Church Pension Group Beats Benchmarks

From Chief Investment Officer-

The Church Pension Group (CPG) of the Episcopal Church reported that its investment portfolio increased 1.5% to $13.5 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, from $13.3 billion the previous year. Despite the modest gain for the year, the Church reported that the fund has outperformed both its investment goals and benchmark performance over the past three, five, and 10 years.  

The Church reported that the portfolio returned 8.7%, 7.0%, and 10.2% over the past three, five, and 10 years, respectively. This is compared with its investment targets of 6.7%, 6.0%, and 6.3% over the same time periods, and the benchmark performance of 7.9%, 7.0%, and 9.5%, respectively.

The asset allocation of the investment portfolio is 28.6% in global equities, 26.4% in global bonds, 17.1% in private equity, 15.8% in specialized strategies, 9.2% in real estate, 2.7% in private specialty strategies, and 0.2% in cash.

More here-

https://www.ai-cio.com/news/church-pension-group-beats-benchmarks/

Dupont Circle church faces possible bankruptcy

From Washington DC-

St. Thomas’ Parish Episcopal Church in Dupont Circle, which is considered one of the city’s most LGBT supportive religious institutions, could be forced into bankruptcy following a D.C. government order halting construction of its new church and an adjoining residential building, according to Rev. Alex Dyer, a gay priest who leads the church.

Dyer said the church faces a financial crisis as a result of a decision by the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs to issue on April 23 a “stop work” order on the construction of the parish’s new church building and an adjoining 56 apartment residential building.

The DCRA says it issued the stop work order in response to a ruling by the D.C. Court of Appeals vacating a zoning variance awarded to the church by the city’s Board of Zoning Adjustment. The court, in siding with an appeal opposing the building project filed by the Dupont Circle Citizens Association, ruled that the Board of Zoning Adjustment failed to provide sufficient justification for awarding the zoning variance.

The court ruling says the variance could be reissued at a later date if the Board of Zoning Adjustment provides a better legal rationale to justify it.

Attorneys representing the church and CAS Riegler development company have argued in a motion asking the court for a stay on the stop work order that the court ruling did not require DCRA to issue the stop order and the order was a mistake that will cause irreparable harm to the church.

More here-

http://www.washingtonblade.com/2018/05/02/dupont-circle-church-faces-possible-bankruptcy/

More landmark churches charging admission fees during week while keeping worship free

From ENS-

Planning for a half million people a year to step foot in your church may seem like a rector’s foolish pipe dream. In reality, though, Old North Church is one of Boston’s most popular tourist destinations, and it doesn’t maintain itself.

“That’s a lot of wear and tear on the building,” the Rev. Stephen Ayers said. His church, while remaining free for all who come to worship and pray, soon will begin charging admission to most of its hundreds of thousands of annual visitors. “We’ve managed as long as we can by cutting corners, but that’s not enough to keep the place going,” Ayers said.

Boston is a city steeped in Revolutionary War history, and Old North Church is one of its most treasured historical landmarks. Its stature stems from its pivotal role in Paul Revere’s famous ride on April 18, 1775, as the site of a poetic advance in lantern-based messaging – “One if by land, and two if by sea.”

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2018/05/01/more-landmark-churches-charging-admission-fees-during-week-while-keeping-worship-free/

Want to solve the crisis facing England's cathedrals? Here is one answer

From Christian Today-

In terms of attendance, cathedrals are the modern success story of the Church of England. They seem immune from the savage decline that is decimating congregations, particularly outside London. Yet they are failing to monetise this success. And this is leading to a cash crisis in as many as half of them that could mean some even have to close.

There are 42 cathedrals in the Church of England, attended by up to 40,000 people a week – an increase of 18 per cent from a decade ago. Nearly all this is accounted for by midweek services. Festivals do exceptionally well. Easter worshippers rose by two per cent to 54,000 between 2014 and 2015 alone. Christmas attendance was 125,200 in 2015, the highest figure since 2011.  And while infant baptisms are falling, in common with the wider Church, baptisms of people over one year of age are increasingly steadily.

https://www.christiantoday.com/article/want.to.solve.the.crisis.facing.englands.cathedrals.here.is.one.answer/107818.htm

Church of Ireland bishops pressed over financial transparency

From Ireland-

A senior clergyman has hit out at the Church of Ireland over its “indefensible” refusal to provide a detailed breakdown of expenditure on the church’s 12 bishops. Canon Jonathan Barry made his scathing comments in relation to an ongoing campaign for greater transparency in how church funds are spent. 

In the latest edition of the Church of Ireland Gazette (which is editorially independent of the church itself), Canon Barry describes a pre-Christmas trip by the bishops to the Portmarnock Hotel and golf complex near Dublin last year as a “jolly” – at a time when “clergy in the main hardly get time to breathe”. Canon Barry, who is rector of Comber, said a number of questions on overall expenditure posed by the Gazette were “perfectly reasonable,” yet were not being answered by the bishops and the Representative Church Body (RCB).

