|
THE DIOCESE OF NEWARK
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 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: The Rev. Christopher Brdlik, Ms. Faith Gideon Brown, The Rev. Lu-Anne Conner, Ms. Glenda DeKruif, The Rev. Hank Dwyer, The Rev. Mariano Gargiulo, Ms. Lois Gray, Mr. Robert Harwood, Ms. Susan Kynor, The Rev. Paul Olsson, Mr. Andrew Piccirillo, The Rev. William Potter, Mr. Don Roberts, Ms. Mary Sunden, Ms. Lynn Tyler, The Rev. Fain Webb, Ms. Pat Yankus. Bishop's Appointments: Mr. Sidney King, The Rev. Prince Singh, The Rev. Paul Williams. Absent: The Rev. Canon Gervais Clarke, The Rev. Janet Kraft, The Rev. Elton Smith, Ms. Carol Taylor ECW: Staff: Canon R. Carter Echols, The Rev. Canon Paul Hunt, Ms. Kitty Kawecki (for the Working Group time) COUNCIL WORKING GROUP MEETINGS The working groups met separately for Bible study (Ephesians 5:8-14) and discussions. AGENDA Motion: It was moved and seconded to adopt the agenda with the addition of a spending request from Districts 2 and 3. The motion was adopted. MINUTES Motion: It was moved and seconded to accept the minutes for the meeting of February 16, 2005 with a correction to add the name of Ms. Lois Gray in the listing of Discipleship members. The motion to accept the corrected minutes was adopted. EPISCOPAL COMMUNICATIONS • Reported on the recent gathering of the Episcopal Urban Caucus held in the diocese of Newark and expressed his pride in the work done by the local planning committee of Marge Christie, Michael James, Carter Echols and Kai Alston. Urban ministries within the diocese were showcased to the attendees. Prayer services were held at House of Prayer, Trinity + St. Philip's Cathedral and Grace Church, providing a blend of different liturgical styles. • Recently attended the Standing Commission on Ministry Development and will be attending the House of Bishops beginning tomorrow. The commission will recommend the elimination of the required approval by General Convention deputies of elections of bishop's that occur within 120 days of a General Convention. • The property management conference was a well attended event on March 5. • The mid-sized congregations conference was scheduled for Saturday, March 12. • The EEOC lawsuit was being defended vigorously. The diocese was taking all the appropriate and correct steps. • The Ecclesiastical Court was in session this evening. The chancellor outlined the next steps in the process. TREASURER'S REPORT Mr. John Zinn reported that two months into the new fiscal year did not provide sufficient time to identify any financial trends. Commented that staff member Barbara Lescota returned to work after a two-month illness. He expressed dismay that there were still six congregations which hadn't turned in a pledge card for 2005; the receipt of the card was a canonical requirement. He welcomed recommendations on ways to hold churches accountable for compliance with diocesan policies. One comment was that disbursements of grant monies and other diocesan funds be delayed until a church complied with all diocesan policies. For the policy year of 2005, notification was received from the carrier that the liability insurance would increase from $6,000 to $32,000 because of the lawsuit. The deductible of $25,000 increased to $75,000. Steps were being taken to address the funding of the increase. Motion: It was moved and seconded to accept the report, subject to audit. The motion was adopted. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS' CONSOLIDATION Mr. John Zinn reported on the status of the possible consolidation of the diocesan community development corporations. Meetings of representatives from each of the CDCs had begun and several more were scheduled. The next report will be presented in April, at which time there could be a recommendation on specifics regarding consolidation. DIOCESAN OUTREACH COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS Motion: Ms. Pat Yankus moved, and it was seconded and adopted that the recommendations from the Outreach Committee as presented last month and modified since that time in the international category be ratified. The motion was adopted with six abstentions. During the February and March meetings it was remembered that earlier in the year the Council approved a $3,000 grant to the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund for tsunamis relief in south Asia. An email vote was taken to reduce several of the requests in the international category because of the earlier grant. In the international category, the committee received five requests. The requests and the committee's recommendations were as follows: 1. St. Nicholas Theological Seminary, Ghana – a request for $20,000 to help fund the final construction phase for the library at the seminary. Recommended funding - $2,500 (reduced from $3,000) 2. Bocas del Toro Rebuilding Effort – a request for $12,000 for aid to the Bocas del region in Panama that suffered from severe flooding in January, 2005. Recommended funding - $4,800 (reduced from $6,300) 3. Kakaasi Maize Milling Project Uganda – a request for $4,800 to purchase and install a milling machine that will provide economic support for widows and orphans in this area of Uganda Recommended funding - $4,800 (remained unchanged) 4. The Potter's Wheel, Chittoor, India – a request for $10,000 to finish the construction of housing for low caste potters and their families. Recommended funding - $2,500 (reduced from $3,000) 5. Anglican Delegations to the UN Commission on the Status of Women – a request for $5,000 to underwrite travel and living expenses for Anglican global womeN to attend this two week event at the United Nations. Recommended funding - $2,500 (reduced from $3,000) In the domestic category, the committee received 18 requests totaling $187,600. The requests and the recommendations were as follows: 1. The Care Closet, Christ Church, Belleville – a request for $6,000 to purchase household and personal hygiene products for distribution to those in need. Recommended funding - $3,000 2. St. Paul's CDC, Paterson – A request for $40,000 towards the cost of the staff positions of case manager and food pantry manager. Recommended funding - $9,280 3. St. Paul's Church, Paterson – a request for $10,000 towards the expenses of a summer youth program. Recommended funding - $5,000 4. Haven of Hope, St. Luke's, Hope – A request for $7,500 for a pilot program for a respite and caring program for ten urban lower income children with life limiting illnesses and for their care givers Recommended funding - $2,500 for expenses other than the compensation of the Project Director. 