Today several sparsely populated western dioceses still encompass an entire state including all Province VI dioceses (Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming). Province I also has several statewide dioceses in what was colonial New England including: Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The Presiding Bishop explained that a diocesan leadership looks at where population is, where congregational centers are and makes decisions about deploying resources to best serve God's mission in a specific geographic territory.

The Executive Council met within the Diocese of Arizona which encompasses most of the Grand Canyon State. The Presiding Bishop remembered that when she was the third bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, a deal was made with the Diocese of Arizona to spin three congregations off into neighboring dioceses bringing those outlying churches closer to a diocesan center.

She received Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Bullhead. St. Paul's in Yuma was scooped into the Diocese of San Diego; while St. David's in Page realigned with the Diocese of Utah to the north. Back in 1978, a third of Navajoland was sliced out of the northeast corner of the Diocese of Arizona.

"Some dioceses have begun to talk to one another about the possibility of shifting boundaries," she related, noting that conversation has begun in both Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Pennsylvania (1785) was an original Episcopal Diocese which through the years has split into several smaller commonwealth dioceses including: Pittsburgh (1865); Central Pennsylvania (1871), Harrisburg (1904-1909) Bethlehem (1909), and Northwestern Pennsylvania (1911).

Maryland is also an original Episcopal diocese which traces its Anglican spiritual roots back to 1608. In 1868, Easton was carved from the original Diocese of Maryland and then, in 1895, several counties bordering Washington, DC helped form the Diocese of Washington.

She mentioned that the last time diocesan lines were redrawn was last fall when the Diocese of Quincy (1877-2013) was absorbed back into the Diocese of Chicago, which in 1835 started out as the Diocese of Illinois encompassing the entire Land of Lincoln. The landmass of what was the Diocese of Quincy, which was not sustainable, is now the Peoria Deanery.
She failed to mention that the absorption of the Diocese of Quincy into the Diocese of Chicago came about over a theological split in that diocese.

The Presiding Bishop lauded the sustainability as part of the church's work towards "mutual responsibility and interdependence" which she said historically and Anglican framework in understanding church relationships across the Anglican Communion.

Jefferts Schori pointed to the United Thank Offering as evidence of interconnection across The Episcopal Church and mission partners in other parts of the Anglican Communion. She also noted ongoing partnership connections with the Diocese of Jerusalem, Navajoland, and the Anglican Church of Canada.

On the secular side, she mentioned that Executive Council passed resolutions honoring Chester Nez, the last original WWII Navaho code talker to die, and also penned a resolution concerning "undocumented alien children" and the struggle the government has in dealing with their growing numbers and mentioned the ministry the Episcopal Migration Ministry has as it works with migrants and refugees.

As Executive Council chairman, the Presiding Bishop is also seeking self sustainability for the Navajoland, the Diocese of Honduras and the reconstituted Diocese of San Joaquin.

LAWSUIT COSTS

VOL asked about the upper limit the national church is willing to spend on litigating lawsuits and if a figure was being worked into the developing 2015-2018 triennial budget. In 2012 the General Convention passed a balanced budget of $111.5 million for the 2013-2015 triennial.

House of Deputies President, the Rev. Gay Jennings noted that the new triennial budget is merely a working document with members of the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance. A completed draft budget is to be presented at the October Executive Council meeting in Linthicum, Maryland.

"I really can't speak about an upper or lower limit," she responded. "That's still in process. We'll have more about that in the fall."

Jennings also noted that the laborious process to develop the new budget was "thorough, comprehensive and expansive."

The Presiding Bishop answered the question thusly, "We are not a national church. We are an international church in 17 different nations, and together we work to support God's mission in ministry in all parts of the church."

The Presiding Bishop seemed unwilling or unable to give a straight answer to the question. Any legal expenses that are necessary are a portion of that mutual support, she continued.

SALE OF NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS?

At the 2012 General Convention, the House of Deputies originally directed the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society to sell the Episcopal Church Center at 815 Second Avenue in New York, but in short order the House of Bishops nixed the idea by a slim three vote margin. When General Convention ended in Indianapolis, the Executive Council was charged with moving church headquarters away from Manhattan. Resolution D-016 simply says: "That it is the will of this Convention to move the Church Center headquarters away from the Church Center building

The Executive Council is still looking into the matter with most deliberations being done behind closed doors in executive session. It was reported that an on-going study of the relocation of the Episcopal Church Center continues as more money is funneled into that study.
"We're trying to do our best to make fiduciarily responsible decisions and we still feel we need more data," the Presiding Bishop noted. "So we're going to collect some more data and continue out deliberations."

“The Executive Council is talking Resolution D-016 passed at the last General Convention very seriously,” the House of Deputies president noted. “There is a significant amount of work being done by the members of Council as the work progresses."

The 11-story Episcopal Church Center was built in 1963 to house the working staff The Foreign and Domestic Missionary Society -- the corporate identity of The Episcopal Church -- including the Presiding Bishop and General Convention.

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline