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Summary of Actions of the Executive Council

Episcopal News Service. September 21, 1978 [78259]

CREENWICH, Conn. -- The 41-member Executive Council of the Episcopal Church met here at the Seabury House conference center, September 15-16, and transacted the following business:

National and World Mission
  • Approved a number of resolutions presented by an Ecumenical Committee of Conference which laid down principles to guide the Church's ecumenical activity, and which particularly encouraged local and regional ecumenical work and supported the national and international structures that best serve those local efforts and programs.
  • Received with thanks the report of the Australian Partners in Mission Consultation.
  • Received with thanks the report of the Francophone Partners in Mission Consultation.
  • Received an announcement of overseas missionary personnel changes and voted to ask the Secretary to write an appropriate letter of appreciation to each.
  • Accepted with thanks the report of the Partners in Mission Consultation of the Church of Wales.
  • Affirmed a Lambeth Conference resolution on the World Council of Churches which both supported and admonished that body and noted the controversy around a WCC grant to the Patriotic Front of Zimbabwe.
  • Decided not to take a stand on the "Declaration of Human Rights" of the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan and requested the Secretary to inform the appropriate body of this decision.
  • Affirmed its Partnership in Mission with the Episcopal Church of Cuba and requested the Secretary "to assure them of our continued joy for the witness which they are making in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ."
  • Approved a resolution from the Committee on National and World Mission that it be released from responding to a letter from Bishop Stanley Atkins of Eau Claire in which he protested the decision of the Consultation on Church Union to rescind its action to hold the 1979 plenary session in Richmond, Va., because that state has not ratified the proposed Equal Rights Amendment, noting that Bishop Atkin's letter has been answered by appropriate persons.
  • Expressed its desire for closer collaboration with the General Convention's Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations and the Episcopal Diocesan Ecumenical Officers, with a request to the commission that it "consider attention to the development of policy on diocesan and local ecumenism through study of the local church and its relationship with the Church universal."
  • Approved a resolution expressing gratitude to all participants in the United Thank Offering and commending them for the achievements resulting from their gifts.
  • Asked the Secretary to respond to a letter from Mrs. Elinor H. Caines of Orlando, Fla., regarding a newspaper article on the World Council of Churches' grant to the Patriotic Front of Zimbabwe.
  • Approved a resolution which urges congregations and dioceses to participate actively in sponsoring refugees, especially Indochinese, for resettlement through the Office of the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief.
  • Heard a report on the Volunteers for Mission which indicated that 17 projects have been identified and 26 applications completed, with one person already commissioned for service in Honduras; and confirmed additions to the advisory committee as follows: Mother Mary Grace and Dr. Arthur Hadley.
  • Confirmed the appointment of the following to represent the Episcopal Church at Partners in Mission consultations: Marcus A. Cummings, Cincinnati, to Church in the Province of the West Indies, February, 1979; Arthur Raymond, North Dakota, and the Rev. Jesse Anderson, Washington, D. C., to Anglican Church of Canada, May, 1979; the Rev. Joseph N. Green, Jr., Norfolk, Va., to Central Africa, June, 1979; and the Very Rev. Urban T. Holmes, III, Sewanee, Tenn., to Church in the Province of Tanzania, August, 1979.
Administration/Financial Control
  • Established the Edith V. Lindenberger Memorial Fund of approximately $88,000, the income of which is to be used for education, training, medical, sanitation, nursing or hospital work in countries outside the United States.
  • Terminated a trust fund of the Mexican Episcopal Church and set up three new endowment funds for the three Missionary Dioceses of Mexico, with the principal to be divided as follows: 50 percent for Central and South Mexico and 25 percent each to Northern Mexico and Western Mexico; and providing that the income be added to the principal of each fund until further notice.
  • Established the Lizzie E. Boyd Fund of approximately $37,000, the income of which is to be used for missionary work as the Church decides.
  • Approved the withdrawal of the balance of approximately $340,000 from the Charlotte E. Heilbronn Fund and loaned to St. Luke's Hospital, Manila, The Philippines, for the expansion of its facilities, with the provision that the loan be repaid by 1985.
  • Voted to pay expenses of Executive Council members to attend the 1979 General Convention in Denver, less any reimbursement paid by their dioceses, with the provision that other expenses for committee meetings of Convention be paid from the appropriate committee budget and that no expenses are to be paid for committees in Denver following the Council meeting on September 8.
  • Heard a report from Treasurer Matthew Costigan in which he summarized the status of the various funds of the Church and said the budget situation continues to be at a healthy level.
  • Heard a preliminary presentation of the 1979 General Church Program and Budget, which will be adopted in December, and asked its Committee on Administration/Financial Control together with the chairmen of the other standing committees to consider the Council's discussion of whether the special, national offerings should be treated as separately invested funds with interest going to each particular fund.
  • Heard its Administration/Financial Control Committee report that several items before the committee -- such as requests for funding the Triennial Meeting of the Women of the Episcopal Church in the General Church Program and Budget -- will be presented to the Council in December.
Church in Society
  • Heard that the Episcopal Church has withdrawn a resolution asking Procter & Gamble to cease importing Ugandan coffee when the firm itself took this step.
  • Heard from the Committee on Church in Society that stockholder resolutions aimed at influencing corporate responsibility in human affairs were increasingly winning support from large institutions.
  • Approved a stockholder resolution to be filed with Exxon Corporation, seeking a corporate agreement not to expand operations in South Africa until the "government has committed itself to ending the legally enforced system of racism known as apartheid and has taken meaningful steps toward the achievement of full political, legal and social rights for the African, Colored and Asian populations. "
