From the Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs:
A commentary on the draft budget including a Foreword by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, commentary on the budget process, and a detailed triennial budget with line-by-line explanations have been posted. It’s now on the General Convention Budget and Diocesan Commitments page. The download link is here.
Promised for June 1 by Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori, Chief Operating Officer Bishop Stacy Sauls and Treasurer to General Convention Kurt Barnes, the highly detailed items present a complete overview of the budget process, what happened, the current status of the proposed 2013-2015 budget, and addresses prevalent misunderstandings and misconceptions.
In addition to these three items, the posting includes a series of accompanying explanatory documents, including: the Churchwide Ministries Survey, the January 19 Alternative Budget Proposals, the January 29 Budget Revision, and the Executive Council’s April memo to the Joint Committee on Program, Budget & Finance, commonly known at PB&F.
Foreword
“The proposed budget has been the source of much confusion, as Executive Council itself noted at its April meeting,” Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori states in the two-page Foreword. “Some do not believe the draft budget accurately reflects what Executive Council adopted on January 29, 2012. Some believe the process itself was not well-conceived and did not allow enough time for deliberation and care in what was presented. The document is, however, what we have to work with, and it is what Program, Budget & Finance has to consider.”
Noting that she has heard “first hand of the confusion and indeed frustration” about the recent budget process, the Presiding Bishop also points out, “Neither I nor anyone else has the authority to change the document itself, but I hope it may be helpful to have a detailed commentary that might, at least, make some explanations available and allow some things to be better understood.”