5. Christ Church CDC, Hackensack - $12,000 towards the expenses of the CDC's Next Step Initiative, a life improvement program. Recommended funding – $6,000. 6. Jersey City Episcopal CDC – a request for $25,000 for general operating support for the organization's programs in Jersey City. Recommended funding - $9,000 7. Apostles' House, Newark – a request for $15,000 for general operating support for the organization's programs to help those in need in the City of Newark. Recommended funding - $9,000 8. St. Peter's Haven, Clifton – a request for $10,000 for the operating expenses of this organization's homeless shelter, food pantry and family services center. Recommended funding - $5,000 9. Grace Church, Newark – a request for $10,500 for the church's outreach program to youth living in public housing in Newark. Recommended funding - $4,000 10. Camp Unity, St. John's, Union City – a request for $5,000 for scholarship/startup funds for the second year of the church's summer day camp. Recommended funding - $2,500 11. Positive Connection Group Expansion – a request for $8,000 to support the expansion of this group counseling program from Union City to Newark. Recommended funding - $3,500 . 12. St. John's, CDC, Boonton – a request for $10,000 to support this organization's after school, summer and parenting assistance programs. Recommended funding – $5,000 13. Sussex County IHN – a request for $10,000 to continue and expand the organization's Supported Housing Program. Recommended funding – $4,000 14. St. Andrew's Church, Newark – a request for $2,000 to purchase food and supplies for the church's soup kitchen. Recommended funding - $1,000 15. St. Peter's Church, Mt. Arlington – a request for $1,500 to purchase food for the church's food pantry. Recommended funding – $1,000 16. Helping Hands Food Pantry, Hillsdale – a request for $3,600 to purchase food for this ecumenical food pantry. Recommended funding - $1,000 17. Good Shepherd Community Services, Ft. Lee – a request for $9,900 to support the organization's programs for people and families living with HIV. Recommended funding - $4,000 18. Church of the Good Shepherd, Wantage – a request for $1,600 to support the church's feeding program. Recommended funding - $1,600 It was recommended that on all domestic requests from churches that the release of funding be contingent on the church's 2003 audit being on file at the diocese. The members of the Outreach Committee were: Ms. Pat Yankus, Chair; The Rev. Lu-Anne Conner; Mr. Sidney King; The Rev. Hank Dwyer; The Rev. Fain Webb ; Mr. John Zinn DISTRICT SPENDING REQUEST A written spending request was received from The Rev. Beverly Huck on behalf of Districts 2 and 3 for a combined newspaper advertisement in the Daily Record. The ad would be a half-page and would run for two days, March 24 and March 26. The cost was $1,984.50. (A full page ad would be $3,969) The ten churches included: from District 2: Transfiguration, Towaco; St. John's, Boonton; St. Peter's, Mountain Lakes; Church of the Saviour, Denville; St. Andrew's, Lincoln Park; St. Gabriel's, Milton/Oak Ridge; and, from District 3: St. John's, Dover; St. Paul's, Morris Plains; St. Gregory's, Parsippany; St. Peter's, Morristown. Motion: It was moved and seconded to approve an expenditure of $1,984.50 for the Easter advertisement. The motion was defeated. A full and lively discussion ensued that included the topic of the efficacy of advertising on congregational development and growth. The proposal seemed to be incomplete by not providing information on the source(s) of other funds for the ad. There were no guidelines for the spending of district funds to aid the decision process. Since we don't have guidelines, we can't restrict considering this request. Not all the churches in district 3 were included. Why not have an ad for the whole diocese? There should be an advertising strategy overall. These requests have been on an ad hoc basis. Motion: It was moved and seconded to approve an expenditure of $700 for the Easter advertisement. The motion was defeated. The bishop asked that the Steering Committee work with the district conveners to propose guidelines on district spending. DISTRICT SHARING The bishop asked for comments from the representatives about conversations, events and comments happening in the districts. District 1: Bill Potter reported on a Lenten program within the district. District 3: Lois Gray reported on recent meeting that included confirmation, summer schools, but didn't know about the district ad request. District 4: Chris Brdlik and Faith G. Brown reported that their recent meeting was one of the best with high energy and enthusiasm; and the result was to reconvene the clergy again. The Percept information for the district will be analyzed. District 5: Paul Williams reported on the excitement level increase and a district visioning session will be held in July; the new convener, John Negrotto, brought energy to the work. District 7: Hank Dwyer reported on a recent presentation on Jubilee Interfaith Outreach by Geoff Curtiss; the clericus group was meeting; joint lenten programs were underway. District 10: Lu-Anne Connor reported the Eight Characteristics of a Healthy Congregation were used for group discussions. ANNOUNCEMENTS Ms. Susan Kynor reported on Jubilee Ministries offerings of training for congregations (team visitors to assess parishioner issues) and immigration and asylum concerns, especially in south Jersey. Ms. Glenda deKruif reported on a fundraiser for a youth trip to Puerto Rico. Cursillo "Living the 4th Day" was scheduled for April 1-3. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. with prayer by The Rev. Mariano Gargiulo. Respectfully submitted, Michael Francaviglia, Secretary  --Return to Diocese of Newark Home PageReturn to Top of Page |