Kendra Haven is director of special projects at InfluenceMap, a an independent data analysis think tank that tracks companies and industry associations. During the Episcopal Parish Network’s Earth Day 2024 webinar, Haven addressed how multinational oil and gas corporations spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually to shape public image by appearing in favor of reducing emissions. However, claims of “going green” are inconsistent with the companies’ policy engagement. Photo: Screenshot

[Episcopal News Service] On April 22, the Episcopal Parish Network hosted a virtual conversation about corporations impeding climate advocacy progress in observance of Earth Day. The webinar was one of many Earth Day events Episcopal congregations and ministries hosted this year.

“As we celebrate Earth Day today, one way that we can honor God and our faith tenants is by caring for God’s creation,” said JoAnn Hanson, president and chief executive officer of the Church Investment Group, a nonprofit that offers ethical investing resources to Episcopal entities managing endowments.

The Episcopal Parish Network is a national, membership-based organization of clergy and lay leaders representing 200 parishes of all sizes and budgets across the church. The webinar featured two speakers – Kendra Haven, director of special projects, and Cleo Rank, a senior policy analyst – affiliated with InfluenceMap, an independent data analysis think tank that tracks companies and industry associations. The two speakers and Hanson shared how partisan advocates and fossil fuel companies and interest groups direct resources to hinder progress.

“When we look across our database, it’s the industry associations that across the globe in every jurisdiction really are the most powerful and the most negative on climate,” Haven said during the webinar.

Global dependence and investment in fossil fuels continue to dominate the energy sector over renewable sources. Haven pointed out that the industry associations with the most negative impact on climate tend to be concentrated in the United States and Canada, “which might speak to a little bit about why the U.S. has had a little bit more trouble passing ambitious climate policy unlike some countries in Europe.”

InfluenceMap listed the American Petroleum Institute as the most negative and influential industry association, according to a chart featured in the webinar. Another chart highlighted a 2022 analysis of Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, Chevron and ExxonMobil’s public communications showed that these multinational oil and gas corporations spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually to shape public image by appearing in favor of reducing emissions. However, claims of “going green” are inconsistent with the companies’ policy engagement.

“[Lobbying] is promoting narrative. It’s influencing public opinion. It’s appealing to voters as well as policymakers,” Haven said. “From there, it becomes easier for industry or industry interests to shape the climate policy agenda if they had sort of managed to lay that foundation of ‘gas is good,’ or whatever it is, and then get into the even more detailed work like specific budgets or regulations or standards.”

Rank addressed environmental, social and governance – more commonly known as ESG – investing, which is a set of issues and aspects that companies can use to demonstrate “responsible investing.” She also shared the current landscape of the anti-ESG movement, in which companies, organizations, individuals and stakeholders reject or criticize emphasizing ESG in favor of profits only.

“There’s definitely room for positive voices to step up and counter this,” Rank said.

Webinar participants were able to ask Haven and Rank questions using Zoom’s chat function. One participant inquired about greenwashing, a form of advertising and marketing that companies use to appear environmentally friendly but really aren’t. For example, ExxonMobil has advertised that its experimental algae biofuels can potentially reduce transport emissions. However, ExxonMobil has no company-wide net zero target.

“I recognize that these are not easy topics to discuss from the pulpit, particularly in jurisdictions where you’re trying to knit together disparate views,” Hanson said.

However, “all is not lost,” Rank said, highlighting anti-ESG legislation opposition from various groups, including state banking associations and state chambers of commerce. For example, the American Legislative Exchange Council rejected a proposed model anti-ESG bill in 2023.

Haven, Rank and Hanson also shared where participants can find economic literacy resources from InfluenceMap and the Church Investment Group’s websites.

Episcopalians can learn more about the church’s support for the environment and public health here.

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service based in northern Indiana. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

[Anglican Church of Canada] In the continuing spirit of full communion, the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Companion of the Worship Arts (CWA).

The CWA is awarded every three years in recognition of significant contributions to the worship life of both churches. Since 2014, one Anglican and one Lutheran recipient receive the honor, recognizing ongoing inspiration and encouragement to others, and service to God, through worship, spirituality and the arts.

