Summary of Actions of the Executive Council
Episcopal News Service. April 25, 1985 [85089]
Memphis, Tenn. (DPS, April 25) -- The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church met here April 17-19.
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; the Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. John M. Allin; and the President of the House of Deputies, Dr. Charles R. Lawrence. The Rev. Canon James Gundrum is secretary.
Most resolutions for Council action come through six standing committees and occasionally a special committee or sub-committee.
The Council took the following actions:
- Received from Treasurer Matthew Costigan the final report on 1984, which showed final income at $23,009,000, while expenses were below estimate by $464,000, leaving a lapsed balance of $591,000, which is to be applied to the 1986 budget.
- Agreed to forward to General Convention a proposed General Church Budget for 1986 of $27,464,000 based on an assigned apportionment of four percent of 1983 Net Disposable Budget Income.
- Asked General Convention to consider a revision to sub-section 1 of Canon 1.6.1 (Of Business Methods in Church Affairs) to take advantage of changes in security instruments for investments.
- Corrected the name of Trust Fund 833 to read "the Wilbur and Caroline F. Cochel and Roanridge Trust" (Mr. Cochel's name had been inaccurately cited as William.)
- Agreed to divide the income from the Emily G. Wright Fund for the 1986-88 triennium ($184,000) equally between the Triennial Committee of the Women of the Church and the United Thank Offering Committee.
- Retained the firm of John Deviny Carrico, P.A. as 1985 auditors.
- Forwarded to General Convention the report it had requested on the location of the Church Center and asked Convention to adopt criteria and models in the report to guide the Council and Presiding Bishop in decisions on the Episcopal Church Center and which would authorize Council and the Presiding Bishop to act on the future of the Center.
- Urged that present Internal Revenue Codes regarding parsonage allowance be retained or only amended to clarify beneficiaries and limit parsonage allowance to 35 percent.
- Asked the General Convention's Standing Commission on Structure to undertake reviews of the Church Deployment Office and the Office of Pastoral Development advisory boards and of the status and concept of the Navajoland Area Mission.
- Asked the General Convention, through its stewardship commission, to initiate plans to secure extra-budgetary funding for the Church's black colleges.
- Urged that General Convention interim bodies take into consideration a freeze on Church Center staffing when seeking additional personnel.
- Approved an annual reminder to itself, interim bodies and Church Center staff of General Convention rules on unauthorized fund raising. I Received the following undesignated legacies and added them to the General Endowment Fund: Matilda R. Walsh, $14,906.12; Arthur March Brown, $8,192.29; Pierce N. McDonald, $150.00; Margaretha Williamson, $21,022.74; Ruth B. Asbury, $62,051.65; Ida E. Nightingale, $10,000.00; Mary Duke, $11,143.45; and Amelia Hill, $20,937.71.
- Learned that $167,000 of the loan made to Seabury Press remains to be paid, and that this is expected to be done by next year.
- Heard that the General Church budget is the healthiest in nine years.
- Were informed that due to outstanding response to the Presiding Bishop's Fund's African famine appeals, there were 7,000 transactions in December rather than the normal 2,000.
- Received with applause a statement from the Presiding Bishop condemning the current violence in Southern Africa and repudiating again the U.S. government's policy of constructive engagement and learned that the Public Issues Office has been given a mandate for closer ties with the Province of Southern Africa in its battle against apartheid.
- Heard a message from the chair in which the Presiding Bishop renewed his call for a reconciling Church and maintaining the momentum of mission that has emerged.
- Heard Bishop A. D. Dickson of the host diocese of West Tennessee review the growth of that diocese since the division five years ago.
- Learned that Council members Paul Chalk and the Rev. Sandra Wilson will assist Allin in presenting the report of the Council to Convention.
- Marjorie Christie presented the Presiding Bishop with a Women's Ministries canvas tote bag, a needlepoint United Thank Offering blue box, and a mug which said: "A woman's place in the House -- of Bishops".
- Learned from the Presiding Bishop of a project by John Baker, a local woodcrafter, who makes wooden boxes to hang on church walls to receive pre-addressed envelopes for the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief. Also mentioned were cookies baked at the Cathedral and sold in the gift shop to support neighborhood re-development.
- Honored at a testimonial dinner and "roast" members of the Class of 1985 whose term on Council ends at Convention and Presiding Bishop John M. Allin and House of Deputies President Dr. Charles R. Lawrence, who will also retire this year.
- Received the minutes of interim bodies.
- Received reports on Provinces II, III and VIII.
- Thanked the Bishop, Altar Guild, Churches and people of the diocese for their hospitality.
- Thanked the Diocesan Chancellor, Charles Crump.
- Thanked the secretarial staff, Church Center staff and members of the Press for their support.
- Thanked, with a round of applause, Secretary Gundrum for his work on Council's behalf.
- Continuing Council members expressed gratitude to outgoing Council members.
- Learned that the first meeting of the new Council will be Nov. 20-22 in the New York metropolitan area.
- Heard a report from the Rev. Dr. Charles Long on the fiftieth anniversary of the Forward Movement.
- Heard a report from publisher Richard Crawford on the 25th anniversary of the Episcopalian and plans for its future.
- Learned that there are funds available for continuing members of Council who are not delegates to attend General Convention.
- Sent condolences to the Rev. Thomas Carson, Executive for Stewardship on the death of his father.
- Accepted the report of the Task Force on Women's Ministries and adopted its five recommendations.
- Welcomed members of the Task Force on Accessibility and received their report.
- Approved an allocation of up to $29,500 from the income of the Wilbur A. and Caroline Cochel/ Roanridge Trust fund for a consultation on the Church's mission in rural communities.
- Approved criteria established by the National Committee on Indian Work for disbursements from the Trust Fund for Theological Education Scholarships for American Indian/Alaskan Natives.
