The annual council of the Diocese of Virginia embraced the idea of a new parish giving plan and will now embark on a year of discernment to "do the math."

Delegates to the Feb. 6-7 convention adopted a resolution that acknowledged the need for a new plan to replace the one that's been used since the 1950s, and accepted many of the principles suggested by a task force on parish giving. The resolution stopped short of endorsing any particular formula. After initial meetings among Virginia's bishops and the wardens of the 184 congregations, diocesan leaders will spend the year making visits to vestries and gathering their input on the specifics for the plan, in time to introduce it to the 1999 council.

The giving plan is the cornerstone of Virginia 2000, a vision statement articulated by the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, Bishop of Virginia, in his pastoral address. Virginia 2000, with themes of unity, love and witness, calls the diocese to focus on three major priorities: planting new churches, revitalizing existing churches, and giving greater emphasis to ministry among young people.

Bishop Lee said the purpose of the new giving plan is not to raise more money for diocesan program, but to establish clearer and more equitable standards for parish giving to collective mission and ministry. He stressed that the plan would be voluntary.

During convention, Bishop Lee also announced a new Jessie Ball duPont grant of $100,000 to his discretionary fund, to be used in cooperation with the Richmond Local Initiatives Support Corp., "for the expansion of community development corporations in the greater Richmond area, enabling low-income people to secure adequate housing and family support systems, a ministry to help bridge the increasing gap between rich and poor."

Council was asked to decide how to use funds pledged over and above early budget projections. It endorsed a new allocation of $36,000 for a staff position to coordinate youth work in the diocese. A projected surplus from the 1997 budget will be used to purchase land for new churches and for the persecuted churches in the Sudan and Burma.

Bishop Mark Dyer, a member of the faculty at Virginia Theological Seminary, spoke of the Lambeth Conference, and Catherine Lynch, assistant treasurer of the Episcopal Church, spoke of the work at the Episcopal Church Center in New York City.

A budget of $3.4 million was adopted.