This year’s Anglican recipient is the Ven. Richard Leggett. With an extensive record of academic publication in the fields of liturgics and ecumenical studies, Leggett has been committed to using his scholarship in the service of the church. This year’s Lutheran recipient is the Rev. Lyle McKenzie, who has served several congregations and also served for over 10 years as ELCIC’s assistant to the bishop for worship.

Read the entire article here.

[World Council of Churches] On April 22, World Council of Churches general secretary the Rev. Jerry Pillay, on behalf of the global fellowship, extended greetings and wishes to Jewish people everywhere as they commemorate Passover.

“We join in prayer with all Jewish families and communities that gather to re-enact the rituals that keep the experience of the exodus alive in our hearts and minds,” said Pillay. “May the people forged by the memory of the years of bondage and wandering honor the God of liberation by their eagerness to do justice, to reconcile and unite humanity.”

Pillay expressed special appreciation for the conversations and collaboration with Jewish sisters and brothers towards securing peace and security in the Holy Land as anticipation of the incarnation of God’s liberating power today. 

Read the entire article here.

[The Church of England] The Most Rev. Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury; the Most Rev. Stephen Cottrell, archbishop of York; and the Rt. Rev. Christopher Chessun, bishop of Southwark have joined with leaders of other churches in England to renew their commitment to caring for the most vulnerable, as legislation to enable asylum seekers to be deported to Rwanda was approved by Parliament.

In a joint statement with leaders of the Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and United Reformed Churches, they pay tribute to all those who “live out Jesus’s call to feed and clothe the poor, and to welcome the stranger, at times in the face of opposition and prejudice.”

The statement voices concern that asylum seekers and refugees have been used as a “political football” and that the kindness of churches and charities towards people fleeing war, persecution and violence has been “unjustly maligned by some for political reasons.”

Read the entire statement here.

Diocese of Newark archdeacon the Ven. Diane Riley (left) and Bishop Carlye J. Hughes were among the speakers at an April 22 rally of advocates for homeless people that took place in Newark, New Jersey’s Harriet Tubman Park. Photo: Nina Nicholson

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of Newark’s bishop and archdeacon rallied alongside other advocates for homeless people on April 22 in the city’s Harriet Tubman Square.

Every faith tradition has something like the Golden Rule, noted Newark Bishop Carlye J. Hughes, addressing the crowd. “That simple basic belief of treating others well, treating others the way you want to be treated, is one that makes life human, fair and equitable,” she said. Respecting people’s inherent dignity contrasts with those who “see homelessness and say, just get rid of it, make it go away.”

The rally coincided with the first day of arguments before the U. S. Supreme Court concerning an Oregon case about laws that ban camping on public property when there aren’t enough available beds in homeless shelters.

Also speaking at the rally was the Ven. Diane Riley, the diocese’s archdeacon for mission and service and co-leader of the diocese’s Commission for Justice and Peace. She also is executive director of the Supportive Housing Association of New Jersey, which she said has been providing supportive services plus affordable housing for 40 years.

“You take the services someone needs, you give them an affordable place, a safe place to live, and they respond by becoming healthier,” Riley said. “They start to thrive. They become active in their community, and they live their best lives, just like we all want to do.”

To highlight the sometimes-invisible nature of homelessness, Hughes described meeting a cashier at a local Whole Foods store during a recent shopping trip who, after exchanging pleasantries, told her, “I work for the richest man in the world. And nobody in this place, nobody that I’ve worked with, knows I’ve been without a home for five years.”

In closing, Hughes also offered a prayer, in which she asked “God who created all beings and loves all creation” to pour out a spirit of compassion on the Supreme Court. She closed by praying, “And in this great nation, full of so much, plenteous resources, we ask that you open all our hearts so that when we see a person in need of a home, rather than judge, we look at them the way you would look at them and ask, ‘How can I help’? Amen.”

Editor’s note: Bishop George Sumner has not announced plans to retire as previously reported in error. 

[Episcopal News Service] Dallas Bishop George Sumner has called for the election of a coadjutor who will serve alongside him until he retires.

Bishop George Sumner has led the Diocese of Dallas since 2015. Photo: Diocese of Dallas

The election is scheduled for May 3, 2025. The Rev. Clayton Elder, outgoing president of the Standing Committee and vicar of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Frisco, will chair the search committee.