- Approved a grant of $40,000 from the income of the Vincent Astor Fund for the South Bronx Episcopal Mission Association.
- Approved an allocation of $40,000 from the income of the Wilbur A., Caroline Cochel Roanridge Trust for the training and educational programs of New Directions Ministry and Grassroots, a monthly rural church publication.
- Affirmed Holy Cross Church, Stockton, Calif.; All Saints' Church, Aliquippa, Pa.; St. Paul's Indian Mission, Sioux City, Iowa; St. John's Church, Charleston, W.Va.; St. Margaret's Church, The Bronx, N.Y.; and St. Luke's Church, The Bronx, N.Y. as Jubilee Centers.
- Approved an enabling resolution authorizing the Committee on Social Responsibility in Investments to submit shareholder proposals to be acted upon in 1986 to corporations prior to the November 1985 meeting of the Executive Council, provided each such proposal is substantially similar to a proposal submitted by the Episcopal Church during the current triennium or requests that corporations disclose date concerning equal employment opportunity practices.
- Heard a request from Dr. David Crean, staff officer for hunger, for support of a statement from the Physicians' Task Force on Hunger. This was given to the Presiding Bishop with Council's support.
- Postponed report on the Washington Office, as there had been insufficient time between meetings to gather information.
- Approved the establishment of a companion diocese relationship between the Diocese of Southeast Florida and the Diocese of Nassau and the Bahamas in the Church in the Province of the West Indies.
- Expressed appreciation for the appointment of Jane Butterfield Presler as missionary to serve as Mothers' Union worker in the Diocese of Manicaland, Zimbabwe in the Church of the Province of Central Africa.
- Accepted the Goals and Objectives, Structure and Function and the Triennial Budget of the United Thank Offering Committee for the 19861988 triennium.
- Received the report of the second team to visit Central America for the Central America Task Force, endorsed its recommendation that the Presiding Bishop appoint a three-person staff team for continuity and follow-up, and requested that the report and recommendations be distributed to all parishes and missions, along with an introductory letter from the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies.
- Expressed its opposition to any economic reprisals or covert action on the part of the United States government in the countries of Central America and to U.S. funding of the Contras in Nicaragua, and instructed the Secretary to notify all members of Congress, the Secretaries of State and Defense, and the President of the United States of this action.
- Unanimously approved a resolution: receiving the "Report of the Presidential Panel on Future Mission and Resources" of the National Council of Churches, affirming the portions entitled "Our Vision" and "Our Unity and Relationships", accepting the "Marks of Our Commitment", and deferring action on the portion entitled "A Design for Our Life and Work" pending further study by Executive Council and by the Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations. The resolution also requested the Presiding Bishop to inform the President and Governing Board of the NCC of this action and of the Council's view that further simplification of organizational structure and more effective relation of funding patterns and procedures to stated goals are needed, and urged all Episcopalians who participate with the NCC to offer assistance and advice to Executive Council and the Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations.
- Requested the Standing Committee on World Mission to institute and conduct a study, in consultation with the Finance and Administration Committee, to examine the structure and organization of the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief and to review its policies and procedures, and then report findings and recommendations to the Council.
- Learned of the Presiding Bishop's appointment of a committee to carry out the requested review of the Presiding Bishop's Fund. Members are: Paul A. Frank, Jr.; the Rev. Canon Kermit L. Lloyd; the Rt. Rev. Vincent Pettit; the Rt. Rev. Donald J. Davis; the Ven. Arthur Williams; Dixie Hutchinson; and Thomas S. Tisdale, chair.
- Reaffirmed a resolution on anti-semitism passed by Council at its February 1985 meeting and requested that this statement be shared throughout the Church and that the February resolution be sent to the national Jewish agencies with which the Episcopal Church maintains relations.
- By acclamation, gave thanks for Presiding Bishop John M. Allin, who has during his tenure traveled to all domestic dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and all foreign dioceses except Ecuador, which he will visit in July.
- Heard a progress report on the movement toward autonomy in Province IX and in the Philippine Episcopal Church.
- Learned of the Presiding Bishop's presence at the formal signing in Manilla of a concordat between the Episcopal Church and the Philippine Independent Church.
- Viewed "Do This in Remembrance of Me", a film on Rite II, the making of which was supported with Executive Council funds.
- Accepted the report of the Presiding Bishop's Task Force on Satellite Communication and its recommendations that Church actively pursue cooperation with other denominations and inter-denominational satellite cable television delivery systems or participate in the establishment of such a system; that the Episcopal Church not pursue its own closed circuit satellite cable delivery system or the establishment of its own satellite cable delivery system at this time; and that following a determination of what kinds of video material the Episcopal Church could use, the development of a marketing distribution and production system of VCR material be actively pursued.
- Requested the Presiding Bishop appoint an Advisory Committee on Telecommunication.
- Appropriated $15,000 from the account for "New Mission Work" for decoder-equipped television sets for the Episcopal Conference on the Deaf.
- Heard that on June 10 there will be a press conference in Los Angeles for secular press planning on covering General Convention.
- Learned that the Rev. Ricardo Potter has been re-elected to three more years on Council.
- Learned that a film on Los Angeles is in the works.
- Heard that the Communication Department at "815" is assisting the Church Hymnal Corporation with the new hymnal.
In the absence of the chairman, the Rev. Sandra Wilson presented the report.
- Designated the Youth Summer Day Camps sponsored by LaCapilla Santo Nombre de Jesus of the Episcopal Community Services/Hispanic Ministry of the Diocese of Bethlehem as the recipient of the 1985-86 Church School Missionary Offering Funds.
- Heard a report from Wilson on her recent meetings at Episcopal black colleges, which included an invitation from St. Augustine's College for the Executive Council to meet on its campus.