Final figures for 2003 show that the Anglican Appeal grossed $731,832 in donations, down 7.5 per cent from $790,885 in 2002, according to appeal co-ordinator Stephanie Peddle. The appeal also recorded a one-time bequest of $126,000 in 2002.
“Up to October of 2003, we had been tracking well ahead of every other year. Then a significant decline came in November and December,” Ms. Peddle wrote in an e-mail to Anglican Journal. She attributed the decrease to the controversy surrounding the same-sex blessings issue and year-end payments by dioceses to the Indian residential schools settlement fund. All dioceses are contributing to a $25 million fund that will compensate natives who attended Anglican boarding schools and can prove they suffered physical or sexual abuse. The Anglican Appeal supports dioceses of the North and work involving theological education, leadership development and social justice overseas.
Meanwhile, management team and the budget review task force set up by Council of General Synod, the church’s governing body between General Synods, was expected on April 26 to come up with recommendations on how to balance the 2005 budget and trim this year’s budget, which is projected to incur a deficit of $241,592.