Vestries and Parishes accuse Diocese of taxing them
Small parishes face closure
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonoline.org
Sept. 16, 2009
The Diocese of New York is in financial trouble. Bishop Mark Sisk appointed a blue-ribbon committee to conduct a survey to find out what clergy and laity think about the diocese. He learned that pledge and plate income has been falling since 2006; got worse in 2007 when endowments began getting hit in 2007-2008.
A draft report released last week revealed that only 43 clergy filled out and sent in the survey mailed to all 140+ congregations. Committee members also visited some clergy and laity.
The committee's found that there is a widespread lack of understanding among the parishes as to what the Diocese actually does on a day-to-day basis. The overall mission of the Diocese is not widely understood. The Diocesan budget in particular is not clear. People do not understand how the Diocese is spending its money. Some view the spending as largely wasteful or misdirected.
Some congregations and vestries view their assessment to the diocese as essentially a "tax". The Committee also reported that many clergy asked, "What does the Diocese do for me?"
The survey also found that the economic crisis is affecting parishes in different ways.
The most significant financial problem the Committee found is the serious decline in the value of parish endowments Many parishes are dependent upon withdrawals from their endowment funds to meet operating expenses.
Diocesan guidelines say only 5% of a rolling average market value should be withdrawn, but many parishes were exceeding this percentage. The report said amounts in excess of guidelines present a "real danger" of seriously depleting or even exhausting endowment funds.
The report also noted that some parishes have experienced loss of rental income from parish properties. Traditionally large pledgers who normally get end of year bonuses might not be able to commit to past levels in 2009.
To meet the budget crisis, virtually all parishes have foregone salary increases in 2009. Some parishes made significant staff reductions, eliminated valued programs, reduced pay and mandated unpaid furloughs.
The Committee found that, in virtually all parishes, building maintenance is either a large drain on operating budgets or a deferred expense growing in size.
There is a concern that 2010 will be worse than 2009.
Despite this, the Committee found a remarkably positive attitude in the parishes, "positive, but concerned."
The between-the-lines message to the Bishop: "We found no evidence that assessments are being withheld because of the Diocese's support of General Convention's Resolutions on homosexual clergy." Not yet.
The Committee was not asked to find out if MEMBERSHIP in individual congregations has dropped. Presumably, that statistic is reported in parochial reports every year -- but those reports are also supposed to provide pledge and plate income.
There is the assumption that someone at the Diocese figured out that an unknown number of congregations were "low-balling" their income in order to avoid increases in assessments. The Committee suggested assessment readjustments and pointed to a number of requests for the same, VOL was told.
Upon seeing the report, a New York City parishioner wrote VOL saying that when he was at Trinity, the Vestry and Wardens notified the Diocese that they were capping their assessment at 25% of the Diocese's budget, explaining that real estate and stock profits were cyclical, and that it was unfair to the Diocese to become dependent during the years of plenty on Trinity's assessment, only to be hard hit by the years of famine. The Vestry and Wardens set up a separate fund to offer scholarships to clergy with children who were serving in areas with poor public schools.
"People are waking up to the fact that the diocese is just a drain on the local parish. Pity the committee doesn't see that, and vote to slash the diocese budget and return all the money to the parishes - instead they just recommend a small reduction in pledge amounts and punitive laws to force the non payers to pay. They recommend that parishes be educated on what the Diocese does. What does the diocese do? Pay for expensive bishops? Send money to HQ to fund lawsuits? Yes, it would be good to see people really educated on where their money is going."
A plan to forgive all or part of the assessments is also on the table.
Under the present system, the Adjustment Board said that if a parish has not paid all of its prior years' assessment, it may be "read out" at the Annual Convention and its lay delegates denied the vote.
The Adjustment Board has two remedies: To forgive all or part of the assessments for the years in question or place the parish on a payment plan for the amount of the assessment.
Over the last ten years, the Adjustment Board has heard appeals from 40 parishes with assessments in arrears of $1.8 million. The Board has forgiven $951,000 and placed another $467,000 on payment plans.
The committee found cases of parishes that are paying no assessment because they feel the amount of their current assessment is unrealistic. These parishes stated they would be willing to pay a lower amount.
The Committee believes that the current remedy, though inadequate, should be retained and recommended amending Canon 18. The change would add a three-step procedure that would apply only to a parish that is not a Parish Current in Assessments.
But the carrot of partial forgiveness comes with a stick approach as well.
The diocesan demands that, for the long-term financial health of the Diocese and the continuance of its programs, all parishes must participate in the payment of assessments or CSP contributions.
If they do not, the Adjustment Board would notify the Bishop. Then the Bishop and Standing Committee, and the Trustees of the Diocese, and the Chancellor would formally inform the Annual Convention that the Bishop could initiate a process toward ending the priest's tenure as rector. The Bishop would then appoint a vicar to serve in the parish.
The report noted that many think they need to close small parishes: "Many parishes also expressed the view, not applicable only to CSP parishes, that there are too many small parishes in the Diocese, often near to, and drawing resources from, other parishes.
"There was a distinct view that the assessment is taking too much from parishes. This view was expressed by many with a real intensity of feeling, as if we were touching a raw nerve.
"Many parishes stated that the assessment was preventing churches from undertaking programs that they wanted to do, particularly in the area of outreach. Parishes recognized the outreach component of the Diocesan assessment but expressed the view that this is 'third party' outreach. They regard the ability to support their own outreach as an essential part of their own ministry."
The report will be circulated to all four regions of the Diocese. Committee members will hold hearings on the Report in each Region.
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