Marks of Mission define new budget

The 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church  concluded earlier this month in Indianapolis with a unanimously adopted draft budget. The plan is based on the Anglican Communion’s five Marks of Mission. Those marks are:

1. To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom.
 2. To teach, baptize and nurture new believers.
 3. To respond to human need by loving service.
 4. To seek to transform unjust structures of society.
 5. To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.

The budget is balanced at U.S. $111,516,032, compared with $111,808,350 for the current triennium, and entails a small surplus of $30,000. The budget assumes U.S. $73.5 million in commitments from the church’s dioceses, nearly $4 million less than commitments in the current triennium, reflecting downward pressure on church revenues

The standing committee that developed and presented the new  plan conceded that while “structuring the budget in this way is a major advance…at the same time, for many, the budget does not go far enough in describing how expenditures in governance and administration actually advance the Five Marks of Mission.”