The trustees of the Episcopal Church Building Fund (ECBF) have announced that the fund’s headquarters is moving to Richmond, Va. Offices will be relocating to St. Stephen’s Church there this fall.
“The Building Fund has been located at the Episcopal Church Center in Manhattan for 34 years, and has enjoyed a strong collegial partnership that has reaped abundance for both” said the Rt. Rev. Dabney Smith, Bishop of Southwest Florida and chairman of the ECBF board. “Today, we begin a new chapter in our 129-year history.”
The entire national TEC staff ought jolly well to move to Richmond, instead of collecting salaries high enough to allow all of them to live (in style) in Manhatten, on the backs of the faithful, parish by parish. There is a chance that the mindset would be different in those willing to work in Richmond instead of Manhatten.
Actually, I’d like to see the church offices in St. Louis. Or Omaha. Or maybe Indianapolis. Someplace that is measurably closer to the middle. That would be good, for a whole lot of reasons.
As a Richmonder, let me affirm both #1 and 2. By all means, let TEC relocate as many national staffers as possible someplace else. Virtually anywhere away from Manhattan or the Northeast would do. After all, the PCUSA relocated their national offices to Louisville quite a while ago, at a huge savings.
But please, NIMBY, Not In My Back Yard! It’s like hearing that a big garbage dump or toxic waste storage facility is coming to your area.
David Handy+
I’d be favorably inclined to a relocation, but I doubt you’d actually be able to save much in Church Center staff salaries. From what I’ve seen they’d be competitive here in Pittsburgh or St. Louis or Louisville. The real savings would be found over a long haul in costs for facilities.
I actually think the most important advantage of settling the Church Center staff in Richmond or Louisville or Dallas would be in the exposure to culture (both ecclesial and civil) beyond the bicoastal rim . . . .
Bruce Robison
Bruce Robison
TEC’s building fund is moving to the capital of secession.
ROFL
Don’t forget that at St. Stephen’s they’ll be just across the street from the Country Club of Virginia. Just the spot for a relaxing lunch and cocktail or a round of golf in surroundings befitting a true Episcopalian.
This is a very wise move. KJS is going to be very short of money very soon, and we know that she is none to scrupulous about how she does things.
If I had a fund I would be getting out of harm’s way as well.
I hope for the sake of those involved that the pension fund has the same sense.
Hey, I got some cheap land in a trailer park in Florida – call me now for the August special!
I believe DioVa, known to themselves as “The Diocese” (see their website, thediocese.net), has been one of the most important diocese in the national church since its founding. Just ask them. Seems to me this move only reinforces that belief. It’s strange. +Shannon Johnston must be dancing a jig. If only it hadn’t come so late in +Peter James Lee’s storied episcopate. Just think of all the smug he could’ve generated.
When Don Wimberly was a candidate for PB (at GC 1997) there were rumors in the Diocese of Lexington (where he was then diocesan bishop, and where I was then a member of a parish) that, if elected PB, he would advocate just such a move from NYC to Indianapolis. Of course, his candidacy went nowhere (and probably for many other reasons).
#5 vulcan,
Charleston would have been better.
I think TEC should move its headquarters to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It is centrally located, has excellent air service to the rest of the country and world (including non-stop to London to see the Archbishop), world class arts, entertainment and sports, major universities, some good public and private schools (including Episcopal schools), much less expensive real estate, significantly lower cost of living, no state income tax, etc.
A couple dozen Fortune 500 companies are headquartered here. And there are many other “lesser” national and international corporations headquartered in the metroplex.
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_in_Dallas/Ft.Worth]DFW Companies[/url]
[blockquote]The Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex is home to numerous corporate headquarters. The metropolitan area is home to over 10,000 corporate headquarters making the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex the largest corporate headquarter concentration in the United States. This also results in the growth of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the world’s third busiest airport, and the rapid population growth of the metropolitan area, one of the largest in the United States.[/blockquote]
This is amuzing. Dorsey Henderson (who I addmitedly no longer speak to) and I proposed at the Provence IV Synod meeting in 2000 that TEC be required to do a study about moving its HQ out of Manhatten. We were literally hooted down and several bishops verbally abused us. I recall being called stupid and divisive, by some of that godly lot. My proposal has always been to move to Lawrence, Kansas, in the center of the country, but which I understand to be in a dry county–keep them out of mischief. The population center of US Episcopalians is Corbin, Kentucky, another safe choice.
RE: “I recall being called stupid and divisive, . . . ”
David — it is very divisive to come up with things that Inclusive Episcopalians do not agree with. If you were a unifier rather than a divider, you would say what they already believe.
Beyond that, of course, it is very divisive to say what you just said.
It certainly is not “unifying” at all for you to point out that Inclusive Episcopalians called you stupid and divisive.
It’s clear that you are just basically divisive in your very nature.
Sarah 1–You obviously have me nailed. #10 Franz, Interestingly, Don Wimberly gave me a lecture on how the Presbys moved out of NYC to Louisville, and had regretted it ever since because Louisville is so expensive. I never actually understood his logic, but that’s what he said.