Diocese of Dallas Redirects Funds for National Church to Local Priorities
Episcopal News Service. November 8, 1991 [91219]
Delegates to the diocesan convention in the Diocese of Dallas narrowly voted on October 18 to redirect nearly half of its financial support of the national church toward a new, local evangelism initiative.
The resolution, which passed 41-38 among clergy delegates and 108-84 among lay delegates, was described by some critics as "a transparent attempt" to protest policies of the General Convention or the national church leadership. Bishop Donis Patterson and other supporters of the measure have denied the charge and insist that the proposal was dictated by economic necessity.
"Some will say this resolution has an ulterior motive, but it doesn't," said the Rev. Richard Petranek, the resolution's author and rector of St. Luke's Church, in a report in the Dallas Times Herald.
The resolution redirects the diocesan council to spend $225,000 of a diocesan apportionment of $477,000 to "establish new congregations and missions in this diocese."
Critics of the resolution emphasized that the resolution would set a bad precedent and "flies in the face of everything we have been taught about stewardship," said Dixie Hutchinson, a former member of the national Executive Council and past president of Province VII.
"If the proposal had offered to redirect the money to projects outside the diocese -- not on ourselves -- it would have made more sense," Hutchinson added. "If we want to do evangelism in the diocese, we should raise the funds in the diocese to support the project, not take them away from the national church."