Petition to
Alter Paragraphs 824 and 825
Apportioning Bishop's Salary and Budget
I, Joe Florence, petition the 2000 General Conference, meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, May
2-12, 2000, to alter paragraphs 824 and 825 by adding the phrases in bold to the 1996
Book of Discipline, making the paragraphs read:
Paragraph 824. The council shall recommend to each quadrennial session of the General
Conference for its action and determination: (1) the amounts to be fixed as salaries of
the effective bishops or a formula by which the council shall fix the salaries; (2) a
schedule of such amounts as may be judged adequate to provide for their office expense;
(3) provision for an annual operating budget for the Council of Bishops, including the
office of the secretary of the Council of Bishops; (4) guidelines governing the payment of
bishops' travel expenses, including all travel authorized by the Council of Bishops: (5)
the minimum amounts to be fixed as annual pensions for the support of retired bishops
and/or the method by which their annual pensions shall be determined; and (6) provisions
for allowance for the surviving spouses and for the support of minor children of deceased
bishops. From the facts in hand, the council shall estimate the approximate total amount
required annually during the ensuing quadrennium to provide for the items of episcopal
support mentioned above and shall report the same to the General Conference. This amount
as finally determined shall be the estimated episcopal budget. The council shall then
determine the amounts of 1 and 2 above, salaries and office expenses for effective
bishops, for each jurisdiction in the United States. These amounts shall be the estimated
jurisdictional episcopal budgets. The estimated episcopal budget less the total of
all the estimated jurisdictional episcopal budgets shall be the remaining estimated
episcopal budget. The administration of the Episcopal Fund budget as determined by the
General Conference shall be under the direction and authority of the General Council on
Finance and Administration, including annual fiscal statements and audits. Nothing in this
paragraph shall preclude the annual conference or conferences of an episcopal area from
including in their budgets amounts for an area expense fund.
Paragraph 825. Each jurisdictional episcopal budget shall be distributed to each
respective jurisdiction. This shall be called the Jurisdictional Episcopal Fund. Each
jurisdiction shall distribute the Jurisdictional Episcopal Fund to each annual conference
within the jurisdictional as it determines. This apportionment shall be distributed to the
pastoral charges as the annual conference may determine. The council shall estimate
what percentage of the total salaries paid pastors and associate pastors by the entire
church will yield an amount equal to the remaining estimated episcopal budget and
shall make recommendations to the General Conference concerning the same for its action
and determination. When such percentage has been approved by the General Conference, it
shall be the basis of the annual apportionment to each annual conference for the Episcopal
Fund. The apportionment to each annual conference shall be an amount equal to the approved
percentage of the total cash salaries paid to the pastors and associate pastors serving
charges under episcopal appointment or as local pastors in the most recent complete year
as reported to the annual conference. This apportionment shall be distributed to the
pastoral charges as the conference may determine. In every case, the amount apportioned to
a charge for the Jurisdictional Episcopal Fund and the Episcopal Fund shall be paid
in the same proportion as the charge pays its pastor.
