Diocese of California
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Executive Council Minutes
January 17, 2014
The Bishop’s Ranch Living room, Healdsburg, CA
The meeting was called to order at 9:30 AM by Matthew Burt, Chair of Executive
Council(EC). The opening prayer was offered by Bronwen Howes (Secretary of EC.).
Bronwen will have a signup sheet for “2014 meeting prayers” at the February
meeting.
I. Attendance: The Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, President of EC; Matthew Burt, Chair
of EC; Bronwen Howes, Secretary of EC; The Rev.Sylvia Vasquez; Carl Zachrisson;
The Rev. Matthew Dutton-Gillett, vice-Chair of EC; Ken Fuller; Joe Jennings; Jim
McConnell, Karma Quick-Panwala; The Rev. Mauricio Wilson; The Rev. Chip
Larrimore; the Rev. Deacon Patricia Pearson; Thomas Robertson; Sheila Sims;
William Cullen; The Rev. Joyce Parry Moore.
Bishop’s Appointees: Janet Brown; The Rev. Merry Chan Ong.
Ex-Officio: David Frangquist, Secretary of Convention; Bob McCaskill, Treasurer of
the Diocese.
Other Attendees: Christopher Hayes, Chancellor of the Diocese; Mary Vargas,
President of the Standing Committee.
Diocesan Staff : The Rev. Cn. Stefani Schatz, Canon to the Ordinary; The Rev.
Joseph Peters-Mathews, Working Group Head for Communications; Davey Gerhard,
Director of Development; the Rev. Deacon Julia McCray Goldsmith, Working Group
Head for Discipleship Ministries/ Ministry Development Officer.
Absent: Ade Adekunle; Leslie Watson; Clay Jones, Tom Ferguson.
II. Minutes: Minutes of December 17, 2013 were approved as corrected.
III. The retreat for 2015 is scheduled for January28-30, at the Bishop’s Ranch.
IV. Bishop Marc talked about the importance of planting new churches in
underserved areas of the diocese. In February, church Planting experts will be
visiting the diocese to meet and talk about this subject.
V. Treasures Report: Bob McCaskill, Treasure of the Diocese, presented the LOC
(Union Bank Line of Credit) and the Aging reports. Bob explained that the Line of
credit was used to extend loans to Diocesan Churches (bridge loans for Capital
improvements), Community services and must be paid in five years. He gave the
Ohlhoff house Loan as an example and talked about the history of this loan.
The diocese offers payroll and Benefits service to the congregations and other
Diocesan Entities. Interest is charged for this service. Arrearages over 60 days
receive a warning and at 90 days the diocese will discontinue payment. This policy
does not apply to Missions.
The end of year 2013 report will be given when the books are closed.
The audit will be available in late April or early May.
The members of the finance Committee are: Bob McCaskill, Chair; Roulhac Austin;
Gabriela Strand Bruce; Matthew Burt; Shelton Ensley; Peggy Green; Clay Jones;
Chip Larrimore; Lauran Pifke.
Executive Session: EC went into Executive Session from10:15 to 11:15 AM.
Our Mission: Embodied Justice for All People & for God’s
Creation • Church Vitality • Rooted Spirituality
•Transparent & Accountable Leadership •Inclusive Community
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VI. Marin Academy: The committee appointed at the previous meeting to
communicate with the Marin Academy gave their report. The following was moved,
seconded, and approved:
Resolved, that the Executive Council give its consent for the Corporation Sole
to grant permission to Marin Academy to proceed with its financing
transaction, to communicate that the Diocese does so in continued reliance on
the assurances made to us as part of a previous financing transaction in
1999, and that the Chancellor is authorized to work with Marin Academy to
ensure that the provisions of Marin Academy's articles of incorporation in
favor of the Diocese are not amended without the Dioceses’s consent.
VII. Sustainable and Responsible Investing: (See resolution filed with the
Minutes.) Janet Brown, member of the Investment Committee reported on the
resolution passed by the 164TH Diocesan Convention. The committee was asked to
return in March with draft instructional materials that can be used to assist all
diocesan institutions in meeting the intent of the resolution.
