By Kate Mason
The text below comes from my note taking from a Zoom meeting on Thursday, January 25, in which members of a committee looking at merging the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan (EDWM) and the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan (EDEM) presented the current work done, answered questions from attendees, and provided information to enable an informed vote on March 16. The proposed merger is referred to as “juncture.”
Before we begin: More details are available, and you can find links to some of this information in Chrysanne’s email. Also, though this is a summary, it’s not short. There is no way to really capture the work done briefly.
In Summary
The team looking at the possible juncture has done a staggering amount of work to not only integrate the two dioceses’ operations, but also to offer improvements.
What does this mean for St. Chris?
Honestly – probably not that much. Our apportionment might change a little bit (up or down), but that seems minor at most. See details below.
Note too that whether we continue with two dioceses or merge to one, there will be a commitment to having diocesan staff in each region to help parishes.
The biggest pluses to me are these:
- Reduced costs. Clearly, a larger diocese can operate a bit more cheaply than two smaller ones.
- Deeper benches. This should be a familiar issue to all of us. It’s difficult, I gather, to fully staff committees at the diocesan level, because our churches are shrinking and members are getting older.
- The bishop search. Both dioceses are without a bishop, and obviously the last several years have not been easy because of this.
The Standing Committees are doing great work, but I can easily contrast the advantage of having a bishop in NJ during the pandemic, versus the uncertainty early on in EDWM. Combing forces makes a lot of sense to me.
Diving Further Into the Details
The canons. Integrating the canons necessarily calls for compromise, but also gave the team a chance to take the best offerings from each diocese. Moreover, the team added some things missing from each diocese’s canons.
One example is a way to nurture emergent and experimental congregations – a growing need, in an era when those of us in the pews are going gray.
Another example is a recognition of summer chapels – e.g., St Peter’s in Leland – as a formal category.
Financial matters. It’s my impression that, from an operational angle, EDEM is generally less well off than EDWM. The EDEM endowment is a bit larger than EDWM’s – but there was a fair bit of Eastern concern about possible mandates for clergy compensation and building insurance.
The team is made up of people from both dioceses, but I was also impressed that the call’s leadership took these questions seriously and didn’t offer blanket assurances. I believe this is something that can and will be worked out – both in Michigan, and from some conversation during the call, at General Convention. (There is discussion coming up to ease options for parishes to make their own decisions about building insurance, I think.)
On the apportionment front…. Apportionments for 2025 will be frozen if juncture is approved (unless a parish’s apportionment would have gone down). No apportionment will go up more than 2% per year, ever. And for each parish, there will be an opportunity, before the March 16 votes, to see calculated “before” and “what if” apportionments.
As with a graduated income tax, a graduated apportionment is meant to give breathing room to those with less – the parishes that may not be as financially well off. The impact on us will likely be minor. The bigger issue is that EDEM has a flat apportionment rate, and so adjusting to a graduated rate is – well, an adjustment.
Council on Ministry. Here’s another nice bit of work. Along with integrating the dioceses, there will be a lot of conversation with other dioceses (inside and outside of Michigan), to borrow best practices. People in the ordination stream now will be grandfathered (and I assume this also applies to people in EDEM who, as Chrysanne mentioned to the Vestry, may have had somewhat non-traditional ordination), and the new approach to a unified diocese will not be rushed.
Again, this doesn’t much affect most of us at St Christopher’s. But it does show a lot of thought and discernment.
Diocesan Delegates to General Convention. This is a sore point for some folks, and may be the only drawback. (But read on.) The number of delegates each diocese sends to General Convention is set by The Episcopal Church. So one diocese has half the delegates of two dioceses.
Interestingly, the biggest concern here was around LQBTQ inclusion – because Michigan is a bit more forward in commitments to diversity. The committee leads noted a few things here: LQBTQ advocacy and inclusion is a done deal in TEC, and there’s widespread support. So this area may not need Michigan’s leadership, per se. Also, those who have attended General Convention said that nothing has passed that narrowly in recent years, that the extra votes might matter.
My take is that we shouldn’t let the perfect get in the way of the good – but others may feel differently.
Headquarters. No one really knows where it’ll be, or if it’ll be a small office that houses just financial records and such. Most staff work remotely right now anyway.
This is something the Standing Committees and Diocesan Councils will need to decide if juncture is approved.
Bishop’s coverage. As Chrysanne mentioned during the annual meeting, canons call for a bishop to visit each parish once every 3 years. That works out, if juncture is approved, to 33 parish visits per year. So this is do-able.
Congregational Engagement Kits. Material was sent to every parish. If you’re in Leelanau, be sure to pick up this information after Sunday service. If you’re not in Leelanau, again, there is additional information available via the links Chrysanne has shared.
What’s Next?
There is a vote March 16. We send two delegates (John and Susan Husken), who will meet with other parish representatives, and the outcome of the vote determines whether juncture proceeds.
Because of this, it’s really important you let John and Susan know how you feel. They speak for us all, but need your input.
If juncture is approved, it will be effective in October, at the next diocesan convention.
No matter what happens at the March 16 vote, it sounds like a fair bit of work ahead for the team doing this work.
If you have any questions, I can try to answer, or can connect you to the juncture team. Let me know.