Fair Wages, Workplace Parity Addressed by General Convention
Episcopal News Service. August 6, 1997 [97-1911]
(ENS) If sociologist Robert Wuthnow is right, American churches must begin now to address the relationships between faith, the workplace, and economic justice -- or suffer a continuing drain on their ability to minister to the world and keep their own doors open.
If the 72nd General Convention is any indication, the Episcopal Church is starting to listen to Wuthnow.
Deputies and bishops passed a resolution authorizing a "wide-ranging" study of the theology of work, citing the impacts of "downsizing, automation, and changing governmental policies and corporate practices."
As the so-called "Third Industrial Revolution" permeates the work force, re-engineering efforts could eliminate up to 2.5 million jobs each year, even as families struggle to make ends meet with two, three, even four jobs. It's up to the churches to confront the ways in which this fragments families and communities, according to the sponsoring Diocese of Pennsylvania's accompanying document.
The convention also passed a resolution from the Diocese of Los Angeles promoting a living wage of $7.50 an hour, $16,000 a year, and family health benefits as the "minimum acceptable norm for all working people."
"Let's send a message that the Episcopal Church is concerned about more than just sex, sex, sex," said deputy Russell Reno of the Diocese of Nebraska, to scattered laughter from the house.
Concern for parity in the church workplace also sounded as a strong theme throughout discussions of proposals affecting employee benefits, pensions and retirement for both lay people and clergy.
Bishops and deputies agreed that lay employees of the Episcopal Church should have the same salary and benefits as clergy employees as they approved a resolution originally proposed by the Episcopal Communicators organization.
In its final form, the resolution is phrased as a recommendation, not a policy, of the church and urges all dioceses, churches and institutions to develop parity between clergy and lay people serving in equivalent positions. The decision follows similar legislation in 1991 and 1994 offering medical and pension benefits to lay employees.
"It's only justice that we treat the lay (employees) as if they have a ministry as important as our own, and they do," said Bishop Catherine Waynick of the Diocese of Indianapolis.
Equity also was raised as justification as the convention cleared the way to offer optional health benefits for domestic partners of clergy.
By a three-vote margin, the bishops concurred with deputies in authorizing the church's insurer, the Episcopal Church Clergy and Employees Medical Trust, to include domestic partners in its coverage. The plan is permissive but not mandatory, meaning that dioceses can choose whether they want to offer the coverage to their employees.
Proposed by the Diocese of El Camino Real, the resolution followed a request by that diocese to include domestic partners in its medical insurance coverage from the church's medical insurance plan. The church agency declined to provide the coverage until authorized by General Convention to do so.
During debate in the House of Deputies, Kim Byham of the Diocese of Newark reminded deputies of previous votes on similar issues, saying, "Three years ago we did call on governments and businesses to extend coverage of this sort to domestic partners, and we're simply saying that we should practice what we preach."
The Anglican Church of Canada approved a similar resolution at its Council of General Synod last year.
A proposal to extend Church Pension Fund benefits to surviving partners of lesbian and gay clergy and lay employees, however, was defeated by the deputies in a close vote by orders.
Proponents of the resolution called it "a justice issue" unrelated to the church's official position for or against same-gender relationships.
"We all know and acknowledge that there are gay men and lesbians who serve as clergy in our church. Please make survivor benefits available to their spouses now," said Judy Fleener of the Diocese of Western Michigan, a clergy spouse.
But opponents maintained that granting survivor benefits to same-gender life partners would send a theological message the church isn't prepared to make.
"I have a very difficult time having the pension fund bureaucratic committee come up with definitions that'll be the teaching of this church," said Robert Royce, a deputy from the Diocese of the Virgin Islands.
The convention also endorsed a recommendation from the Church Pension Fund that would allow 55-year-old clergy with at least 30 years of credited service to retire and begin drawing full pension benefits.
To help cover health insurance costs, retirees also will receive a supplemental annual payment of at least $5,400 until age 62 and $2,700 or more from age 62 to 65, when Medicare insurance for retirees begins.
The Pension Fund's clergy wellness initiatives advisory committee recommended the 30-year option following a study that included focus groups and a survey of active and retired clergy and clergy spouses receiving pension benefits.
The survey found 59 percent of active clergy and 31 percent of retired clergy rated the proposal as excellent or very good, the fund reported. It estimates that 20 percent of currently active clergy might use the benefit. It projects the cost at $79.6 million to $114.4 million, representing 11 to 17 percent of the fund's currently uncommitted reserves.
The plan encourages bishops, standing committees and commissions on ministry to monitor the option's implementation and report to the fund annually during 1998-2000.
Supporters predicted the plan will offer an opportunity for younger clergy to advance to new positions quickly in the church. It also could represent a "giant step toward full employment for women clergy," said the Rev. Ken Snyder, a retired priest from the state of Washington.
Others noted that retired clergy with full benefits also would be free to work part time in small-town, rural and inner-city congregations which cannot afford to pay full salaries and benefits. Other newly retired clergy also could explore new ministries, overseas service, or other work.
The Rev. Jack Nietert of Kansas City took personal interest in the proposal. "My whole ministry has been committed to growing the church," said Nietert, ordained 31 years and rector of a parish with 600 baptized members. "I am probably doing the work of at least two priests. I can't do this for the next nine years."
For some, the prospect of an available pool of retired clergy is problematic.
Excerpts read from a letter by Peter Wittenborg, chair of the Diocese of Massachusetts clergy compensation committee, said his diocese already had many retired clergy. He suggested in his letter that Massachusetts has a "large proportion of urban congregations struggling to remain viable yet reluctant to address critical issues of congregational restructuring, mission redefinition and reconfiguring as communities of faith." He worried that "a corps of retired clergy looking for part-time employment would serve as a disincentive to such congregational development."
Wittenborg also expressed concern about the effects of a trend toward converting full-time to part-time positions. "We cannot continue to expect candidates for Holy Orders to incur an expensive, three-year residential graduate degree program... and only offer them part-time employment," he wrote.
In other actions, the convention approved resolutions:
- urging the Church Pension Fund to offer minimum pensions to some Church Army workers whose pensions have been under some confusion;
- continuing the work of the Church Pension Fund on the clergy retirement policy;
- urging the Church Pension Fund to study the future pension needs of those who have been ordained later in life;
- recommending the Church Pension Fund improve its billing, processing and communication functions;
- requesting the trustees of the Church Pension Fund to report back to the next General Convention a plan to achieve competitiveness and profitability for the Church Insurance Company and improve the fund's rating.