Council Sets Church Budget Figure
Diocesan Press Service. May 21, 1970 [87-9]
GREENWICH, Conn. -- The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church took final action at its May meeting in setting a figure of $13 million for the 1971 budget to be presented to the General Convention of the Church which will meet in Houston, Tex., in October.
The practical effect of the action by the Council was to raise the 1971 budget figure by $1 million from the $12 million previously approved in April at a special meeting in Chicago.
It also meant a cut of $768,574 from the budget figures which had been presented to the Council by the Staff Program Group of Executive Council.
Twelve million dollars in the 1971 budget would come in the form of apportionments on the Dioceses of the Church and one million from income on trust fund investments. The 1970 budget is a shade higher at $13,065,032.
The budget proposal will be presented to the Houston Convention as an "open ended" budget which would also provide the opportunity for additional support by the Church of elective programs not provided for in the proposed base budget.
These additional Church program opportunities could come to as high a figure as $4 million if funds are provided, according to the Rt. Rev. Stephen Bayne, vice president. He called the proposed open-ended budget as the "raw material which will later be translated into goals and objectives."
In other action the Council passed a resolution calling for "the total withdrawal of all American forces from Southeast Asia now and an end to the war." In the passage of the resolution the Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, Presiding Bishop, pointed out that "the Executive Council is speaking for itself and not for the whole Church. "
Other provisions in the resolution presented by a committee chaired by the Rt. Rev. Wilburn C. Campbell, Bishop of West Virginia, included:
1. Support for Congressional efforts to support immediate withdrawal.
2. Support of the national student strike movement against the "harassment of the Black Panther members, the killing of students on campuses by the National Guard and police forces, and the use of American resources for the destruction of human life. "
3. Recommendation of a special voluntary offering to be taken in the Episcopal Church on the third Sunday in September for the support of student strike activities and their political educational campaigns planned for this fall.
4. Support of the Georgia March led by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. (Full text is attached).
Before taking final action on the budget Council members had devoted an entire day in seeking ways to reduce the budget without seriously cutting into essential Church programs.
John Paul Causey and the Rev. Edward E. Tate expressed opinions in which a large number of the Council members seemed to share.
"We are responsible to fairly and honestly present what we deem a minimum program for the Church," Mr. Causey said. "If we don't do it because we are fearful or think we can't raise money we're defeated from the start. We should give the people of the Church an opportunity to see if they won't raise it."
He compared the Church to a ship and said that the duty of Church members is "to sail it" not simply "keep it from sinking."
According to the Rev. Mr. Tate:
"People hate a timid Executive Council. We're timid in asking people for money. If we can't lead the Church at Houston we're not an Executive Council. Let's be positive. Let's work for the Lord and ask for the money. We'll get it."
His motion to raise the budget figure to $13 million for presentation to the Houston Convention passed by a strong voice vote.
Reductions in the proposed 1971 budget included The Episcopalian ($195,000) and the General Convention Special Program ($400,000). Necessary funding of The Episcopalian will be referred to the General Convention for action. The GCSP was left with $1,200,000 for its program in 1971 with additional funding support expected through supplementary giving.
Other programs affected by sharp cuts included scholarships for professional leadership development, overseas grants and experimental programs.
The Executive Council also:
. . . Heard a message from the Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, Presiding Bishop, on the "Crisis in American Life." (Text attached).
. . . Accepted a report of the Long Range Planning Committee setting forth nine goals for the program of the Church projected through 1976 which stress reform of social institutions and expansion of ministries to young people; they will be included in the program budget to be presented at Houston.
. . . Heard the Presiding Bishop report that he had received an invitation to move Executive Council headquarters to Jacksonville, Fla., and his suggestion that moving the headquarters of the Church to another location deserved consideration; no action was taken.
. . . Approved 14 grants under the General Convention Special Program totalling $366,000.
. . . Accepted a report on a Blueprint for Action on world hunger which would establish parish programs of education and action on the problems of population, poverty and pollution; it would be a $55, 000 program in the "voluntary sector, " to be financed by extra-budgetary giving.
. . . Heard a report from Marts and Lundy, a national fund raising organization, on a survey of the Episcopal Church and its proposal for a $50 million fund drive; voted only to recommend to General Convention an 18-month "program of educational activity" to inform Church members about urgent needs in education, deployment of clergy, professional leadership training and other needs of the Church for a report to General Convention in 1973.
. . . Heard a report from the Very Rev. Fred Williams and the Rev. James Woodruff, leaders of the Episcopal Church's Union of Black Clergy and Laity, describe the work of their organization and its availability to serve as a link between white Episcopalian congregations and the black community.
. . . Heard a report from the Rt. Rev. J. Brooke Mosley, Deputy for Overseas Relations and Mrs. Harold C. Kelleran, on the work of the Church overseas, a report which said that "the imperative of overseas mission has not changed, but it has to be done in a different way"; Mrs. Kelleran said "the growth toward autonomy is remarkably slow" and that "the genius of the Anglican Church is to be the smallest Church. Whether we are the oldest or the newest, we are always the smallest."
. . . Designated the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief as the object of the Church School Missionary Offering in 1971.
. . . Approved a report of a special committee advising the Presiding Bishop to hold a series of special regional meetings for the purpose of raising funds to offset a potential deficit in the 1970 budget.
. . . Approved steps to be taken in the establishment of a Social Criteria Committee to review Church investments and to establish guidelines for the application of such criteria; a review of investments in businesses doing business in Southern Africa would be a priority, but other concerns would include race, war, pollution.
. . . Heard a report from Charles F. Bound, of the Ghetto Loan and Investment Committee, report that the committee now has out on loan or committed a total of $2,400,000.
. . . Received a report from a Clergy Salary Study Committee recommending an "across the board" $2,400 pay increase for all clergy of the Episcopal Church; in responding to the report a committee headed by the Rt. Rev. David E. Richards said that it "seriously questioned" the recommendation because it might create a serious morale problem and did not take into consideration the differences in various geographical locations, particularly overseas jurisdictions; it proposed the establishment of a process of salary review in all Dioceses.