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THE DIOCESE OF NEWARK
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 10, 2004 St. Agnes', Little Falls
Present: The Rt. Rev. John P. Croneberger; President; Mr. John Zinn, Treasurer; Mr. Michael Francaviglia, Secretary; Diane Sammons, Esq., Chancellor. Elected by Districts: Ms. Faith Gideon Brown, Mr. Donald Cairns, The Rev. Canon Gervais Clarke, The Rev. Lu-Ann Conner, The Rev. Randall Day, The Rev. Hank Dwyer, The Rev. Janet Kraft, Ms. Susan Kynor, The Rev. Paul Olsson, Mr. Andrew Piccirillo, The Rev. William Potter, The Rev. Nancy Read, The Rev. Elton Smith, Ms. Lynn Tyler, The Rev. Fain Webb,. Bishop's Appointments: Mr. Sidney King, The Rev. Prince Singh, Ms. Carol Taylor, The Rev. Paul Williams. Absent: Ms. Glenda DeKruif, Mr. Don Roberts, The Rev. Dr. E. Bevan Stanley, Ms. Pat Yankus. ECW: Mrs. Doris Mardirosian. Others Present:: Mr. Scott Bennett, District 2 Convener; The Rev. Margaret Gat and Ms. Bernice Mayes, ACTS/VIM Board members who were present earlier for the Outreach working group time. Staff: Canon R. Carter Echols; The Rev. Canon Paul Hunt; Ms. Kaileen Alston; Ms. Kitty Kawecki COUNCIL WORKING GROUP MEETINGS Prior to the start of the business section, the working groups met separately for Bible study (Luke 18:1-8) and discussions. The full Council meeting was opened at 7:50 p.m. with prayer. AGENDA Motion: It was moved and seconded to adopt the agenda as prepared. The motion was adopted. MINUTES Motion: It was moved and seconded to accept the minutes for the meeting of September 8, 2004. The motion to accept the minutes was adopted. EPISCOPAL COMMUNICATION The bishop comments included the following: • Attendance at the recent House of Bishops' meeting. • Cross Roads Outdoor Ministries hired Andrew Mullner and Marie Skweir, a husband and wife team, as the executive directors. Both were skilled in management and possessed previous experience with camp and conference centers. • Continued to be concerned with the best stewardship of resources within the diocese and how the resources were allocated. Deficit budgets were a grave concern. These topics will continued to be discussed at future clergy gatherings and wardens' meetings. DISCIPLESHIP WORKING GROUP REPORT The Rev. Lu-Anne Connor, convener, reported that the working group was asking a number of questions: What is discipleship? What is Christian Formation? What are the implications for our life together as a diocese? The inquiries were viewed as part of resourcing for the congregations. The Rev. Bill Potter, working group member, shared some insights from his sermon preparation on St. Francis. When you look at the organization of the four groups [Council working groups], and think about Francis' life, four things for which he stood for and why acclaimed were represented: dedication to prayer and worship; dedication to proclaiming the Good News; and dedication for the working poor and for peace. Could we define who we are as parishes based on the first two aspects of Francis? If we followed Francis we might discover new models of life and ministry. He wondered where did Francis get his resources? Ms. Kitty Kawecki, staff member and director of the Anand Center, shared a perspective that the intentionality of the working group was commendable. There were several difficulties that faced the church: There are no easy answers. We don't make promises. We don't give out guilt. By their very being, these three aspects challenged Christian Formation and discipleship. TREASURER'S REPORT Mr. John Zinn presented the treasurer's report. Expenses were within half a percent of budget projections. He expressed concern that six to ten churches were significantly behind in their pledges. It was his intention to dialogue with those churches about their financial status. Motion: It was moved and seconded to accept the report, subject to audit. The motion was adopted. DIOCESAN BUDGET REVISION Mr. John Zinn presented the following Diocesan Budget Revision resolution: Motion: Resolved, that the following changes be made to the 2004 Diocesan Budget: • Increase Line 44, Legal Fees to $25,000 • Reduce Line 14, Christian Formation to $31,000 • Reduce Line 11, Commission on Aging to $45,800 The motion was adopted. The purpose of the resolution was to increase 2004 funding for legal fees and expenses by an additional $15,000. This related to the EEOC complaint that had been discussed in very general terms at prior Council meetings. In both cases the reductions in funding represent funding obtained from other sources, which allowed Council funds intended for these programs to be used to fund the legal expense line. It needed to be clear that these reductions in line items did not represent any program cutbacks; the funds were simply being obtained from other sources. Ms. Diane Sammons, Chancellor, presented a status report on the case. