Episcopalians Move on Structure, Budget and Anti-Poverty Efforts

(Photo Credit: Episcopal Church)Delegates to the Episcopal General Convention in Indianapolis, IN.

The Episcopal Church General Convention moved on legislation on Saturday that would expand the leadership duties of the presiding bishop, provide funding for young adult programs, and allocate funds for an anti-poverty and development initiative.

On Saturday afternoon, one of two legislative chambers, the House of Deputies, passed a resolution allowing a presiding bishop to continue to serve as a diocesan bishop after his or her re-election, reported Becket Stokes of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado.

If such a rule had been in place in 2006, current Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori could possibly have continued leading the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada.

In a budget development, the House of Bishops passed several pieces of legislation restoring funding for youth and young adult programs left out of a draft budget.

The Episcopal Church had previously proposed a 2013-2015 budget that would have made a 90 percent cut to the Formation and Vocation Ministries Team which includes Young Adults and Campus Ministry.

The General Convention's focus also turned toward the anti-poverty and development, as the House of Bishops passed a request for the church's budget office to allocate 0.7 percent of its operating budget for supporting the Millennium Development Goals which began in 2000 and ends in 2015.

The MDG Report 2012 showed the target of reducing extreme poverty (defined as a person living on less than $1.25 per day) by half has been reached five years ahead of the 2015 deadline, as has the target of halving the proportion of people who lack dependable access to improved water sources of drinking water. Conditions have improved for more than 200 million people living in slums, double the 2020 target. Also, primary school enrolment of girls equaled that of boys.
Under consideration is proposal C001, from the church's Province VII which would set up a commission, at a cost of $100,000, to serve at the discretion of the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies charged with presenting a plan to the Church for reforming its structures, governance, administration and staff. The proposal by the committee would be considered by the 78th General Convention in 2015.

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