D060 Establish a Covenant with the Diocese of Cuba
From its founding by missionaries of The Episcopal Church (TEC) at the beginning of the 20th Century, the Cuban outreach of TEC functioned as a Missionary District. Because of the breakdown in travel, communications, and funding following the Cuban Revolution, the House of Bishops of TEC in 1966 terminated the church's status and constituted it as an Extra-Provincial Diocese of the Anglican Communion, operating under a Metropolitan Council made up of the Archbishop of the Anglican Province of the West Indies, the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Presiding Bishop of TEC. As La Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba Diócesis Anglicana (IEC) it has continued is mission in the Anglican tradition since then. At the meeting of its Synod in February 2015, IEC authorized, and in the subsequent Synod ratified, a formal Declaration "to start a process that would make the Cuban Diocese an integral part of the Episcopal Church". TEC Resolution 2015-B003 acknowledged this decision and authorized a task force to facilitate collaboration between the two entities. The task force has proposed Resolution A052, which asks for continued dialogue but does not call for a covenant structure for the next triennium, as has facilitated other dioceses in the past. It requests a budget allocation of $50,000 to cover a continuation of a body that would " discuss arising issues and share and respond to new information as the relationship develops", but it does not offer a process that can develop concrete steps that will be needed to bring IEC into union with TEC. Also, the task force makes no provision for continuing the block grant to Cuba, which will need to be increased (a) because of the reduction in support for IEC from the Anglican Church of Canada and (b) to cover current pension payments that up to now were provided from the Presiding Bishop's Discretionary Fund. The current proposal contains provisions for establishing a Covenant structure and for funding that is needed to continue this process.
Explanation
From its founding by missionaries of The Episcopal Church (TEC) at the beginning of the 20th Century, the Cuban outreach of TEC functioned as a Missionary District. Because of the breakdown in travel, communications, and funding following the Cuban Revolution, the House of Bishops of TEC in 1966 terminated the church's status and constituted it as an Extra-Provincial Diocese of the Anglican Communion, operating under a Metropolitan Council made up of the Archbishop of the Anglican Province of the West Indies, the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Presiding Bishop of TEC. As La Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba Diócesis Anglicana (IEC) it has continued is mission in the Anglican tradition since then. At the meeting of its Synod in February 2015, IEC authorized, and in the subsequent Synod ratified, a formal Declaration "to start a process that would make the Cuban Diocese an integral part of the Episcopal Church". TEC Resolution 2015-B003 acknowledged this decision and authorized a task force to facilitate collaboration between the two entities. The task force has proposed Resolution A052, which asks for continued dialogue but does not call for a covenant structure for the next triennium, as has facilitated other dioceses in the past. It requests a budget allocation of $50,000 to cover a continuation of a body that would " discuss arising issues and share and respond to new information as the relationship develops", but it does not offer a process that can develop concrete steps that will be needed to bring IEC into union with TEC. Also, the task force makes no provision for continuing the block grant to Cuba, which will need to be increased (a) because of the reduction in support for IEC from the Anglican Church of Canada and (b) to cover current pension payments that up to now were provided from the Presiding Bishop's Discretionary Fund. The current proposal contains provisions for establishing a Covenant structure and for funding that is needed to continue this process.