Diocesan Council Minutes
February 25, 2016
Members Present: Bishop Franklin, Wayne A. Blassingame, Pat Bradley, Elisabeth Brauza, Brian Miller, Colleen O’Connor, Charlie Ohl, Carl Otis, Gloria Payne-Carter, Kim Rossi
Others Present: Cathy Dempesy-Sims, Howard Gondree, Maria Manocchio, Robert Matson, Vicki Zust
Bishop Franklin called the meeting to order at 6:02 with an opening prayer.
Approval of Minutes: Pat Bradley moved & Kim Rossi seconded the approval of the minutes. The motion passed.
Bishop’s Report:
The Bishop & his staff are working on getting information out to the Council as early as possible.
Feast of Lights had 10 congregations represented. The Absalom Jones Vespers at St. Philip’s sponsored by UBE was wonderful. Olean had an African American Heritage weekend with great turnout and enlightening conversations. Over 100 people came to the Discover Sunday conversation between Bishop Franklin & Bishop Malone.
March 3 is the clergy quiet day and the All Diocesan Event is in the evening. March 13 is another Discover Sunday event on flowers and plants of the Bible.
The endowment committee has raised $2,770,000 for a variety of diocesan projects.
Reports from the three sub-committees:
Structure & Congregations: Met by Skype with representatives from the Standing Committee. Each group thought the other group had gotten farther than they had. A discussion about what the goals of the Diocesan structure are would be a good place to start. Lateral communication will be important. Canon Dempesy-Sims’ role will be a key part of that.
Finance: Helping to support the Finance committee by raising awareness of the budget process. Working on a letter to wardens and vestry members.
General Convention & Be Not Afraid: Decided to focus on one resolution at a time.
The first resolution is A158 – the resolution on policies about substance abuse & recovery. Charlie has spoken with Steve Lane. This needs to be a cultural shift rather than an anti-alcohol campaign. The goal is for every parish to have a policy and to bring a Diocesan policy to Convention.
Preparations for Warden & Vestry Day:
There are 175 people registered and we have a waiting list of 25.
Council members will need to be here at 8:45. We will need 3 or 4 people to help with registration, 3 or 4 people to help make coffee & refill water before the opening plenary begins. We also will need Council members to help people find their workshops.
It is clear that this is something that people are interested in. We need to consider what we want to do next year. Do we want to find a larger venue? Do we want to offer the same program on two different Saturdays.
Presentation on the final 2016 Diocesan Budget:
100% of the congregations have sent in their pledges to the 2016 budget.
Revenue Increased to $830,030
Expense lines were altered to reflect the new Diocesan structures and real costs for insurance and other matters.
Kim Rossi moved that the 2016 budget accepted, Brian Miller seconded. The 2016 Budget passed.
Budget surplus & consideration for options for use of budget surplus and process for making a decision on options:
The surplus is not a recurring event. It arose from a positive response to the Fullshare commitments from several congregations. There was a deliberate delay in filling two vacant staff positions. Surpluses do not roll over. The Diocese has made up the deficit in prior year budgets by cutting our giving to the Episcopal Church.
There are several options of what to do with the surplus:
- Create a capital replacement fund as the basis for a capital budget.
- A rainy day fund
- A matching fund for congregations working toward a common goal
- Endowment fund for current programs
Regional Ministry Fund was proposed. The goal is to support regional ministry in the 5&20 region; the Northern Region; & the Genesee Region and other regions. This would be a Council administered fund to which the regions could make application to for funding to support regional ministry.
Discussion of regional ministry and various ways to make use of the surplus ensued.
Bishop proposed a group made up of him, Liz Brauza, Pat Bradley, Cathy Dempesy-Sims & Robert Matson develop a process for deciding how to spend the surplus.
Kim Rossi made a motion that the Bishop, Liz Brauza, Pat Bradley, Cathy Dempesy-Sims & Robert Matson be appointed to an ad hoc committee to prepare a proposal for the Council. Liz Brauza seconded. Motion passed.
Lockport project update:
The Diocese has raised $75,000 to reuse Grace Church’s parish house as a Family Center. The plan was to bring social services to a neighborhood in need. The Lockport Zoning Board has denied the needed variance. The Diocese is seeking another location for the Family Center.
Ascension project update:
The Diocese is working with the Episcopal Church Home to develop affordable senior housing. The Nave is not able to be used for the affordable housing. We are looking for a social service agency to move into the Nave space.
Ellicottville project update:
The Diocese has been left two houses. The Diocese is seeking to rehab at least one of the houses. There will be money coming from the estate as well. The Diocese is hoping for this to be a hub for regional ministry.
New business:
Wilmington Trust Resolution
Resolved that the Bishop, Secretary and Treasurer of the Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York be, and are hereby authorized to execute and to deliver to M&T Bank a Certificate of Incumbency, which lists the persons authorized on Charitable Beneficiary’s behalf to execute any documents and to issue instructions in connection with distributions related to account 120080379 (the “Authorized Signers”); and it is further
Resolved that M&T Bank be and hereby is authorized to rely on the actual or purported signatures of any of the Charitable Beneficiary’s Authorized Designators and Authorized Signers until M&T Bank has actually received and had a reasonable time to act on written notice from Charitable Beneficiary revoking such authority; and it is further
Resolved that Charitable Beneficiary shall defend, indemnify and hold M&T Bank harmless from and against all liabilities, costs and expenses (including but not limited to, attorney’s fees and disbursements) incurred by M&T Bank in connection with the honoring of any signature, instruction or action of any authorized Designator or Authorized Signed, or the refusal to honor any signature, instruction or action of any person who is not an Authorized Designator or Authorized Signer of Charitable beneficiary; and it is further
Resolved, that these resolutions supersede all prior resolutions on the subject to which they pertain, and shall remain in full force and effect and binding upon Charitable Beneficiary until M&T Bank has actually received and had reasonable time to act on any subsequent Certificate of Authority; provided that these resolutions are limited in application to services provided by M&T Bank and do not regard to accounts that are serviced or services that are provided by any other division or department of M&T Bank or of its affiliates, including but not limited to accounts and services provided by Commercial Deposit Services and Treasury Management Services.
Kim Rossi moved the above Wilmington Trust resolution. Carl Otis seconded. The motion passed.
Wayne Blassingame presented the Bishop with a gift from the Bishop Holley chapter of the UBE in thanks for his role in the Absalom Jones vespers service.
Old business:
None
The Bishop blessed the Council & the meeting was adjourned at 8:04 pm.
Respectfully Submitted:
(The Rev.) Vicki D. Zust