Diocese of Rhode Island
Commission on Finance
Meeting, October 10, 2017
St. Luke’s Church, East
Greenwich, RI
Present: Robert Batchelor; Sarosh Fenn; The Rt. Rev.
Nicholas Knisely; Michael Lofaro; Stephan Sloan; The Rev. Peter Tierney.
Also Present: Dennis Burton; Joan DeCelles; The Rev. Canon
Linda Grenz; The Rev Edwin Hallenbeck.
Guests: Church of the Ascension, Cranston: The Rev. Michael
Coburn, Rector; Susan Wright, Senior Warden; Richard Burlingame, Treasurer.
Church of St. John the Evangelist, Newport: The Rev. Nathan
Humphrey, Rector; Christopher Moe, Budget Chair.
The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Chair
Lofaro. An opening prayer was offered by Bishop Knisely.
The Minutes of
the meeting of September 12, 2017 were approved as distributed, with one
abstention by a member who was not present at the meeting.
2018
Budget. The complete draft budget was distributed and reviewed by Program
and Budget Chair Fr. Tierney. Major changes are dropping the Canon for Program,
Canon Fornal is moving from current role to part time Director of Episcopal
Charities on a consultant basis, and eliminating the Development Office
personnel and replacing staff with consultants as needed. It was noted that the
proposed reduction in apportionment from 16.5% to 15,5% will reduce
apportionment income by about $108,000. Extensive analysis of projected parish apportionment
income indicates current estimates are reasonably accurate for the next two
years. Later years will require further study. The budget plan is that reducing
apportionment will strengthen parish finances. Following additional discussion,
it was Moved, Seconded and VOTED to
approve and recommend the 2018 Diocesan Budget to Diocesan Council for further
consideration.
CFO
Report. Three matters were reported:
• Canon Grenz outlined issues at Sts.
Peter and Andrew, Providence, now a mission church functioning under Diocesan
jurisdiction. There is no plan in place to address current concerns or working
toward the future. The Church owns three houses that have been rented as
apartments. Issues in the buildings has resulted in nonpayment of rent by
occupants. Review of building conditions, including a building engineer
indicate serious deterioration to the point where they should no longer be
occupied. Tenants are in the process of vacating. City tax, insurance and
utility bills are accruing and need to be paid with no rental income. The Vicar
is retiring with no income for a replacement. It is a difficult situation that
will be considered as a new start-up. Use of Reserve Funds will be needed to
cover existing needs. It was Moved,
Seconded and VOTED to recommend to Diocesan Council that the Diocesan Reserve
Fund be allocated to pay for City taxes, insurance and utility costs at Sts.
Peter and Andrew Church, Providence, specific amounts to be determined.
• Mr. Burton reported that there are
three firm bids for the Mobile Station land at 389 Elmwood Ave. Negotiation is
in process to complete the sale in the near future. Details of the conditions
of sale are complicated by several factors, they should be resolved soon.
• The ECC Solar Farm project
development continues. National Grid has confirmed its power grid can accept the
anticipated power generated. The acreage is available. Financial analysis is
underway. An alternate hydroponic farm option is also being considered. There
is an option to consider selling electricity directly, making ECC electricity
available to churches at a discount price.
Church
of the Ascension, Revolving Loan Application. Guests from the church joined
the meeting. A completed application was received for review requesting a loan
of $50,000 for five years. Fr. Coburn and Mr. Burlingame reviewed the church
proposal and recent history evolving as a bilingual church including dual
participation on the Vestry. With little maintenance and no improvements an
upgrade to the heating system is essential. A much smaller upgrade of the
boiler for the attached rectory was completed recently, which is now rented.
The main boiler for the church will be converted to gas and replaced. Income
from a small capital campaign over the life of the loan will enable repayment.
Several questions were answered. The guests were thanked and left the meeting. Following
discussion, it was Moved, Seconded and
VOTED to approve a loan of $50,000 at 2.5%, including a .75% reduction for
pledged DIT funds, over five years, and forward the action to the Standing
Committee for further consideration.
.
Apportionment
Aging Report. At September 30, 11 churches were one or two months behind
and not viewed as a problem. Five churches are three or more months behind and
need to be watched with care. Two churches are significantly behind and viewed
as unlikely to complete payments for 2017.
Church
of St. John the Evangelist, Newport, Revolving Loan Request. Guests from
the church joined the meeting. A
completed application was received for review requesting a loan of $150,000 for
five years. Fr. Humphrey outlined the loan request projects, including work on
several aging buildings and landscape revisions to provide accessibility. An
objective is to complete all projects soon rather than continuing to expend
$30,000+ per year, use that money to repay the loan. The proposed work has
several projects, some clearer than others. The churches financial structure
and plan was not clear and a number of questions were raised with some
unanswered. There was a lengthy discussion. The guests were thanked and left
the meeting. Following additional discussion, it was Moved, Seconded and VOTED to defer action on the request until November
and to request responses to financial questions raised and ask the church
Treasurer to be present at the next meeting.
Holy
Trinity Church, Tiverton, Revolving Loan Request, cont. See discussion on
September 12, 2017 Minutes. A smaller loan of $30,000 has been discussed,
however no written material has been received changing the request or
describing any change in the scope of the project. It was agreed to defer
further discussion to November and request any changes in writing.
Finance
Report. Mr. Batchelor briefly reviewed the September 30 Report, noting that
there are no major matters outside budget expectations. The Analysis of
Variance sheet distributed by Mr. Burton notes a number of accounts where
number do differ from budget. As of 9/30 the net is an under expenditure of
about $227,000.
Resolution
of Thanks. Bishop Knisely Moved: Very special thanks to Chair Michael Lofaro
for his service as Chair of the Commission for the past four years. During that
time the work of the Commission has proceeded with increasing strength and
diligence, attention to detail, calling upon the wisdom and experience of
Commission members and Diocesan staff. His work is deeply appreciated and will
be missed as his term expires at Convention. A rising vote of thanks was
extended by all.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:50
p.m.
Respectfully submitted
Edwin F Hallenbeck
Secretary
Next meeting: November 14, 2017. 5:00
p.m.
