News and Information


Provincial Council Minutes

Provincial Council Meeting
Episcopal House in Newark
Friday, February 06, 2009

Present: Kim Byham, Louie Crew, Dahn Gandell, Martha Gardner, Rt. Rev. Michael Garrison, Peter Hausman, Chuck Perfater, Dorothy-Jane Porpeglia, Michael Rehill, Petero Sabune, Tim Schenck, Laurie Wozniak

Absent: Rt. Rev. George Councell,

9:00 am Opening prayer by Bishop Garrison.

We did not vote on the minutes of our October 3, 2008 meeting. We need to correct: Dahn Gandell is the clergy, not the lay representative to this body; Martha Gardner is the lay representative. Louie will prepare an abridged version for posting on the web-site.

Lambeth Reflections

Chuck Perfater called attention to a special edition of the NJ newsletter Need to Know, which captures narrative comments made at our post-Lambeth conference in October 2008. He reported that all of the presenters had been praised, regardless of their position. We congratulated George Councell for proposing the conference, for hosting the event, and for inviting all the participants. Need to Know will be posted on the web-site

Laurie Wozniak will request permission to include the pdf version in InProv2.

The receipts ($20 per lunch) covered our food costs fully. We incurred expenses of less than $1,000 to assist those who requested support.

Executive Council

Petero Sabune and Kim Byham reported on the recent Executive Council meeting. Council met in the Diocese of San Joaquin to support for the continuing Episcopal Church there. Executive Council approved a $500,000 loan to help the continuing diocese in the transition.

Executive Council changed the “proposed budget” to the “draft budget.” The draft budget produces a 2% reduction in mission expenses, including the elimination of the line item for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), because expenditures reflected in other lines already in the draft budget amount to over 10% for MDGs. The draft budget now goes to the Program, Budget, and Finance Committee of General Convention for further development.

A fair amount of anguish was offered about the EC decision to eliminate the MDG line from the budget, given that it may represent to dioceses and parishes that MDGs are no longer important facets of TEC ministry.

Executive Council responded to the St. Andrew’s draft of a covenant for the Anglican Communion. See its response at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/St._Andrews_Draft_responseJan09.Final.pdf

As Executive Council’s representative to the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC), Petero Sabune reported that ACC’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission regarding their indigenous schools is quite impressive.

The ACC had a special project called “Amazing Grace” inviting individuals, parishes, choirs, and Sunday Schools to send a dvd regarding their concept of “Amazing Grace” and requested at least $1 with each submission. They received over $73,000 to distribute to indigenous ministries.

The ACC has hired a development officer even in these hard times.

The ACC held up for praise their democratic processes and rejoiced in the ability to disagree in an orderly fashion.

General Convention

July 14, 2009 (Tuesday) is the night officially set aside as Province Night at General Convention.

We voted not to host a harbor cruise and to redirect the savings of the Provincial Council to support mission. Some dioceses have reduced their per diem amounts for deputies; we did not want to add to their costs in these hard economic times.

We asked Chuck Perfater to find an economical alternative meeting spot at General Convention -- perhaps in a local parish with significant community outreach to which we might contribute some of our savings.

Provincial Booth

The Provincial Leadership Conference has booked a booth at General Convention. Each province will staff it for one day. All will advertise their work. We supported this concept, recognizing that Province II should use the opportunity to extol its value.

Treasurer’s Report

See attachment.

We voted to re-assess the amounts we request of the dioceses. Current assessments reflect relative diocesan incomes nine years ago when those amounts were last calculated.

Michael Rehill appointed Peter Hausman, Chuck Perfater, Kim Byham, and himself to a sub-committee to review the present assessments and make recommendations, as may be appropriate. This committee will send its draft to all on the Provincial Council for our consideration, and we will vote electronically. The final report of Council will be presented to Synod for approval. The committee will use as a base the proportions currently asked of the dioceses by The Episcopal Church (TEC). Peter Hausman stressed we should not leave dioceses with the expectation that we will never increase assessments.

Previously, we had two certificates of deposit, valued at over $60,000. Since we spent $20,000 in a special offering to Haiti, we now have just one valued at $39,971, plus monies deposited at PNC bank equaling over $18K..

Province II Triennial Budget

We voted to keep the Provincial Executive’s salary the same in 2010 that it is in 2009. The money saved will be applied to the line item “Networks and Other Programs,” for each of the next three years.

The change reflects no disapproval of the Provincial Executive, but reflects hard financial reality. The change is in solidarity with many diocesan and TEC employees operating under freezes. The resulting budget will be presented for approval at Synod.

Transition Plan

The new treasurer will ask to have an audit completed as of the effective date of the transfer of authority to the new treasurer. Peter Hausman has committed to explain the treasurer’s job to the new treasurer.

Chancellor’s Expenses

We will fund the chancellor’s participation in the Western Chancellor’s Conference, transportation, and up to $100 miscellaneous expenses.

Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance

We approved purchasing a Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance policy as a new line item in the budget. Church Insurance currently offers the coverage for about $500 a year for $1 million in coverage. Kurt Barnes, TEC’s treasurer, says TEC does not now cover us.

Synod

We received a draft agenda and a draft budget for the 2009 Synod. (Both are attached.)

Nominating Committee

All offices are open for election except the clergy representative to Executive Council and the representative from Episcopal Life.

April 1st is the deadline for receiving nominations. The official form is on our website at http://www.province2.org/.

The Nominating Committee has already met its minimum requirement to present at least one candidate for each office open: President; Vice-President; Treasurer; Secretary; Lay Representative to Executive Council; Episcopal, Clergy and Lay Representatives to Provincial Council; and seven positions on the Provincial Court of Review (one bishop, three clergy, and three lay).

The Province may submit resolutions to General Convention. These should be submitted electronically to the secretary by May 1st, to be put on a flash drive and projected at Synod.

Comps at Synod will be provided for all guest presenters, for Council members (if necessary) and to ECC staff, if requested.

The Provincial Leadership Conference Meeting at General Seminary

Chuck Perfater reported on the Provincial Leadership Conference (PLC) meeting at General Seminary. Given the current economic crunch, the PLC recommended not having the spring meeting in 2009. It will be replaced by a meeting of the coordinators with the balance of the members participating via a web conference, if deemed necessary.

The last meeting gave much attention to technology, especially in communications. Chuck Perfater has put together a small committee within the province to review web conferencing, with the hope of establishing a process this year.

Chuck distributed a packet of the reports of the nine provinces to the last PLC meeting.

In 2010 the Convocation of American Churches in Europe expects to host a TEC youth event in Geneva, Switzerland. It will probably cost $3,000 per person. It is understood that those who go will have to raise the funds themselves.

The 2010 Convocation

We plan to hold a 2010 Convocation, broadly focused on Christian Formation. Dahn Gandell and Sue Legnani will co-chair the event, May 6 - 8. We have reserved the Doubletree Hotel in Syracuse, NY. We have until November to make a go-nogo decision w/o financial penalty. Suzanne Watson, Director of Congregational Vitality and Evangelism at the Church Center, is supporting the coordinators. Watson is planning a national workshop on “Connecting People and Inspiring Community” to be presented in each province, and has $400,000 in the 2009 draft General Convention Budget for doing this work. Our agenda will be a blend of the Watson program and various tracks to support our relevant networks. The five focus areas will be:

1. Congregational Development
2. Christian Formation
3. Youth Ministry
4. Higher Education
5. Ministry Development

The Planning Committee will include people with expertise in each of these areas, plus the two co-chairs. We will have representation from each diocese on the committee.

Network Issues

Network reporters did not attend this meeting because of our heavy agenda.

Chuck Perfater reviewed each of the networks, and in some cases he suggested names for new coordinators. Michael Rehill will formalize the appointment of new chairs for Youth Ministry, Hispanic Ministry, Congregational Development and Anti-Racism with welcoming letters. Several additional networks may need additional attention. See handout called “Network Status, 2/5/09.”

We decided to experiment with asking network reporters to attend only our October meeting each year.

Haiti Seminary Support

See Doris Crocker’s report “Haiti Seminary Support” with its financial appeal.

We endorsed Doris Crocker’s proposal as a project of Province 2.

We authorized a donation of up to $300 to fund publicity for the project.

We authorized a donation of $3,000 to the education of a seminarian for three years, to be drawn from the money that we have saved by canceling the provincial cruise at GC 2009.

Chuck Perfater expects the publicity for this project to be ready for Synod, and Laurie Wozniak will promote it in InProv2.

Haiti Missioner, Kyle Evans, has provided her interim report (attached).

Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday

The first Sunday in Lent is proposed.

Disaster Preparedness

See the handout from Diocese of East Tennessee “In God’s hands and ours” – the eight first pages of an 80+ page document. Chuck Perfater will promote this initiative with bishops in our province and hopes that someone in each diocese will organize education and training for disaster preparedness.

Diocesan Reports

Chuck Perfater gave brief reports on each diocese in Province 2. All are struggling with the impact of the current financial crisis in the country.

Respectfully submitted,
Louie Crew, Secretary

Click here to download these minutes in Word format

 

Province II is comprised of the six dioceses of the State of New York, Albany, Central New York, Long Island, New York, Rochester and Western New York, the two dioceses of the State of New Jersey, Newark and New Jersey, and the Diocese of Haiti, the Diocese of the Virgin Islands and the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe.