“Mind of the diocese” resolutions decrying federal measures harming vulnerable communities will be on Diocesan Council’s April agenda, calling congregations to consider action against such policies.
“Normally, Diocesan Convention does this, but it’s a long way until convention, and we are the body that stands for convention when it isn’t meeting,” said the Very Rev. Gary Hall, chair of the diocesan Program Group on Mission Congregations, who proposed drafting the resolutions during Council’s March 13 regular online meeting.
“I can’t imagine a more appropriate use our authority as a Council to act when urgent matters present themselves,” agreed Bishop John Harvey Taylor, who chaired the meeting.
Taylor cited the administration’s policies regarding climate change, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the transgender community, immigrant workers’ rights and asylees and refugees, as resolution possibilities. “I’ve had visits to churches recently on Sundays where a large number of folks … are afraid that they might be the subject of roundups,” he said. “They are said to be afraid to come to church or to go to work.”
In other business, Council members approved a “generally positive” treasurer’s report; heard updates on the Bishop Coadjutor Search, the financial status of IRIS, the Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service; and received reports of mission and ministry, including news of creation of a staff position for disaster recovery, and about a September 2025 national Episcopal Church Women’s event focused on missing and murdered indigenous women.
Updates: IRIS, Bishop Coadjutor Search Committee & Affordable Housing
• IRIS, Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service: Canon to the Ordinary Melissa McCarthy reported that IRIS Executive Director Troy Elder will leave his post at the end of March and that other staff members will be laid off as a result of federal immigration funding cuts. “IRIS funding is basically gone, with the exception of some state funds; about nine staff positions will remain, with either reduced or full-time hours,” she said, adding, “We’re working on a transition plan.”
Diocesan Treasurer Canon Andy Tomat reported that IRIS, whose revenues are derived through U.S. State Department reimbursements, received a stop-work order in January. “Since the stop-work order, alternative state and private resources have been identified to allow IRIS to continue at some level, and a GoFundMe page has raised $144,000 of their $250,000” targeted goal to continue assistance to newly arrived refugees, he said.
IRIS received $373,807 in reimbursement payments, about $100,000 more than budgeted, largely because of late December payments, resulting in a one-month-only surplus of $133,813, which contributed toward an overall diocesan break-even financial picture in January, Tomat noted.
• Bishop Coadjutor Search Committee: Interested individuals will soon be able to apply for 10 to 15 positions available on the search committee’s Transitions Committee, according to the Rev. Kate Cress, president of the diocesan Standing Committee. The application form, which will be available in Spanish and English beginning March 21, will include a description of qualities desired for members. The deadline to apply will be Friday, April 1. Applicants will be notified by April 25, and there will be a Transitions Committee retreat Saturday, May 3 at St. Paul’s Commons, she said.
Additionally, the search committee is hosting a series of listening sessions across the diocese, March 26 through April 26. More detailed information may be found on the diocesan search committee webpage.
• Affordable Housing: Taylor reported the March 12 grand opening of the Orchard View Gardens, a 66-unit senior affordable housing residence located at St. Joseph’s Church in Buena Park, a project first conceived nearly 50 years ago, he said. “About 20% of the units, both in the casitas and in the main building, will have permanent supportive housing services available for those who have already experienced homelessness,” said Taylor, who shared in the ribbon-cutting ceremony, in his report to Council.
The third such affordable housing project to be opened in the diocese, Orchard View Gardens is an example of how “church people can look across the horizon and see that there’s something that the realm of God is beckoning them to create,” Taylor said. Noting his goal of establishing affordable housing on 25% of all diocesan congregational properties, he said that, in spite of current turmoil in the federal government: “We’re going to keep the initiative going, no matter what Washington does.”
Los Angeles County funding has just been approved for a fourth project, at St. Ambrose Church in Claremont, he said, crediting parish leadership, partnerships with Episcopal Communities & Services, and National CORE, a nonprofit builder.
A ‘generally positive’ financial report
Past-due Mission Share Fund assessments of about $205,911, contributed to a $114,822 shortfall in January but, according to Canon Andy Tomat, diocesan treasurer, in a written report to Council, “This isn’t unusual since many churches wait till their budgets are approved in January or February before sending in their first payments.”
Although the overall diocesan January 2025 financial picture was generally positive it “doesn’t minimize the major fiscal challenges we are facing in the year ahead,” Tomat noted.