Read more at:

 http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/church-of-ireland-bishops-pressed-over-financial-transparency-1-7905974

Anglican diocese looks to secure future through ethical investing

From The Globe and Mail-

There are a lot of empty pews in the Anglican Diocese of Quebec’s churches, but the treasury is fuller than it has been in years.

As shrewd investing is replacing weekly parishioner offerings as a main revenue source, the diocese is looking to ethical investment to build its portfolio in a socially responsible way that better reflects its values.

In December, the diocese completed the process of selling off its $1.72-million in fossil fuel investments and the $525,000 it had invested in gold and copper mining. In doing so, it added its name to the growing list of organizations that have chosen to divest from oil and gas over climate change concerns.

Bishop Dennis Drainville says the next step for the Quebec Anglicans is an investing shift to renewable energy.

More here-

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/anglican-diocese-looks-to-secure-future-through-ethical-investing/article28641745/

How about a living wage for our poor clergy?

From The Telegraph-

The Church of England has blasted the trumpet for social justice: all should be paid a “living wage”, enough to maintain a basic standard of living. Ironic, as clergy called to serve the Church itself are not paid a “wage” at all but a “living”.

My husband Shaun has given his life to the Church; 14 years as a vicar. He regarded himself (as did we, his family) as literally “living” the role, night and day – in the way he brought up his children as much as how he preached.

He was never off duty, and neither were we. People knocked in the middle of the night, and we welcomed them in. Strangers called during supper, and we shared it. Even clergy, however, need to live.

The living wage is calculated at £9.15 an hour in London, £7.85 an hour elsewhere. Now the Church itself is squirming because it pays less, though this week it has promised to pay “at least the living wage” by April 2017.

More here-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11441293/How-about-a-living-wage-for-our-poor-clergy.html

Justin Welby ‘embarrassed’ by Church of England pay revelations

From The Financial Times-

The Archbishop of Canterbury has admitted that revelations the Church of England was offering jobs that paid below the living wage were “embarrassing”, less than a week after rebuking politicians for not ensuring workers were paid a “modest hourly rate”.

Justin Welby told clergy and business leaders in Birmingham on Monday that the church was implementing plans to ensure the living wage — defined as £7.85 an hour outside London — was paid across the organisation but said it would take time.

More here-


http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/8b5a4590-bb6b-11e4-b95c-00144feab7de.html#axzz3SfF7wXNE

Wall Street’s Inner Sanctum

From Marketplace-

 Once during the roaring '90s, I was ushered into the high temple of Wall Street. You might be thinking Goldman Sachs, but its headquarters are near, but not on, Wall Street. The high temple of Wall Street is the big church that presides over the street’s high end, Trinity.

I was interviewing the Rev. Dan Matthews, the Episcopal priest who was, at the time, rector of Trinity. The topic was what we then called “socially responsible investment,” a way to apply an investor’s personal values to a portfolio. Trinity owns a lot of Manhattan real estate and I was curious if the parish screens its massive portfolio to be sure it doesn’t own securities in companies that do things the church finds morally repugnant.

Not really, came the answer. Matthews told me that his board of directors consisted of captains of Wall Street, and, try as he might, he could never get his vestry to agree on good versus bad companies (beyond their capacities to generate future profits). There was a strong view that it was the board’s fiduciary responsibility to make sure the church’s portfolio generated the best return. It was the job of priests and parishioners to then decide what good works could be done with the proceeds.

More here-

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/economy/indie-economics/wall-street’s-inner-sanctum

Executive Council discusses process used to fund churchwide mission

From ENS- Later on I am quoted (accurately)-

The liveliest discussion during the opening session of the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council June 10-12 meeting here surrounded how much money the General Convention ought to ask dioceses to contribute to the church-wide budget – and what should be done about dioceses that do not pay the full amount.

The discussion took the form of an informal poll of council members by Diocese of Ohio Bishop Mark Hollingsworth, chair of council’s Joint Standing Committee on Finances for Mission. FFM, as the committee is known, is in the process of helping to shape the draft 2016-2019 budget that council must construct by February 2015. Hollingsworth gave each council member 30 seconds to share what they are hearing around the church about the budget-funding process, and what they think ought to be done.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2014/06/10/executive-council-discusses-process-used-to-fund-church-wide-mission/

THE COST OF THE PRESENT MODEL

From Rectory Porch-

There are a lot of reasons why we need to start exploring new models of ministry in the life of the Episcopal Church today. Most of these reasons, for me, have to do with a genuine and gospel-based desire to be more collegial and collaborative and mission-minded – to get over ourselves, get outside of ourselves, and better form disciples of Jesus Christ. That argument goes over pretty well with my  colleagues and the lay leaders I have the pleasure of working with at St. George’s, Valley Lee. I’m also blessed that several neighbor Episcopal congregations – their clergy and lay leaders – are also on board with this desire to do more and be more, together.

http://fromtherectoryporch.com/2014/04/02/the-cost-of-the-present-model/

Small Rectories Imperiled

From The Living Church-

Small congregations and their clergy would be hit hardest if high courts affirm a landmark November ruling that deemed clergy housing allowances and their unique tax benefits unconstitutional.

That’s according to Thomas Moore III, executive director of the Society for the Increase of the Ministry, a Hartford-based organization that raises money for Episcopal seminarian scholarships.

“The fact that that [a housing] allowance has favorable tax treatment for a profession that pays modestly is a huge benefit” that most clergy utilize, Moore said. If that benefit goes away, he added, “it will definitely have an effect.”

Moore offered thoughts in the wake of a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in a case brought from the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation. The ruling could be appealed to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and eventually to the U.S. Supreme Court.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/small-rectories-imperiled

Anglicans dump News Corp. shares over hack scandal

From The Boston Globe-

The Church of England has sold its shares in Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. over its handling of a phone hacking scandal at one of its newspapers.

Anglican leaders said in a statement Tuesday that they were not satisfied that News Corp. was likely to show a commitment to reform its business practices following evidence of illegal eavesdropping at the defunct News of the World newspaper.

Church official Andrew Brown said the decision to sell the 1.9 million pounds (US$3 million) in News Corp. shares followed a year of inconclusive dialogue between News Corp. executives and members of the church’s ethical investment committee.

‘‘Our decision to disinvest was not taken lightly and follows a year of continuous dialogue with the company, during which the (ethical investment committee) put forward a number of recommendations around how corporate governance structures at News Corporation could be improved,’’ Brown said. ‘‘However the (committee) does not feel that the company has brought about sufficient change and we have accepted its advice to disinvest.’’

More here-

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/2012/08/07/anglicans-dump-news-corp-shares-over-hack-scandal/KQsfSwKjPIq7oPsbpgzH4J/story.html

Bishop condemns system based on ‘ethics of greed’

From England-

THE Bishop of Sheffield has spoken out against an economic system “shaped by the ethics of greed and everyone for themselves”.

As the ‘Occupy Sheffield’ protest continued on the forecourt of the Cathedral, the Rt Rev Dr Steven Croft said: “We may want to agree with the questions which are being raised whilst disagreeing with the methods of the protesters in raising them.”

Addressing the Sheffield Anglican Synod last Saturday, the Bishop said the Church’s voice needed to be heard as the economic crisis continues and deepens.

His comments came against a sometimes fraught relationship between the Cathedral authorities and anti-capitalist campaigners. The Cathedral, which says the protesters do not have permission to use the forecourt but respects their right to make the protest, has raised a number of issues to protect access to the building and the people who use it.

The demonstrators have accused the authorities of being “confrontational” and “exaggerating” concerns about health and safety.

Dr Croft said the Church had “a vital contribution to make” in the debate on key themes of justice and priorities that have been “forgotten in society at large.

More here-

http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/local/bishop_condemns_system_based_on_ethics_of_greed_1_4001008

Dean: Cathedral Fights ‘Monetary Asphyxiation’

From The Living Church-

A 2012-2014 strategic plan for Washington National Cathedral will help place the cathedral on a firmer financial footing, the cathedral’s dean, the Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, said June 5. He said the strategic plan, which includes both short- and long-term objectives, precedes a capital campaign, which will kick off shortly.

Speaking at the cathedral during a participatory town hall meeting, Lloyd said the challenge “that has haunted the cathedral from the beginning” is how it can prevent “monetary asphyxiation” (a phrase used by the cathedral’s late dean Francis Sayre) and sustain itself.

Strengthening the cathedral’s endowment is essential to avoid “endlessly having to chase that money,” the dean said. “We know the need is great,” he said. “We need a $400 million endowment to be sustainable for the ages; this is a first step.” (The current endowment is about $51 million.)

Lloyd said the vision in the strategic plan, which includes four overall goals, is meant to inspire people to think of Washington National Cathedral as the spiritual home of the nation and a convener of issue-oriented public national gatherings.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2011/6/8/dean-cathedral-fights-monetary-asphyxiation

New Church Investment Group to form equity fund for endowments, foundations

From Episcopal Life-

The creation of a new independent investment fund aimed at growing resources for the mission of Episcopal churches was announced Jan. 21 at the inaugural board meeting of the Church Investment Group (CIG).

The meeting, which brought together bishops, clergy, and laypeople with significant investment management experience, represents a new milestone in stewardship of church resources by Episcopalians.

"Forming a private equity fund to benefit the mission of the church is something many people have wanted to do for a very long time," said David R. Pitts of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, founding chairman of the CIG board.

"By pooling their investments, dioceses and parishes with endowment and reserve funds will gain increased access to more areas of the market and, potentially, returns that can be significantly larger," Pitts said. "Ultimately, this effort should make considerably more money available for the church's mission."

Immediate past chairman of the board of the Church Pension Group, Pitts is a longtime national lay leader in numerous Episcopal ministries, including the Episcopal Church Medical Trust board and Episcopal Relief & Development. He is chairman and CEO of Pitts Management Associates, Inc.

The inaugural meeting, seen as a major step forward, was hosted by Diocese of Atlanta Bishop J. Neil Alexander, who will serve as the CIG's vice chair. He has been part of an advisory group gathered in early 2009 by Susan Lee Vick of the Diocese of Northern California.

More here-

http://www.episcopal-life.org/79425_126749_ENG_HTM.htm