The Rule 10 Motion. This section is about preliminary report in response the a Rule 10 ie a member’s motion which was pursed last year. This encouraged a renew of the financial & administration models of the church. Very complicated, but also very important.
Should the province pay for Episcopal ministries? Should investment income be weighted differently for quota to “giving in the plate?” Should the cost of employing curates be diocesan, provincial or a mixture of the two?
Consultation is still going on in the dioceses to some of the questions that this review has bought about. The motion to the synod merely asks us to give a mandate to the Standing Committee & the College of Bishops to bring firm proposals next year. It is a soft motion that is a bit silly. The Standing Committee and the College could bring proposals whether they have a mandate from us or not.
There is something missing from much of this debate. At one time there was a mantra, which came from Mission 21, which suggested that Mission should become a part of all our structures. Nancy Adams does try to get some of that into the debate. She speeds about Scotland’s challenges rather them just the church.
Fay Lamont joins in. She makes a plea for a shorter lead time for grant applications.
Bishop David says that this is more about grants than quota. He has been thinking in the shower.There must be some redistributive element in the grants system.
I find myself wondering whether it is merely coincidence that those bishops who want to work in a more diocesan way rather than a provincial way have the shortest experience of Provincial life.
John Whittall asks whether Grants for Ministry will be needs based. Will the formula allow for change?
John Riches asks whether we can afford 8 administrative centres. The world is changing. New regulation may mean that we need fewer diocesan centres . Mistakes made on employment policy can be very expensive.
David Bayne – so much of the debate is not about reality but about people’s perceptions of what goes on. Finance Committee is spending a lot of time on the system for allocating grants. It allocates about half a million. The changes proposed won’t make any difference. 0ur problems we over a failure in mission thinking not a failure of administration.
Colin Sibley: there is a lack of trust over grants.
Martin Shaw speaks. the has an “addiction” to spirituality. Argyll has a new mission statement. He speaks of his blog and asks us to tell him what we about it.
[We don’t understand it, Martin. Not at all.].
He would be happy to be seen as a Mission bishop who becomes a part of another diocese.
Motion 28 is moved by Patricia Peetie. My character recognition system reads her name as Portia. She would make an excellent Portia. The quality of mercy is not strained. The motion passes.
The motion on quota is put, It appears to pass unanimously.
John Riches speaks about the Provincial Conference. It may be a conference to respond to Lambeth 2008. It will be in late 2009.
Speak Your Mind