“We believe that this search process is an opportunity for us to come together – to hope and dream cooperatively about our future, to discern with honesty our own identity as a diocese, and to pray for God to send us a pastor who will continue to lead us into the future faithfully,” the Standing Committee wrote.

“Participate in this shared discernment with open hearts, hope, and joy. And in the meantime, please keep our diocese, Bishop Sumner, and all our leaders in your prayers.”

Sumner was elected the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Dallas in May 2015. He was consecrated in November 2015.

The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, who serves as vice president of the House of Deputies, announced on April 21 that she is running for president. Photo: Rachel Taber-Hamilton/via Facebook

[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, vice president of the House of Deputies, announced over the weekend that she intends to challenge House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris for the office of president, setting up a contested president election seemingly without precedent in recent church history.

Taber-Hamilton, a priest in the Diocese of Olympia, did not refer to Ayala Harris by name in her announcement. Instead, she wrote in general terms that she is running for president because of “unaddressed internal dynamics that in my professional opinion are contributing to an unhealthy corporate culture, jeopardizing our ability for forming the collaborative relationships necessary for effectively moving forward in the crucial work of The General Convention.”

The election will be held in Louisville, Kentucky, when the 81st General Convention convenes June 23-28. At each General Convention, all deputies are permitted to seek election as president, though incumbent presidents do not typically face challengers.

Ayala Harris, as one of the church’s two presiding officers, was first elected president of the House of Deputies in July 2022 at the 80th General Convention, held in Baltimore, Maryland. Unlike the presiding bishop, who is elected to head the House of Bishops for a nine-year term, the House of Deputies president is elected to a term that spans from one General Convention to the next – typically three years – and can be re-elected for two additional terms.

Ayala Harris’ predecessor, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, was first elected president in 2012 and then re-elected without opposition in 2015 and 2018. In 2022, Ayala Harris was elected on the third ballot from a slate of five candidates for president.

“Among the many great gifts of our polity is the enduring strength of our church’s commitment to democratic principles and processes. These sacred values are the bedrock upon which our governance operates, guiding us as we navigate the challenges and opportunities of our time,” Ayala Harris told Episcopal News Service when asked to respond. “This summer, our deputies will continue discerning where the Holy Spirit is calling the church through democratic elections, including that of the President of the House of Deputies. I’m so proud to be part of a church where we have the power to shape our own future and to inspire generations of church leaders to come with our governance rooted in democracy, faith, and our listening to the Holy Spirit.”

General Convention splits its authority between the House of Deputies and House of Bishops. The House of Deputies is made up of clergy and lay deputations from all 108 dioceses, as well as the Episcopal Church in Navajoland and the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe.

The president’s role has been changing since 1964, when the convention gave the position a three-year term instead of simply being elected to preside during convention. In addition to chairing the House of Deputies during convention, the president also is canonically required to serve as vice chair of Executive Council and vice president of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, or DFMS, the nonprofit corporate entity through which The Episcopal Church owns property and does business. The House of Deputies president has a wide swath of appointment powers. The president also travels around the church, speaking at conferences and other gatherings and meeting with deputies and other Episcopalians.

Since Ayala Harris’ election, tensions have been simmering within church leadership, most notably in February 2023, when Ayala Harris and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry appointed a former Executive Council member, Jane Cisluycis, as acting chief operating officer. Executive Council, the church’s governing body between meetings of General Convention, must vote to give consent to such appointments.

Some members of Executive Council complained that the presiding officers had not conducted a thorough search process for filling the chief operating officer position, which in the past has blended the role of administrative head for the organization and chief of staff for the presiding bishop. They also raised concerns that people of color were not given enough consideration for the role.

Cisluycis’ appointment was approved by a 26-13 vote, and since that debate, Executive Council has conducted regular sessions on dismantling racism at its regular meetings, held three times a year.

At the time of the vote, Taber-Hamilton posted an extended commentary on her Facebook page, while again refraining from criticizing any church leader by name. “I believe that the final vote reflects the harm done to relationships between the executive officers and members of council,” she wrote. “I am concerned that much community/relational currency was expended by leadership to achieve this result, Beloved Community currency that will take some intentional time to replenish in our organizational life.”

