1972 Budget
Diocesan Press Service. December 8, 1971 [97-1]
GREENWICH, Conn. -- The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church today approved a Commitment Budget for 1972 of $12,138,000.
Since pledges toward the work of the general church program will not be known until early next year, this budget is subject to adjustment at the February meeting of the Council.
The budget for 1971 was $11,745,000.
Walker Taylor of Wilmington, N.C., chairman of the Finance Committee of the Council described the 1972 budget as "a balanced budget," noting that it is based on estimated income from Diocesan apportionments of $10,332,000, the same amount received last year.
An additional sum of $1,806,000 which is available in 1972 includes trust funds and undesignated legacies. The emergency fund for contingencies is now pared to $595,000.
Faith Budget income -- funds contributed by dioceses over and above their apportionment -- is not available for the Commitment Budget. Faith Budget contributions un to $4,000,000 for designated projects will be sought in 1972.
Work on the Commitment Budget was begun last spring, far earlier than in previous years, and, for the first time, the Program and Budget Committee of the General Convention participated actively.
This Committee, headed by Dupuy Bateman of Pittsburgh, Penn., gave consultation and advice about the budget in a joint meeting this fall with the Finance Committee of the Executive Council. Such committee coordination between the Executive Council and the General Convention is considered a significant precedent.
The 1972 Commitment Budget tentatively assigns several increases for the work of the Church.
The Hispanic Commission, established by the General Convention in Houston in 1970, was allocated $200,000, up from only $10,000 in 1971.
Ecumenical activities received $62,000 more than in the 1971 budget, an increase of over one-fourth. Communication was given an additional $94,000.
The budget for the National Committee on Indian Work was increased by $91,000, in order partially to offset the loss of legacy funds in 1971. Additional legacy income of $70,000 is expected for the NCIW in 1972.
A new budget item of $15,000 will be used to make possible a clergyman for the American community in Moscow. This ministry is supported by various Protestant denominations on a rotating basis.
Funding for overseas dioceses or aided domestic dioceses continues at approximately the present level, as does funding for the General Convention Special Program and the General Convention Youth Program.
The same annual grant of $1,000,000 was made in 1972 for the three (church-related) Black colleges.
The largest and most dramatic economy in the 1972 budget has been made in the estimated cost of maintaining the Episcopal Church Center, the church's national headquarters in New York City.
Sharp cut-backs in staff and drastically reduced operating and administrative expenses permit a savings of nearly $250,000 in 1972. Four of the Center's ten floors have recently been made available to outside non-profit agencies.
According to the Rt. Rev. Roger Blanchard, Executive Vice President of the Executive Council, the 1972 budget follows the guidelines and mandates of the General Convention and recognizes the importance of self-determination and/or empowerment, whether for aided dioceses here or overseas or for ethnic minorities in the United States.
Bishop Blanchard also noted that the additional support provided ecumenical work reflects recent urgent requests of the Presiding Bishop and of many Council members. Note for Diocesan Press: If you would like to identify a scriptural text which would explain and support the sense of mission underlying the 1972 budget, Bishop Blanchard suggests Luke 4:14-19.
[For a complete summary of the budget and minutes of the meeting, please contact the Archives. -- Ed.]