  • Approved a stockholder resolution to be filed with the Caterpillar Tractor Company which seeks a review committee to examine all aspects of that tractor, truck and farming equipment firm's sales in South Africa, especially as this might relate to the possible military or police use of such equipment.
  • Approved a stockholder resolution to be filed with Phillips Petroleum Company calling for the disclosure of information on the company's employment practices in South Africa.
  • Commended the Rev. Austin Cooper of Cleveland, Ohio, "for the creative leadership he is giving in a tense situation" after his home was fired upon and he had received a threatening letter purported to have been sent by the Ku Klux Klan, because of his leadership in that city's school desegregation effort.
  • Supported a resolution which commends to parishes and dioceses the observance of the UN-designated Human Rights Day on December 12, as a time of "special remembrance for this cause, its martyrs, and for prayers for the growth of the awareness, concern and observance of these rights."
  • Urged state legislatures to ratify the proposed amendment to the U. S. Constitution which would give voting rights and congressional representation to the residents of the District of Columbia.
  • Approved a resolution asserting that tax relief proposals should be aimed at spurring government efficiency and urging that any tax reduction efforts be examined in light of "the Christian's duty for providing quality public education and decent care for the aged, ill, destitute and oppressed persons. "
  • Authorized the Episcopal Church's delegation to the National Council of Churches to support the NCC's proposed policy paper on Indian affairs provided it meets the objections raised by the Episcopal Church's National Committee on Indian Work.
  • Authorized the Episcopal Church's delegation to the National Council of Churches to waive the disclaimer approved by Council in May with regard to the NCC proposed policy paper on energy, provided the objections to an early draft of the paper are met.
  • Heard a presentation on the work of the Appalachian People's Service Organization, chaired by the Rt. Rev. William Cox, Suffragan Bishop of Maryland and president of APSO, and by six leaders in that program's projects.
  • Heard the Rt. Rev. Quintin E. Primo, Jr., Suffragan Bishop of Chicago and a member of Council, report on his role in negotiating the payment of $35,800 to two former Episcopal Church Center staff members, Maria Cueto and Raisa Nemikin, as a pastoral response to their financial need, and his pledge to return $26,000 to the Presiding Bishop's Discretionary Fund by the end of 1978.
  • Approved writing a letter to the Rev. James Metzger, Cincinnati, Ohio, in response to his correspondence concerning involving the whole Church in mission in the area of social responsibility in investments.
  • Heard the Church in Society Committee report that several items -- such as a possible resolution with regard to the J. P. Stevens Co. and NLRB violations, response to Lambeth Conference resolutions and the ecumenical bail fund -- are postponed until the December Council meeting.
Stewardship/Development
  • Heard that 76 of 93 U. S. dioceses have indicated that they plan to participate in the Venture in Mission renewal/fund-raising program, that some $30 million of the $90 million estimated by these dioceses will be applied to the national goal, and that the challenge gifts campaign has resulted in less than $3 million to date.
  • Heard Council member the Rev. Robert R. Parks announce that Trinity Parish, of which he is rector, has pledged $500,000 to Venture, to be divided equally between the Diocese of New York and the national goal.
  • Added to the mission opportunities list of Venture a proposal by the Julian Mission of Indianapolis which would establish a shelter for abused women, totalling $111,795, and decided to approve no other projects at this time for the $7 million contingency category of the list.
  • Authorized the Venture in Mission Cabinet to proceed with the processing of other mission opportunity proposals that may come in without regard to a maximum limit for the Venture goal.
Communication
  • Heard a report from the Communication Committee which proposed that the Church in Society Committee and staff join the Communication Committee and staff in analyzing the Communications Act of 1978 which is before the U. S. Congress and report its findings with recommendations to the Council in December; and heard that the committee is continuing to explore ways in which there may be a follow up to the dialogue in May with a communication deputation from the Diocese of Virginia.
  • Adopted a resolution encouraging The Seabury Press to continue and expand its services as a contribution to the life and mission of the Episcopal Church.
  • Removed a contingent receivable from advances to the Seabury Press totalling $1,163,442, contingent on a consolidation approved by the Council between the Press and the Church Hymnal Corporation by the end of the year.
  • Authorized the Seabury Press to amend its Articles of Association -- provided the Press and the Church Hymnal Corporation and the Church Pension Fund arrive at a consolidation agreement approved by the Council -- so that if necessary its assets may be paid to the Church or to the Pension Fund rather than the Church only.
  • Approved a resolution which would inform the Church Pension Fund of the actions of the Council with regard to the Seabury Press; encourage the Press and Church Hymnal Corporation to consolidate; offer to extend the deadline for consolidation if necessary; review the removal of Seabury's liability if a consolidation of the two firms is not realized; and invite representatives of the two boards to address the Council in December if desired.
Education for Ministry
  • Heard a report from its Standing Committee on Education for Ministry in which the Council was informed that four volumes of the new Church's Teaching Series will be published in the spring of 1979, followed in the late summer or the fall by the remaining three volumes.
  • Heard a presentation by Barry Menuez and Ann Harrison, Education for Ministry staff at the Episcopal Church Center, on the concerns of lay ministry.
Miscellaneous
  • Heard Presiding Bishop John M. Allin address the Council on the offering of gifts, the sharing of life, and the venture in Christian mission.
  • Received from the Rev. James R. Gundrum, Secretary, copies of the various communications addressed to the Council and referred them or otherwise dealt with them as appropriate.
  • Received by title a report from the Rev. James R. Gundrum as Executive Secretary of the General Convention in which meetings of various committees, commissions and agencies of the Convention were summarized.
  • Approved a resolution which said that the alloted time of each Council meeting as scheduled be used and that if the announced agenda is completed early, other concerns as appropriate be considered.