by Jeff Moretzsohn
In November of 2005, the people of the Diocese of Pennsylvania spoke loudly and said no to a budget proposal with deficit spending in excess of $1.2 million dollars. On Saturday, March 25th the people of the Diocese spoke clearly and said yes to a program budget which requires an independent auditor verify that the $550,000 of Unrestricted Net Assets, specified in the budget, are available for use in order to support the program budget. With an amended budget which requires a Special Audit to verify how Unrestricted, Temporarily Restricted and Permanently Restricted Net Assets have been spent or classified since 2003, we should celebrate this first step towards retuning the Diocese to fiscal accountability and responsibility.
In addition to the Special Audit, three programmatic shifts in the 2006 budget should be highlighted. First, the significant reduction in spending program dollars to support the Wapiti Retreat Center is a response to the voice of the people. The Retreat Center was ranked as the lowest programmatic priority in a recent diocesan wide survey. Secondly by funding the Development department with funds received for the Capital Campaign, the 2006 budget, passed by convention, will not use congregational giving to offset the associated costs of any capital campaign. In other words, the capital campaign will and must be self supporting so as to not drain resources necessary to fund the mission and ministry of the Diocese. Third is the acknowledgement and passage of specific language which prevents Diocesan Council from increasing expenditures without approval from Convention as well as a super-majority vote by Council itself.
While the new budget guarantees the level of support for congregational aide, programmatic development and the compensation for DCMM vicars, will not be eroded, there is still much to do to assist and protect those of our brothers and sisters within the Diocese who still remain at risk of not being able to fully realize their mission and ministry. The compelling plea from our brother from All Saints, Darby is a vivid reminder that significant challenges are before us. We must renew our efforts to develop a proactive strategy of Diocesan-wide stewardship in order to address the needs of all. While mandatory assessments are clearly not the answer, we must seek to develop creative funding strategies in order to meet the challenges before us.
Finally, while great strides have been made in returning the diocese to a measure of fiscal sanity, we must not forget that we are still subject to a diocesan leadership where examples of insensitivity, manipulation of finances, lack of trust, fear of retribution, and breaches of confidentiality are sadly still part of our daily life.
As such, we must be thankful for God’s blessings this past Saturday, and bolstered by the clarity with which convention spoke. More importantly, we must be strengthened and remain vigilant in our call to seek and carry out His will as we continue to move forward.
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