In a separate Facebook post the following month, Taber-Hamilton lamented that “confronting the ‘soft’ racism of the Episcopal Church institution is really, really exhausting on a day-to-day effort.”

And on May 2, 2023, Taber-Hamilton took to Facebook again to say she was “deeply concerned” that Curry and Ayala Harris had not yet named members to a fact-finding commission, as mandated by the 80th General Convention, to research the church’s historic complicity in the federal Indigenous boarding schools system. “I have and am willing to do whatever I am called to do by the leadership and General Convention of the Episcopal Church, but neither I nor the good people committed to this work can move forward without the partnership and appointments necessary to do it.”

In late May 2023, Ayala Harris announced in a House of Deputies newsletter that she and Curry had named members to the commission, including Taber-Hamilton. The commission met in person for the first time in October and again in January.

Taber-Hamilton, who is Shackan First Nation, was elected House of Deputies vice president in 2022 at the same General Convention where Ayala Harris was elected. Taber-Hamilton was the only candidate for vice president. She is the first ordained woman, and only the third woman, to serve in this capacity since the role of deputies’ vice president was created in 1964.

“I’m looking forward with such joy and such humble gratitude to being able to be in a position to support the work of the House of Deputies, to care for all of you, and assure that every voice may be brought to bear,” she said in remarks to deputies after her election.

When Episcopal News Service contacted Taber-Hamilton on April 22 asking her to elaborate on her criticisms of the church’s internal leadership dynamics, she said she preferred to cite them only “in a very generalized way, not with specific examples that heighten the risk to individuals.”

Taber-Hamilton also was one of three nominees on the recent slate for bishop of the Diocese of Rochester. The upstate New York diocese elected Very Rev. Kara Wagner Sherer as its next bishop on Feb. 24.

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

[Religion News Service — Eatontown, New Jersey] Matty Giuliano is the kind of chaplain who doesn’t mind if you drop an f-bomb midsentence.

The animal cruelty officer-turned-interfaith animal chaplain from Queens, New York, wants everyone he serves to feel at ease, nonhumans included. And part of his ability to connect with those of all backgrounds comes from the authenticity of his own dynamic personality.

Giuliano, 50, lives in Monmouth County, New Jersey, with his wife, four dogs, three ferrets and one cat. He drives a car with the license plate CHPLAIN, speaks with an unmissable New York accent and has multiple credenzas brimming with St. Francis collectibles.

“It’s like walking into a monastery,” he jokes.

After a decade of over 2,000 often gruesome animal cruelty cases, in 2015 Giuliano traded his badge for a stole and began volunteering as the animal chaplain for the Monmouth County SPCA. There, Giuliano is in his element — blessing animals (including pigeons), conducting animal funerals, offering bereavement counseling and providing the kind of support for SPCA volunteers and staff he once craved.

“Matty, as the chaplain, has brought peace and harmony to the hearts of many, many pet owners,” said Ross Licitra, executive director of the Monmouth County SPCA. Barbara Lovell, associate executive director of the Monmouth County SCPA, added that Giuliano’s support is “key,” particularly during the summer when the intake period is intense.

“Not only is he watching out for signs of anxiety or grief during these moments, he has worked right along beside us in crisis — such as unloading dogs from trucks arriving back from hoarding situations,” said Lovell.

Giuliano grew up in a 600-square-foot apartment in the Electchester housing project in Queens. The only child of his Jewish mother and Italian Catholic father, he grew up attending a Unitarian Universalist congregation on Long Island. Though Giuliano said his Jewish grandmother mourned his lack of a bar mitzvah, he credits Unitarian Universalism for introducing him to several different religions.

“I got to form a much broader spiritual background than a lot of other people get to experience,” said Giuliano.

Dogs weren’t allowed in the apartment, so his family had three cats: Samson, Delilah and later Bathsheba. “They were Old Testament pussycats,” Giuliano quipped. By 1998, Giuliano had moved to the New Jersey suburbs and graduated from Rutgers University, and in 2005 he took a gig as an animal cruelty officer.