“One-third of our total income is directly or indirectly dependent on government support, which is suddenly highly unpredictable. Our free cash reserves have dwindled down to just a few months of payroll, giving us limited flexibility to respond to income swings and requiring swift action should any major disruptions occur.”
However, “our rapid response to the impact of the fires upon our diocesan community, our ability to quickly identify alternative funding sources, and the amazing generosity of our community give us hope that we will get through this year stronger as a diocese,” Tomat pointed out.
Meanwhile, the diocesan food justice ministry, Seeds of Hope, with funding primarily from local and health foundation sources, experienced a $10,512 surplus in January, aiding an overall diocesan break-even financial outlook.
“But these surpluses will not continue,” Tomat emphasized. “Continuing to run on a break-even basis will require continued fiscal restraint and appreciation for the generosity of all our churches in staying current on their assessment payments,” he said. “It was especially heartwarming to hear that some of our churches most affected by the fires, like All Saints Pasadena, have publicly affirmed their 12% commitment in their 2025 budget.”
Reports of Mission:
• Corporation of the Diocese: The Rev. Rachel Nyback reported that, at its Feb. 18 meeting, the Corporation of the Diocese approved rental license agreements for the Church of the Epiphany, Oak Park, and for St. Mark’s Church in Upland, for a campus preschool. The corporation’s task force continues to work to support Camp Stevens, and also approved a continuing conversation regarding a Habitat for Humanity housing project planned for St. Michael’s Church in Anaheim, she said. The COTD meets the third Tuesday of each month.
• Standing Committee Report: Canon Janet Wylie reported the Standing Committee also approved the rental license agreements for Epiphany, Oak Park, and for St. Mark’s, Upland, and approved candidacy for Payton Hoegh to move forward in the process toward ordination. The Rev. Antonio Gallardo will serve as liaison to the Corporation of the Diocese. The Standing Committee meets on the second Thursday of each month.
• Daughters of the King; United Thank Offering; Episcopal Church Women: Christine Budzowski, President of the Diocesan Daughters of the King, urged congregations to consider conducting a Lenten UTO Ingathering. UTO Ingatherings, collecting coins via the iconic “blue boxes” expressing gratitude for blessings, are typically held either during Lent or Advent, and the monies support ministries across the worldwide Anglican Communion, she said. In 2024, the UTO awarded more than $1 million in grants to ministries focused on welcoming the stranger, with individual grants ranging from $1,700 to $187,000.
The Daughters of the King May 3 Spring Assembly will focus on “Hope and Resilience in Times of Adversity” and will be an online, interactive art-based workshop, she said. Additionally, the national Episcopal Church Women, will focus for the rest of the year on the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women, the focus of a Sept. 26-28, 2025 gathering at the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho, which will include a walk to raise awareness about missing and murdered indigenous women.
• Program Group on Mission Congregations: PGMC chair Hall said the program group welcomed new members at its February meeting and agreed, among other things, to attend some of the Bishop Coadjutor Search Committee listening sessions “to keep our ear to the ground to hear what concerns the missions have.” It is important that prospective bishop candidates “understand that they’re going to be the Rector of 38 congregations,” Hall added. “We’re interested in how we raise some consciousness, both with nominees and with mission congregations and with the diocese, about the missions and the kinds of processes they’re in.”
• Diocesan Convention: Secretary of Convention Canon Steve Nishibayashi advised “it’s never too early” for deaneries to select youth delegates, congregations to elect lay delegates and the community to consider running for diocesan leadership positions, and to notify the convention office of those decisions in advance of the Nov. 7-8, 2025 annual meeting of the diocese, at the Riverside Convention Center. Council secretary Samantha Wylie said she may be able to assist congregations that failed to meet the March 1 parochial report deadline, by completing online forms for them before May 1. She directed the community to the convention website, which is updated weekly, where forms for nominations for diocesan offices, resolutions and proposed amendments to the Constitution and Canons are available.
Canon to the Ordinary Melissa McCarthy reported that the Bishop’s Commission on Climate Change will focus its energies on disaster resilience work, in the aftermath of January wildfires.
With funding from Episcopal Relief and Development, The Episcopal Church’s disaster relief agency, a staff position for disaster recovery will be created.
Council meets next at 4 p.m., Thursday, April 10 via Zoom.