Looking at this without regard to the bigger theological issues in TEC, the first thing one sees is that 49 of 109 dioceses currently pay the full asking. That means over 1/2 of dioceses aren’t on board with the heirarchy of TEC. I know there are various reasons that diocese aren’t paying, but whether it’s due to withholding or simple lack of ability to pay, this exercise is rearranging the deck chairs. TEC is a rapidly shrinking entity, and doesn’t seem to be doing anything to correct the problems that are at the heart of the issue. One thing they could do tomorrow is consolidate dioceses, and sell the property of dissenters to those who want to leave, but the committee, ExCoun and KJS have all rejected those alternatives. So grab some ice from the deck, and have a drink! Income will certainly be up before we sink.
#1. This is very correct. Wide swaths of dioceses (not conservative) pay 10% or less. PA pays under 4%.
The idea of having uniformity on this matter across all 109 dioceses may bespeak the fantasy of those who also want a uniform church (one sees intimations of this in the PB’s remarks). But 40% of all dioceses have under 3000 ASA; others don’t want to pay money into a church they have been ignored by theologically/ethically; and others are happy at 10% and probably won’t go up to 15% at all.
So how does one imagine all this will be ‘enforced’ when there is nothing in the church’s history or c/c that ever conceived of mandatory giving — another clue that TEC is not hierarchical.
How this will play out at GC is but one more question soon to be answered.
“The Task Force for Reimagining The Episcopal Church called in its final report, issued Dec. 15, for a lower and canonically mandated diocesan assessment.”
Did they suggest how “canonically mandated” might be achieved in practice? I might have missed it, but I can’t see any proposal referred to in the article.
I daresay that the difficulties TEC is facing in the diocesan court cases are influencing the “leadership” to attempt to exercise more control and attempt to make reality of the current fiction of hierarchy. They face the problem, however, of trying to get a fair percentage of GC delegations to vote against their own diocesan policies. So I would advocate that if you are in a diocese that does not meet its “asking” (for whatever reason- orthodoxy, poverty, high costs) that you pay particular attention to who gets elected to your GC delegation. Because they don’t need the whole diocese to agree, just the GC delegates. And in recent years it seems not unusual for the GC delegation to be the 8 most liberal people in the diocese.
Looking at this without regard to the bigger theological issues in TEC, the first thing one sees is that 49 of 109 dioceses currently pay the full asking. That means over 1/2 of dioceses aren’t on board with the heirarchy of TEC. I know there are various reasons that diocese aren’t paying, but whether it’s due to withholding or simple lack of ability to pay, this exercise is rearranging the deck chairs. TEC is a rapidly shrinking entity, and doesn’t seem to be doing anything to correct the problems that are at the heart of the issue. One thing they could do tomorrow is consolidate dioceses, and sell the property of dissenters to those who want to leave, but the committee, ExCoun and KJS have all rejected those alternatives. So grab some ice from the deck, and have a drink! Income will certainly be up before we sink.
#1. This is very correct. Wide swaths of dioceses (not conservative) pay 10% or less. PA pays under 4%.
The idea of having uniformity on this matter across all 109 dioceses may bespeak the fantasy of those who also want a uniform church (one sees intimations of this in the PB’s remarks). But 40% of all dioceses have under 3000 ASA; others don’t want to pay money into a church they have been ignored by theologically/ethically; and others are happy at 10% and probably won’t go up to 15% at all.
So how does one imagine all this will be ‘enforced’ when there is nothing in the church’s history or c/c that ever conceived of mandatory giving — another clue that TEC is not hierarchical.
How this will play out at GC is but one more question soon to be answered.
“The Task Force for Reimagining The Episcopal Church called in its final report, issued Dec. 15, for a lower and canonically mandated diocesan assessment.”
Did they suggest how “canonically mandated” might be achieved in practice? I might have missed it, but I can’t see any proposal referred to in the article.
I daresay that the difficulties TEC is facing in the diocesan court cases are influencing the “leadership” to attempt to exercise more control and attempt to make reality of the current fiction of hierarchy. They face the problem, however, of trying to get a fair percentage of GC delegations to vote against their own diocesan policies. So I would advocate that if you are in a diocese that does not meet its “asking” (for whatever reason- orthodoxy, poverty, high costs) that you pay particular attention to who gets elected to your GC delegation. Because they don’t need the whole diocese to agree, just the GC delegates. And in recent years it seems not unusual for the GC delegation to be the 8 most liberal people in the diocese.