop through the Executive Vice President. Decisions on grant applications from the Hispanic communities will be made by the NCHA, which was chartered in 1970 by the Executive Council, in accordance with the 1970 Convention guidelines. The two staff members will be responsible to the Presiding Bishop through the Executive Vice President.
The new agency, Ministry with Black Episcopalians, will have a staff of one who will be accountable to the Presiding Bishop through the Executive Vice President.
The Ministry with Asian Episcopalians will operate under the same principles as the other agencies. It has not been determined whether there will be a full time staff person for this agency.
The new staff section will select its own coordinator from among the staff of the section for a one year term on a rotating basis and this person will serve on the Management Team.
As an inter-racial staff, members will consult on and coordinate the process for dealing with all grant applications and the administration of grants after they are determined by the appropriate agency.
Each agency will share in the support budget for the section, including consultants, conferences, travel and materials.
The program and grant budget for each agency for 1974 is: CAHD, $650,000; NCIW, $376,000; NCHA, $400, 000; Ministry with Black Episcopalians, $250,000; and Ministry with Asian Episcopalians, $50,000. The staff section will share a support budget of $50,000 for 1974.
With the phasing out of the GCSP on December 31, two Black staff members will be appointed by the Presiding Bishop in consultation with CAHD to replace the present GCSP staff, and a staff member for the Ministry with Black Episcopalians will be appointed by the Presiding Bishop.