Often, Giuliano recalled, the cases were seasonal — pets left to suffer in extreme heat or cold. He remembers the man who left his dog in a hot car for hours while fishing at the beach; the guy who jumped out of a second-floor window to avoid arrest after advertising dogfighting; the woman who had over 350 dead birds in her house. “We had to wear Tyvek suits,” Giuliano remembered.

By 2013, the terrible things Giuliano witnessed left him longing for peace. Gradually, he began to embrace Catholicism, and was especially drawn to St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals.

“He’s who I would turn to, since we didn’t have anyone in the agency to go to,” Giuliano told Religion News Service. “I saw s— you couldn’t imagine.”

Giuliano found comfort in both prayers to the saint and the stories about him — particularly the tale of the Wolf of Gubbio, where St. Francis rescued both a village and the wolf terrorizing it.

Then, in August 2013, Giuliano’s longtime dog Remy was diagnosed with lymphoma and died a few months later in January 2014.

“That was the big push that led me into wanting to be the chaplain for Monmouth County SPCA,” said Giuliano. “I felt compelled to find out more about how I could be a spiritual service to these animals, and to the people who serve them.”

After learning about animal chaplains online, in 2015 he enrolled in an animal chaplain program through Emerson Theological Institute, a California-based organization grounded in New Thought philosophy. He also obtained two certificates in bereavement counseling and became ordained online through the Universal Life Church.

These days, Giuliano goes to the Monmouth County SPCA animal welfare facility two to three times a week, making himself available to the staff and volunteers.

“I had a cat who stopped eating, and we were sure this was it for the cat. I had Matty bless him, and don’t you know, the next day he started eating again,” said Ruth Schwartz, a feline specialist at the SPCA. “I mean, it was as if it was some sort of miracle.”

Giuliano also looks out for the animal cruelty officers at the Monmouth County SPCA, taking them out to dinners and providing spiritual support on an ad hoc basis.

“He’s always somebody you can count on,” said Mike Goldfarb, chief of human law enforcement at the Monmouth County SPCA. “And he’s good to talk to for a variety of reasons, not just spiritual support and SPCA knowledge, but just a good overall person. … We have a deal: He’s doing my funeral, but I hope not for another 30, 40 years.”

Giuliano offers pet loss support and funerals free of charge, and each year on Oct. 4, World Animal Day and the feast day of St. Francis, Giuliano hosts an interfaith event where people bring their pets to receive a blessing and prayer in their own faith tradition. He also visits the Monmouth County SPCA and offers prayers and treats to the hundreds of animals in their care.

“I know there are plenty of people out there who believe animals have no souls,” said Giuliano. “And I cannot accept one of God’s creation is, spiritually, the equivalent of a cup of ice cream.”

Giuliano also offers grief counseling to people across the country. In June 2019, Bill Keys, a retired member of the Air Force, connected with Giuliano by calling a pet loss support hotline after the passing of his 15-year-old dachshund, Duffy. Giuliano’s prayers and presence, he said, conveyed God’s love for animals. They spoke at least once a week for several months and still speak today.

“I can’t put into words the impact that Chaplain Matty had in helping me work through the grief, the loss, of Duffy,” Keys told RNS.

In recent years, Giuliano’s animal chaplaincy has taken an unexpected turn. Though he long considered himself a “traditional dog and cat guy,” in August 2018 at the SPCA’s annual “clear the shelter” event, he met and adopted a ferret he named Musky. Giuliano has since published two children’s books, “My Name is Musky,” and “Stubby’s Story,” after his second ferret. The proceeds are donated to animal welfare causes.

“It became a huge success in the ferret world, because there aren’t any ferret children’s books,” said Giuliano. “Cats, dogs, bunnies? Absolutely. Ferrets? None. So Musky ended up creating a social media ferret empire. Musky has over 10K followers on Facebook.”

Every day, Giuliano drafts posts detailing the antics of his pet ferrets. And to his surprise, doing so has become an extension of his ministry — people from across the country message him to share about their struggles and their appreciation brought by the page, which has become an online community.

In 2022, the New Jersey state Senate passed a resolution honoring Musky the Ferret. New Jersey Sen. Vin Gopal, who has worked with Giuliano on animal welfare legislation, told RNS he initiated the resolution to “recognize all the great work (Giuliano) was doing to protect ferrets and other animals.” Giuliano is currently partnering with Gopal and Sen. Michael L. Testa Jr. to pass a resolution that would mandate all animal testing facilities in the state make cats, dogs and ferrets used for testing or research available for adoption.