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (CDC) TASK FORCE Mr. John Zinn reported the bishop will appoint a task force composed of representatives from the diocesan community development corporations (CDCs) and from Diocesan Council to evaluate and review the organization and work of the CDCs. The work of the task force would be to consider such questions as, Were there opportunities for best practices? Should consolidation of boards be considered? What challenges were presented? Additional information will shared as it becomes available. DISTRICT REALIGNMENT The Rev. Janet Kraft, Convener for District 6, reported that the members of St. Clement's, Hawthorne, requested a change in district assignment from District 9 to District 10. The more natural geographical relationship was with District 10. The move request was related to Route 17 which members of Hawthorne had to cross in order to participate in District 9. Motion: It was moved by The Rev. Janet Kraft and seconded that St. Clement's, Hawthorne district assignment be changed from District 9 to District 10. The motion was adopted. DISTRICT SPENDING REQUEST The Rev. Lu-Ann Connor and Mr. Scott Bennett, chair of the Evangelism Commission, presented the spending request on behalf of the Evangelism Commission. The request to Council was an allocation of funds from the District line in the diocesan budget to the Commission for its work on behalf of all the districts with a new evangelism program. The Evangelism Commission was proposing that the Council authorize $5000 currently designated for district ministry to be used for an evangelism "E-grants" fund. The "E-grants" would encourage congregations interested in welcoming newcomers and seekers to partner with another congregation in their district who has the same desire. Working together, the congregations would decide on a simple evangelism tool that would: a) be mutually beneficial and, b) complement the national church's pre-Easter 2005 advertising in their area. (Examples might include focused advertising in a local newspaper shared by two churches, door hangers with Easter service times, bumper stickers, goody bags and welcome packets for newcomers, etc.) The Commission on Evangelism would receive all proposals and evaluate them based on merit, creativity, and potential for evangelism. The Commission would then award one grant per district of up to $500 (with ten districts, the total amounts to $5000), or approximately $250 per congregation. If no grant proposal is received from a particular district, the Commission could award multiple grants to another district. All funds would be dispersed in December 2004 so that congregations have plenty of time to prepare for Easter in March 2005. Motion: It was moved by The Rev. Lu-Anne Connor and seconded that an expenditure of $5000 from the district line be allocated for the Evangelism Commission program for use by all the districts. During the discussion, there were a number of concerns raised: that the funding responsibility was shifted to the Commission; the effect of the program could be divisive within districts by unintentionally establishing competition between congregations; how would the opportunity for E-grants be publicized? Was this proposal an appropriate use of the line item funds? Considering the issues raised, The Rev. Lu-Anne suggested a delay in the vote until next month to address the concerns expressed. The original motion was withdrawn by the movers. REPORT ON PERCEPT Canon R. Carter Echols, Canon for Congregational Development, presented a report on the diocesan contract for Percept for demographic and choice data. Every congregation has access to the information. The contract will provide mission study tools and ministry resources free of charge for every congregation through Link2Lead.com. Every congregation may register twenty users at a time. Some of the tools included: • 10-Facts Series Reports, instant demographic information for any zip code. • Ministry Match: Compare the programs that your congregation offers to the list of likely church program preferences for your community. Based on Percept's national surveys on faith preferences. • The iChange & iLead Type surveys are designed to assess a person's response to change and characteristics of their leadership style. • First View is a six-page, full color, graphical demographic report on a church zip code area. • QuikStory, a 250 word summary highlighting the ministry of a congregation using Percept resources in some way to assist them with the challenges of a changing world. DISTRICT SHARING There were no district reports presented. ANNOUNCEMENTS Ms. Susan Kynor reminded members about the Public Assembly sponsored by the Jubilee Interfaith Organization (JIO) at Sacred Heart Church, Vailsburg, on Thursday, October 14 at 7 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m. with prayer by The Rev. Hank Dwyer. Respectfully submitted, Michael Francaviglia Secretary  --Return to Diocese of Newark Home PageReturn to Top of Page |