Each Province IX diocese ”“ Honduras, the host diocese, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Ecuador Litoral, Central Ecuador and Colombia ”“ is represented by a five-member team, including bishops, clergy and lay leaders. In addition, Cuba, Brazil, Panama, Mexico, Guatemala, Swaziland and Zambia, as well as the Philippines, are represented.
Observers include staff from the Episcopal Church Center, Church Pension Group, Episcopal Relief & Development, Trinity Wall Street and the Episcopal Church Foundation. The conference is supported by Church Pension Group, Trinity Wall Street, Province IX and an Episcopal Church Constable Grant, which also will fund ongoing developmental work throughout the province over the next two years.
With the exception of Puerto Rico, all the dioceses of Province IX, plus Mexico, Cuba, and the other Central American churches, which are organized as the Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America (IARCA), receive subsidies in varying amounts from the U.S.-based Episcopal Church. Offshore dioceses in Provinces II and VIII also receive grants.
Members of General Convention of the Episcopal Church who read this article would do well to look carefully into how money granted to some of the dioceses is actually used. There are serious and even shocking issues here that can be easily discovered if anyone would take the time to look.
GC members (bishops or deputies) might find it interesting, for example, to compare how bishops live, travel, and staff their offices, cathedrals, and bi-lingual schools–where does the money come from–where does it go–how and when is it audited–why do the clergy receive virtually nothing from their dioceses–and so on.
Sounds like fertile ground for parishes to move to the ACNA.
Brien #1, the last time I looked at the GC budget online, I found it difficult to figure out how much money each diocese received, let alone how they used it. Perhaps I didn’t look in the right place.
I have remarked before on this site that the exception to every rule is the work of TEC in Honduras, which is flourishing. Great and sustained growth, surely moving towards self-sufficiency. In case you doubt, let me quote from the Red Book (I am the sad type who is interested in church statistics although nowhere near the professionalism of Statmann).
I will quote baptisms only. Membership can be faked. Baptisms, not.
Here are the figures for baptisms for Honduras:
1972 (The Episcopal Church Annual p 15) 26 infant, 1 adult
2006 (ditto p 19) 2,562 infant, 576 adult
I would suggest that somebody takes a look at what they are doing down there and learns lessons from it to apply elsewhere.