Giuliano says the principles of St. Francis — poverty, chastity and obedience — continue to guide his work and life, even amid personal hardship. Musky died in 2022 and it was devastating, Giuliano said, but he was also comforted by the condolences he received from around the world. People attended Musky’s funeral from as far away as Chicago.

“It’s been a remarkable journey,” said Giuliano. “I feel that it’s my connection with St. Francis that’s allowed me to do all that I’ve been able to do for the animal welfare world.”

[Anglican Communion News Service] One year from the beginning of the conflict in Sudan, the Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, has joined with a number of faith-based and charitable organizations in a statement about the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

This follows Poggo’s recent solidarity visit to the Episcopal Church in Sudan in March, which was the first visit of a non-Sudanese, senior-level Anglican clergy since war erupted. Hosted by the Most Rev. Ezekiel Kondo, primate of Sudan, Poggo met with faith leaders, as well as visiting church and community groups in the region.

The Statement on Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan

It is one year since the people of Sudan were plunged into extreme humanitarian emergency following the outbreak in mid-April 2023 of fierce fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). After having already endured years of protracted crisis in the country, the Sudanese people now face much greater threats to their safety and security, housing, water, food, essential health infrastructure and education.

According to the United Nations, over 8 million people were forced to leave their homes in search of safety within and outside Sudan due to the conflict. Sexual and gender-based violence is dramatically on the rise, and we witness a sharp increase in family separation. Together with the 3.8 million internally displaced persons from past internal conflict, Sudan currently faces the largest internal displacement crisis in the world and the most significant child displacement crisis, with more than 3 million children displaced inside and outside the country.

Nearly 18 million people across Sudan – or almost one in three Sudanese – are currently facing acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above). This is the highest recorded share of people facing this level of food insecurity during Sudan’s harvest season (October to February). Of this total, 5 million people are currently experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 4), some of whom are facing catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5), particularly in West and Central Darfur. The most highly food insecure populations in Sudan have been identified in areas where conflict has been particularly intense, including in Al Jazirah, Darfur, Khartoum, and Kordofan.

Meanwhile serious disease outbreaks, including cholera, are compounding the impact on the population, two-thirds of whom lack access to healthcare. In all, some 24.8 million people – almost one half of Sudan’s total population of 51 million – are in need of humanitarian assistance.

In this overwhelming crisis, the facilitation of cross-border operations from Chad and South Sudan is critically and urgently needed. Given the radically reduced production of Sudan’s main staple cereals of sorghum and millet the humanitarian crisis, especially in Darfur, is otherwise only likely to get worse.

Yet, despite this catastrophic situation, the funding coverage for the U.N. humanitarian response appeal for Sudan is currently only 7%. The 2024 Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan also urgently requires $1.4 billion to continue critical life-saving interventions and protection to 2.7 million refugees, returnees and host communities in five neighboring countries.

We urge the international community not to abandon the people of Sudan, despite the focus on conflicts elsewhere. While there are many positive grassroots efforts to support, including peacebuilding initiatives by religious and traditional leaders and financial provision flowing from the Sudanese diaspora, we appeal urgently for much greater international humanitarian support to mitigate the enormity of the suffering of the people. Comparing the vast scale of need and the under-funding of the response compared to other major crises, the Pledging Conference must unlock new and additional resources and prioritize working through diaspora and partnership-based agencies that can get these to local frontline responders. We also call for much more assertive and coordinated international engagement in seeking increased humanitarian access (including facilitation of cross-border operations from Chad and South Sudan), diplomatic solutions to achieve an urgent ceasefire, and an end to a conflict that has now created one of the world’s largest hunger crisis in 2024.

The organizations that supported this statement are Caritas, CAFOD, Caritas Africa, Caritas Internationals, CRS, Development and Peace, JRS, WEA and World Vision

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of New Jersey requested and received a hardship waiver for 2024 that allows it to pay less than its full 15% assessment – as is required of all dioceses to support the churchwide budget – while New Jersey leaders investigate and address what the bishop has described as “disarray” in its finances.

