The Acts of Convention

House of Deputies

The House of Deputies Committee on Evangelism and Church Planting presented its Report #7 on Resolution A005 (Continue a Church-wide Network for Planting Churches) and moved adoption with amendment.

Original Text of Resolution:

(A005)

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the 79th General Convention and The Episcopal Church celebrate and strategically support emerging communities through the good work initiated by GC2015 – D005 and A012 to develop a church-wide network for planting congregations, training and recruiting planters and mission developers; and establishing new congregations or mission enterprise zones each triennium that are especially committed to mission and evangelism that engages under-represented groups, including youth and young adults, people of color, poor and working-class people, people with a high-school diploma or less, and/or people with little or no church background or involvement; and be it further

Resolved, That the Church honors the holy experiments emerging throughout the Church – experiments that build partnerships, expand the language of ministry, create new ways to engage the people of God, harvest and share learnings, and lend courage to those leading new ministries and lower the cost of failure through a network supporting mission development; and be it further

Resolved, That the budget for sustaining this congregational network will be $6,800,000.00 for 2019-2021 to be allocated as follows:

$200,000 to identify and support existing programs to produce training in planting congregations for clergy and lay leaders

$600,000 to provide resources for planters of congregations

$1,000,000 for the development and implementation of a program to train bilingual/bi-cultural lay and ordained leaders for various cultural contexts

$500,000 to support a staff person to oversee the planting network

$3,000,000 for grants to support up to 30 congregations with the size and grant depending on the context and need of the congregation

$1,500,000 for the establishing of a land bank for purchasing land for new churches. Monies borrowed for land purchase will be repaid by the borrowers; and be it further

Resolved, That the Convention urges the Episcopal Church Development Office to prioritize raising $6 million per triennium to plant new congregations, so that a network of interested donors will be developed; and be it further

Resolved, That Dioceses receiving money for planting new congregations under this program will contribute matching local funding to support the costs of any new plants, with the exception of cases of significant diocesan financial limitations; and be it further

Resolved, That the bishop or a diocesan advocate representing any diocese receiving funds shall take part in a cohort of church planting dioceses to share best practices and methods of supporting mission developers, as we all are learning how to nurture new ministries that challenge our assumptions about how to share the gospel with new cultures and generations, and that dioceses not receiving grant funds are also invited to participate in the diocesan cohort; and be it further

Resolved, That the Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies continue the advisory group of not more than twelve (12) people, consisting of those with experience in planting congregations, diocesan oversight of such work, working with evangelism and mission, to carry out provisions of this resolution, including making recommendations to Executive Council about grants to be awarded, helping to identify potential planters, and continuing to develop a network of coaches, and working with staff on training church planters; and be it further

Resolved, That the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance consider a budget allocation of $6,800,000 for the implementation of this resolution.

Committee Amendment:

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the 79th General Convention and The Episcopal Church celebrate and strategically support emerging communities through the good work initiated by GC2015 – D005 and A012 to develop a church-wide network for planting congregations, training and recruiting planters and mission developers; and establishing new congregations or mission enterprise zones each triennium that are especially committed to mission and evangelism that engages under-represented groups, including youth and young adults, differently abled persons, people identifying as members of LGBTQIA+ communities, people of color, poor and working-class people, people with a high-school diploma or less, and/or people with little or no church background or involvement; and be it further

Resolved, That the Church honors the holy experiments emerging throughout the Church – experiments that build partnerships within and beyond the church, expand the language of ministry, create new ways to engage the people of God, harvest and share learnings, and lend courage to those leading new ministries and lower the cost of failure through a network supporting mission development; and be it further

Resolved, That the budget for sustaining this congregationalchurch planting network will be $65,800,000.00 for 2019-2021 to be allocated as follows:

$200,000 to identify and support existing programs to produce training in planting congregations for clergy and lay leaders

$600,000 to provide resources for planters of congregations

$1,000,000 for the development and implementation of a program to train bilingual/bi-cultural lay and ordained leaders in church planting for various cultural contexts

$500,000 to support a staff person to oversee the planting network

$3,000,000 for grants to support up to 30 congregations with the size and grant depending on the context and need of the congregation

$1,500,000 for the establishing of a land bank for purchasing land for new churches. Monies borrowed for land purchase will be repaid by the borrowers; and be it further

$500,000 in matching funds for the support of leadership development programs for the next generation of church planters and ministry developers; and be it further

Resolved, That the Convention urges the Episcopal Church Development Office to prioritize raising $6 million per triennium to plant new congregations, so that a network of interested donors will be developed; and be it further

Resolved, That Dioceses receiving money for planting new congregations under this program will contribute matching significant, resource appropriate, and local funding to support the costs of any new plants, with the exception of cases of significant diocesan financial limitations; and be it further

Resolved, That the bishop or a diocesan advocate representing any diocese receiving funds shall take part in a cohort of church planting dioceses to share best practices and methods of supporting mission developers, as we all are learning how to nurture new ministries that challenge our assumptions about how to share the gospel with new cultures and generations, and that dioceses not receiving grant funds are also invited to participate in the diocesan cohort; and be it further

Resolved, That the Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies continue the advisory group of not more than twelve (12) people, consisting of those with experience in planting congregations, diocesan oversight of such work, working with evangelism and mission, to carry out provisions of this resolution, including making recommendations to Executive Council about grants to be awarded, helping to identify potential planters, and continuing to develop a network of coaches, and working with staff on training church planters; and be it further

Resolved, That the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance consider a budget allocation of $65,800,000 for the implementation of this resolution.

Motion carried

Resolution adopted with amendment

(Communicated to the House of Bishops in HD Message #57)