Rochester Diocese Gives $911,000 to Assist World Hunger Relief
Diocesan Press Service. November 15, 1974 [74324]
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Delegates to the annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester voted to turn over a $911,000 residual bequest from the Margaret Woodbury Strong Fund to the national church for World hunger relief.
By a vote of 136 to 98 the delegates, meeting here November 8-9, approved a substitute resolution to channel the entire sum "through the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief to victims of disaster. " The original resolution would have split the bequest between Christian education/parish renewal and urban/rural economic development projects in the diocese.
With the adoption of the substitute resolution, only the $75, 000 accrued interest from the fund during the past 10 months will be retained by the diocese and used for Christian education and parish renewal.
The convention also voted to designate the Rt. Rev. Robert R. Spears, Bishop of Rochester, and the Rt. Rev. Jose Antonio Ramos, Bishop of Costa Rica, as consultants to the national church on the use of the income for disaster relief. The two dioceses have a companion relationship.
The adopted resolution, which was offered by the Rev. Alton H. Stivers, rector of St. James Church, Watkins Glen, N.Y., provides that the bequest "be invested in non- governmental companies whose main purposes are to assist disaster-stricken peoples." Only the income from these investments will be used for famine relief.
The Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, said concerning the Rochester action: "The whole Church has occasion to be thankful for the generosity of Mrs. Margaret Woodbury Strong and for the action of the Diocese of Rochester in making this a living memorial by dedicating this large bequest to the Church's efforts to meet acute human need. "
Mrs. Strong, who died in 1969, left a fortune estimated between $50 and $100 million. The Diocese of Rochester has received some $10 million from the estate. When the diocese received the initial bequest, amounting to $7.5 million, in late 1970, a tithe of $750,000 was given to the national church. The Executive Council used the gift for world relief, staff reorganization and the work of the just-created Development Office.
[Contact the Archives for the text of the resolution. --ed.]