Executive Council, The Episcopal Church’s governing body between triennial meetings of General Convention, authorized the waiver April 20 at the conclusion of its three-day meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina. Instead of paying its full obligation of $600,000, the diocese will be required to contribute $400,000 under a one-year reduction.

The diocese had asked to contribute even less this year – $300,000, or 7.5% of its assessed revenue – but Executive Council’s Finance Committee settled on a reduced rate of 10%, which it said is in line with the waivers that have been granted to other dioceses dealing with short-term financial crises.

“Here in the Diocese of New Jersey, we are working to gain a full understanding of the financial issues we face, which will require completing overdue diocesan audits, correcting historical errors in financial recordkeeping, and obtaining accurate information about church properties,” Bishop Sally French told Episcopal News Service in a written statement after Executive Council’s vote.

French, who was consecrated as bishop in June 2023, shared an overview of the challenges discovered in the diocese’s past handling of its finances in a Feb. 27 letter and again in a speech March 9 at the diocese’s annual convention. At that time, she assured the diocese that there was “no indication of any financial malfeasance or fraud,” and she urged patience as diocesan leaders determine the full scope of the matter.

“We anticipate that it will take some time to come to terms with our financial situation and develop a strategy for the sustainability of God’s mission in our diocese,” French said in her April 20 statement to ENS. “We are grateful to the Executive Council for considering our request for a temporary reduction in our assessment rate so that we can have time to support our congregations and strengthen our budget, and we are grateful to other dioceses for their support as we move toward firmer financial footing.”

Executive Council votes April 20 to approve its consent calendar, a batch of resolutions that include a waiver for the Diocese of New Jersey allowing it to pay a reduced assessment to support the churchwide budget in 2024. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service

Executive Council granted two other assessment waivers it its April 18-20 meeting. The Diocese of Colombia, one of the historically low-revenue Latin American dioceses in the church’s Province IX, requested and received a waiver allowing it to pay a 2.1% assessment, contributing $2,000 to the churchwide budget in 2024. Executive Council noted that Episcopal leaders in Colombia “have honored their commitments and are increasingly paying what they are able.”

And the Diocese of Hawai’i, where deadly wildfires devastated communities on the island of Maui last year, was granted a waiver that will reduce its assessment from $315,000 to about $150,000 for one year.

Overall, of the church’s 108 dioceses, at least 97 were in full compliance with their assessments in 2023, according to the most recent data provided to ENS by the church’s Finance Office.  Of those, 93 paid assessments at the full 15% rate, while an additional four reported income of less than $200,000 – which is the amount of diocesan revenue the church exempts before calculating each assessment.

Dioceses that don’t contribute at the 15% rate and fail to apply for or receive approval for waivers can be ruled ineligible from participating in churchwide grant programs for one year. In 2024, the handful of ineligible dioceses include the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, the Jacksonville-based Diocese of Florida, the Diocese of the Dominican Republic and the Diocese of Venezuela.

Diocesan assessments are The Episcopal Church’s largest revenue source. They total about $30 million a year, or 65% of the $143 million in revenue the church expects to collect under Executive Council’s proposed 2025-27 churchwide budget plan, which will be considered in June by the 81st General Convention.

Separately, at least four dioceses – Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Oklahoma – have asked the 81st General Convention to gradually cut the rate for all dioceses from 15% to as low as 10%, which budget planners warn could create a shortfall of up to $30 million in the three-year budget. The four resolutions proposing assessment reductions are scheduled for a Zoom hearing 8 p.m. Eastern April 30 before General Convention’s Governance & Structure committees. Anyone wishing to attend or testify are required to register in advance.

The Diocese of New Jersey historically has been one of the top revenue-generating dioceses in The Episcopal Church. In 2022, it reported revenue of $4.2 million, more than all but nine other Episcopal dioceses, according to Finance Office records.

Although French has not yet publicly released a detailed assessment of the financial challenges her diocese faces, she has spoken generally about overdue audits, inaccurate report, errors in recordkeeping, irregular payments and a failure to maintain appropriate financial and administrative controls.

The diocese’s previous canon to the ordinary for finance and administration has stepped down, and the diocese plans to relay on an outside accounting firm to help sort out the diocese’s finances.

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.