Resolves of the Executive Council

Resolved, The House of _________ concurring, That the Church celebrate and further the good work initiated by GC2012-A073 (Establish Diocesan Mission Enterprise Zones), defined as a geographic area, as a group of congregations or as an entire diocese committed to mission and evangelism that engages under-represented groups, including youth and young adults, people of color, poor and working-class people, people with a high-school diploma or less, and/or people with little or no church background or involvement”; and be it further

Resolved, That the Church honors the holy experiments emerging throughout the Church – experiments that are building partnerships, expanding the language of ministry, creating new ways to engage the people of God, harvesting and sharing learnings, and lending courage to those leading new ministries and lowering the cost of failure; and be it further

Resolved, That the 78th General Convention continue to fund the start-up of Mission Enterprise Zones and New Church Starts with a significantly increased budget allocation over the 2012-2015 budget; and be it further

Resolved, That the Church continue to develop the Mission-Centered Episcopalians web-based sharing platform (www.mission-centered.org) and to bring together mission developers for a face-to-face gathering where they can share best practices, upholding ministry leader wellness, mutual guidance and support, and sharing of stories, resources, and prayer; and be it further

Resolved, That diocesan leaders be encouraged to share what they learn from these Mission Enterprise Zones specifically in the disciplines of a) financing and sustaining these experiments, b) adapting liturgical practices for increased missional impact, c) exploring new processes for mentoring and training emerging leaders in situ, and d) blessing our diocesan families by more readily incorporating these non-traditional faith communities with voice and vote as discerned by the leadership of that Mission Enterprise Zone or New Church Start; and be it further

Resolved, That applications for partnership and funding from these new ministries will be discerned, supported and called to accountability by a 1^st Mark of Mission task force appointed by the Missionary Society and the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council, with the seed money administered by the Church’s Missioner for New Church Starts and Missional Initiatives, for the 2016-2018 triennium; and be it further

Resolved, That the 78th General Convention request that the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget, and Finance allocate not less than $3M designated in the EC draft budget for 2016-18 to continue funding the start-up of Mission Enterprise Zones and New Church Starts to implement this resolution during the 2016-2018 triennium.