Frequently Asked

Questions

about funding in the

Episcopal Church

In the wake of General Convention 2003, there have been discussions about withholding (or “redirecting”) congregational or diocesan funds from “the National Church.” Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions we’ve received recently at the Episcopal Church Center about funding.

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 thing 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.”

There are some 200 people who work at “815” for you and in the service of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—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 ministry they do, and the money with which to do it, is set aside for them 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 you, through the prayerful votes of your 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.

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:

• $92,713,000 for mission (sometimes called program), providing for the mission and ministry of the church.
• $28,115,000 for canonically required work, including the Office of the Presiding Bishop, President of the House of Deputies, Office for Ministry Development, Church Deployment Office, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, General Convention, Office of the Bishop for Chaplaincies, Liturgy and Music, Archives, and all the boards, commissions, and agencies of the church.
• $25,567,000 for administrative support, including the office of the treasurer, controller, chief operating officer, human resources and telecommunications.

What is included in the mission portion of the budget?

This part of the budget includes $46,618,000 for these mission programs:

• Anglican and Global Relations (including missionaries)
• Congregational Development
• Ethnic Congregational Development (including Asian American Ministries, Black Ministries, Hispanic Ministries, and Native American Ministries)
• Women’s Ministries
• Peace and Justice Ministries
• Ministries with Young People
• Office of Government Relations in Washington
• Episcopal Migration Ministries

It also includes $30,393,000 for:

• Mission Block Grant Partnerships
• Overseas Partnerships
• Domestic Mission Support
• Support to Provinces
• Ecumenical Appropriations
• Episcopal Relief and Development

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:

• Support for 100 missionaries around the world
• Financial support for Anglican Partners in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, and the Caribbean and Latin America.
• Support for provincial offices in ECUSA
• Young Adult Service Corps (young adults sent overseas for ministry experience)
• Support of aided dioceses like Alaska and Navajoland
• Services to congregations and dioceses in the areas of stewardship, research, new church starts, and congregational growth and development
• Grants to Jubilee centers who work with and for the poor
• Support for operations at Episcopal Relief and Development, so that more of each donated dollar leaves that office and provides help and human services at home and abroad.

How is the money collected from congregations and dioceses?

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 you, your congregation, or your diocese from the DFMS or the General Convention. It’s a fair-share, voluntary asking for mission …the same way your parish asks you to pledge and contribute to God’s work every Sunday.

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.

The following are the new priorities for funding approved in 2003:

• Young Adults and Youth: Reaching out to young adults and youth through intentional inclusion and full incorporation in the thinking, work, worship and structure of the Church
• Reconciliation and Evangelism: Reconciling and engaging those who do not know Jesus Christ by participating in God’s mission of reconciling all things to Christ and proclaiming the Gospel to those who are not yet members of the Church.
• Congregational Transformation: Revitalizing and transforming congregations through commitment to leadership development, spiritual growth, dynamic and inclusive worship, greater diversity and mission.
• Justice and Peace: Promoting justice and peace for all of God’s creation and reaching out to the dispossessed, imprisoned and otherwise voiceless needy.
• Partnerships: Reaffirming the importance of our partnerships with provinces of the Anglican Communion and beyond and our relationships with ecumenical and interfaith partners.

These are the new and expanded initiatives funded in the 2004-2006 budget:

• Young Adult and Youth Ministries (including Leadership Training Programs and Strategies)
• Campus Ministries
• Congregational Development with Emerging Generations
• New Church Starts
• Fresh Start
• Grants for Jubilee Ministries

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—will make the decisions if reductions must be made. But those decisions will in no way be based on opinions—pro or con—about the actions of General Convention.

For the original 4 page brochure created by the Episcopal Church download the following link.

Link: ECFundingFAQ.pdf