By Jim DeLa, diocesan director of communications

In its pre-convention meeting Thursday, Oct. 18, Diocesan Council approved disbursement of more than $600,000 in funds supporting ministry within the diocese and beyond.

Council member Judy Stark, the chair of the Grants and Loans Committee, announced that St. Monica's Episcopal Church in Naples will receive the once-a-decade “20-20” grant of $500,000.

The half-million dollars will be paid out in yearly installments for the next 10 years. The last 20-20 grant was awarded in 1997 to Iona-Hope Episcopal Church in Fort Myers.

Stark said St. Monica's funding request was an “extremely well thought-out grant proposal,” noting the congregation’s successful track record and existing commitment to growth. In a written report to Council, the committee said the parish “will make his happen and we will be investing in a successful venture.” Four other proposals from other parishes in the diocese were also considered for the grant.

Spending redirected funds
Council also approved a recommendation on how to spend about $120,000 in apportionment funds collected from parishes but not forwarded to the national church.

The funds have been in limbo due to actions of the 2006 diocesan convention, where the 2007 budget was amended, scaling back the amount of money given yearly to the Episcopal Church, from about 18 percent of the operating budget to a flat 10 percent.

Council later approved a plan for churches to designate if they wanted more than 10 percent of their apportionment to go to the national church; or if they wished to withhold even more from the national church because they disagree with what they perceive as a too-liberal stance on the role of gays and lesbians in church leadership and the proliferation of blessing same-sex relationships in some dioceses.

Funds that were not designated either way have been held by the diocese. It is estimated those undesignated funds will total about $120,000 by year’s end.

The subcommittee explained to Council they sought to honor the intent of the 2006 convention by using certain criteria in deciding how to use the money. Those criteria included:

• The money was not to be a windfall;
• The money should not benefit a specific congregation;
• The money should not go to a charted revenue stream;
• The money should not go into the diocese’s general operating fund;
• The allocations should be mission-focused;
• The allocations should reflect the values upheld by the Millennium Development Goals.

Since the committee did not have exact amounts to work with, the recommendations were made using percentages:

• 50 percent of the total amount will be used to purchase Katrina Cottages in New Orleans. Katrina Cottages are lower-cost, energy-efficient, hurricane-resistant replacement homes for hurricane victims in New Orleans;
• 20 percent to Episcopal Migration Ministries to support resettlement of refugees from Africa within the diocese;
• 15 percent to ethnic congregational development to support a seminarian at St. Andrew’s Seminary in the Philippines and bring them here for a missionary internship;
• 15 percent to the Dominican Development Group to pay the travel expenses of its director on missionary work outside the diocese and to pay for a booth at the 2009 General Convention.

These percentages will not include $30,000 of that total, which Council has already spent:

• $10,000 was used to join the Compass Rose Society;
• $10,000 was sent in support of hurricane relief in the Diocese of Louisiana, and;
• $10,000 was given to support outreach efforts to Haitian farmworkers in Immokalee.

Other matters:
In other business, Council:
-- Approved Christ Church, Bradenton, as the host of the 2008 diocesan convention, scheduled for Oct. 17-18, 2008;
-- Approved a request by Church of the Holy Spirit, Osprey to lower the interest rate on a $500,000 loan from the diocese until the parish sells an acre of its property along U.S. 41. The church said the downturn in the real estate market has slowed interest in the property and the loan payments are putting a financial strain on the church.
-- Heard a request by Grace Church and St. Mary’s, Tampa for funds to continue to pay for a shared youth director. Council took no action, recommending the parishes make a request through the Grants and Loans Committee.