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Episcopal Church Finances |
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Where does the Episcopal Church get its money? The financial base of The Episcopal Church is the voluntary financial contributions of its members. Each diocese is asked to contribute to national work using a formula which asks, for the coming year, 21% of the previous year’s income, less a flat $100,000 optional exemption. The amount a congregation gives to the dioceses is determined by each diocese, and those formulas vary. There is no “tax” on individuals, congregations, or dioceses from the DFMS or the General Convention. It’s a fair-share, voluntary asking for mission...the same way a parish asks a parishioner to pledge and contribute to God’s work every Sunday. Where does the money from congregations and dioceses go? Funds received from dioceses go to The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America—sometimes called “DFMS”—which is the corporate body that receives funds from congregations and dioceses of the Episcopal Church. (There is in reality no such organization or body as “the National Church.”) If you are a member of an Episcopal Church anywhere in the United States, you are a member of DFMS, according to Canon I.3.2. DFMS was first established in 1821 and the staff is now housed at the Episcopal Church Center at 815 Second Avenue in New York, sometimes called “815.” Some 200 people work at “815”—everyone from the Presiding Bishop, staff officers, custodians, secretaries, receptionists, computer technicians, Episcopal Life and Episcopal News Service staff, bookkeepers, and a host of others. The money they need to do their ministries is set aside every three years by the General Convention. Those who are not bishops or deputies to General Convention do not write or vote on resolutions or set policy—they do what the elected representatives to General Convention tell them to do. The duly elected Executive Council makes governing decisions between sessions of the General Convention. What is General Convention? Each year, every Episcopal congregation elects representatives to their diocesan convention. That diocesan convention, in turn, elects up to eight deputies—four clergy and four laypeople—and sends them and the diocese’s bishops to General Convention. When this body gathers every three years (the “triennium”), it represents the fourth largest legislative body in the world. During a ten-day meeting it considers several hundred resolutions on a broad range of subjects, and adopts a budget for the next three years. What happens if congregations or dioceses withhold their money from DFMS? Reductions in funding for national programs may affect existing work and may slow or stop new ministry initiatives. These are the priorities for funding approved at General Convention in 2003:
These are the expanded initiatives funded in the 2004-2006 budget:
If funds are cut, who decides which programs are affected? The Executive Council, composed of people elected by General Convention and by the nine provinces of the church, makes the decisions if reductions must be made. How much is the General Convention’s budget? The budget adopted for the years 2004-2006 is $146,395,000.00. Here’s a quick summary:
What is included in the mission portion of the budget? This part of the budget includes $46,618,000 for these mission programs:
It also includes $30,393,000 for:
And it allocates $15,702,000 for communication, including media services, website and internet services, Episcopal News Service, Episcopal Life, Episcopal Parish Resources, and the Episcopal Book and Resource Center. Included in these amounts is support for:
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