VIII. Disaster Preparedness (See resolution filed with the minutes.) The Disaster
Preparedness Committee will be creating a plan with resources and will report to EC
at a future date.
IX. Appointments:
1. Program and Budget- Mauricio Wilson, Patricia Pearson, Joe Jennings,
Tom Robertson, Matthew Dutton-Gillett, Jim McConnell. Bob McCaskill is
chair of this committee and 3 more members will be appointed by the
Finance Committee.
2. Let Matthew Burt know if you are interested in serving on either the
Investment or the Audit Committees.
3. Joyce Parry Moore offered to put together a Development Committee.
X. Drought Resolution: Bishop Marc requested that Executive Council formally
recognize and support the state Governor’s recent drought emergency declaration
and request to immediately cut water use. The following resolution was moved,
seconded and approved:
Whereas, the State of California is in the worst drought on record; and
Whereas, Governor Jerry Brown has officially declared a drought emergency
for the state of California and asked all citizens to cut back water use by
20%; and
Whereas, the Episcopal Diocese of California consisting of 80 congregations,
schools, summer camps, charities, and related organizations that consume
significant quantities of water; and
Whereas, the Episcopal Diocese of California views water use and planning to
be a core matter of faithful stewardship of the environment in California,
Therefore be it resolved: Executive Council requests that all Episcopal
organizations reduce water consumption by 20 percent beginning
Our Mission: Embodied Justice for All People & for God’s
Creation • Church Vitality • Rooted Spirituality
•Transparent & Accountable Leadership •Inclusive Community
Page 3 of 4
immediately, and develop plans for an additional 20 percent reduction as a
possible contingency for future additional conservation; and
We also encourage our congregations and members to pray for rain for the
State of California.
Prayer #43 in the Book of Common Prayer is an appropriate prayer to use during the
drought emergency.
XI. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 AM; and followed by a
celebration of the Eucharist in the Bishop’s Ranch Chapel
Respectfully Submitted,
Bronwen Howes
Secretary of Executive Council
Mary Louise Gotthold
Recording Secretary
Our Mission: Embodied Justice for All People & for God’s
Creation • Church Vitality • Rooted Spirituality
•Transparent & Accountable Leadership •Inclusive Community
Page 4 of 4
DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
Resolved, That the 164th Convention of the Diocese of California hereby directs all
congregations, diocesan institutions and offices within the Diocese of California to have current
disaster preparedness plans;
Resolved, That all such congregations, institutions and offices shall develop such plans, with the
aid of the diocese when needed, prior to the 165th Convention of the Diocese of California in
2014;
Resolved, That Executive Council shall establish procedures for monitoring progress in
implementing this policy; and
Resolved, That Executive Council or a committee designated by it shall report on the state of
disaster preparedness to the 165th Convention of the Diocese.
Explanation: We live in an area that is subject to natural disasters such as earthquakes. We are
also increasingly aware of the possibility of human-initiated disasters such as terrorism. Prudent
stewardship of the resources of the church requires that we be prepared for such events. We also
owe it to the communities in which we live to exercise leadership in helping those communities to
be resilient in the face of possible disaster.
The role of the Disaster Preparedness Committee, formed in 2012 at the request of Episcopal
Relief and Development, is to offer guidance and support to congregations and other entities of
the Diocese in the preparation of their disaster preparedness and response plans. The committee
will work with Episcopal Relief and Development to provide training, information and other
capacity-building activities for local leaders and congregations throughout the diocese. Planning
templates and other assisting resources will be available on the Diocesan website following the
Diocesan Convention.
Submitted by: Rev. Tommy Dillon, St. Aidan’s, San Francisco (tommy@saintaidan.org), as
authorized representative of and on behalf of the Diocese of California’s Disaster Preparedness
Committee.
Our Mission: Embodied Justice for All People & for God’s
Creation • Church Vitality • Rooted Spirituality
•Transparent & Accountable Leadership •Inclusive Community