Episcopal News Service reports that Program, Budget and Finance Committee(PB&F) has begun the discussions of the draft 2013-2015 budget.
The article cites a number of tensions facing the committee:
—Responding to the financial challenges faced by dioceses while deciding how much money needs to be spent in support of the denomination-wide mission, ministry and infrastructure of the Episcopal Church.
—Paying for the costs of the church’s mission and current structure knowing that there have been many proposals to change that structure and, possibly, redefine the direction and focus of the mission and ministry.
—Whether or how the budget ought to be the mechanism for making those changes.
In the end, PB&F agreed to have (Bishop Steve) Lane and (Diane) Pollard (the co-chairs of the committee) create a working group of committee members to collect information about the various structural change proposals that have recently been discussed. General Convention Secretary Gregory Straub suggested that the group also gather information about such attempts that have been made in the past.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that we will drive all of this but we can have this in front of us and perhaps in the crafting of the budget be supportive of what movements we see developing,” Lane said of the exercise.
The draft budget is due to be posted here soon, according to Treasurer Kurt Barnes. He told PB&F that he and his colleagues need time to adjust the document to reflect accurately a number of changes council made to it during the last afternoon of its meeting. When it is posted, the document will include a letter from council explaining the rationale it used to craft the budget.
Photo credit Episcopal News Service (click to enlarge)