Home
>
General news > Staff Cuts at Church Center Begin
Staff Cuts at Church Center Begin
http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/8/6/staff-cuts-at-church-center-begin
Posted on: August 6, 2009
The Episcopal Church Center has begun staff layoffs and program changes necessitated by the General Convention’s “austerity” triennial budget, according to a statement released Wednesday by the Office of Public Affairs.
The $141 million, three-year budget adopted by General Convention was a $12 million reduction compared to the budget approved for the 2007-2009 triennium, and $20 million less than the amount approved by Executive Council in January. As part of the cuts, 40 staff positions are being eliminated or will have hours reduced, affecting some 35 current employees in such areas as evangelism, diocesan services, women’s ministry, anti-racism training, lay and ordained ministry, and worship and spirituality.
Church Center employees are being provided with resources and assistance, the release noted, including outplacement services, and are being counseled individually regarding severance benefits. Staff departure dates will fall between now and the end of the year.
The implications of departmental budget reductions also are being analyzed. The Rev. Margaret Rose, director of the
Mission Leadership Center, convening a group that is considering how to reconfigure that program area, which includes
theological education, leadership development, and the support and training of missionaries. Another group will make fostering “internal collaboration with an eye to more focus on team- and project-based work” a priority.
The release noted that Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori “has challenged the staff to ‘rediscover the creative ability to innovate’ as the budgetary realities are implemented. Questions of what work will be done and how will that work be accomplished will be examined.”