Rev. Rebeeca Trefz, GC and NCJ clergy delegate.

“We have been living out new models of episcopal leadership in the Dakotas-Minnesota Area. We know that alternate models work and that we need to rethink the role and duties of bishops,” says Rev. Rebecca Trefz. She serves as the Dakotas Conference Southeast District Superintendent and director of ministries and is clergy delegate to General Conference.

Trefz and the Dakotas Conference delegation heard that the Council of Bishops recommends that no new bishops be elected for 2021-2024. There are currently 66 active bishops. However, a lack of funds available in the Episcopal Fund makes it impossible to maintain that number. 

General and Jurisdictional Conference delegates joined other delegates, from across the United States, for an informational webinar on Saturday, February 13, 2021. The delegates heard reports about churchwide finances, the Episcopal Fund, General Conference options, the Jurisdictional Study Committee report, and a recommendation from the Council of Bishops about episcopal elections.

Participants listened to a report on the state of General Church finances from Rich King, chief financial officer for the General Council of Finance and Administration. King reported that December was a record-breaking month for apportioned giving to the General Church. The overall collection rate for 2020 apportionments was 79%, down from 85% in 2019. African University and the Episcopal Fund received apportioned giving at a higher rate. The funding receipts for the World Service Fund and General Administration were lower. 

Even with collections running strong in December, there has been a steep decline for all funds in the past eight years. Agencies and commissions will face a 50% reduction in the 2021-2024 quadrennium. At current funding and expenditure levels, the Episcopal Fund could run out of money before the end of the 2024 quadrennium. 

Bishop David Graves, resident bishop for the Alabama-West Florida Area and chair of the Finance Committee for the Council of Bishop, shared with participants during the webinar that sustainability and viability to fund the current number of bishops is a significant concern. “We cannot continue to keep doing business the same way we have always done it. It is not sustainable." says Graves. 

The Jurisdictional Study Committee, created by the 2016 General Conference, to study episcopal leadership and jurisdiction functions and boundaries, shared recommendations to eliminate the current formula, based on membership numbers, to assign bishops. The study committee recommends a formula based on several factors including geography and missional purpose. Specifics of the recommendations can be found in volume two, section one, (page 297) of the Advance Daily Christian Advocate, which contains proposed legislation for the General Conference.

After the main webinar session, Dakotas Conference delegates joined with delegates from the North Central Jurisdiction, to discuss the potential implications of the various reports, and the reality that there will be fewer bishops in the North Central Jurisdiction.  Area or Conference delegation teams discussed: What opportunities do you see with the information you have been presented today? What implications does this information have for our decisions? What additional information do you need, or what questions do you still have? What are the next steps we need to take?

“I think in many ways are ahead of other Areas and Conferences because of our experiences with one bishop for two conferences of across the Dakotas-Minnesota Area,” shared Dave Nichols, head of the Minnesota General Conference delegation and facilitator for the discussion with the Dakotas-Minnesota delegation. 

Delegates from the Dakotas-Minnesota Area discussed how having one episcopal leader beneficial and required clergy and lay leaders to share in the leadership responsibilities in the two conferences. Delegates also discussed concerns related to being in a holding pattern with an appointment of an interim bishop. Some delegates felt a need to elect one bishop during 2021-2024. Electing one bishop in 2021 would avoid  the election of several new bishops during the 2025-2028 quadrennium.

In general, delegates shared a sense of empowerment to ponder various options to determine the number and election of bishops. 

“In many ways, we have made giant steps forward in the Dakotas-Minnesota Area. We have been empowered to step up and think out of the box,” Trefz says. 

The next steps include the Jurisdictional Task Forces continued meetings for the General Church and the North Central Jurisdiction. 

An announcement about General Conference is pending. Kim Simpson, chair of the Commission on General Conference, reported to webinar participants that the Commission would meet on February 20, 2021, to determine the options —virtual and in-person, for conducting General Conference calendared for August 29-September 7, 2021. The Commission will consider these specific concerns as they decide the best steps forward: connectivity for delegates, time zone differences, providing translation service virtually, presiding officers, credentialing process for voting, how to conduct legislative committees, the rate and access of COVID-19 vaccines, and several other considerations. 

The Dakotas delegation, elected in 2019 to the General Conference, includes: Kara Togel, General Conference lay delegate and head of the delegation, Rev. Rebecca Trefz, General Conference clergy delegate, Beata Ferris, reserve lay delegate, and Rev. Sara Nelson, reserve clergy delegate. 

The members of the Dakotas Conference delegation for the North Central Jurisdiction are Clergy—Rev. Rebecca Trefz, delegate; Rev. Sara Nelson, delegate; Rev. Ray Baker, first reserve delegate, Rev. Roger Spahr, second reserve delegate; Rev. Jenny Hallenbeck Orr, third reserve delegate. Lay—Kara Togel, delegate; Beata Ferris, delegate; Jane Hincks, first reserve delegate; Jodi Cataldo, second reserve delegate; Tanner Carlson, third reserve delegate.

View the complete webinar here: 

U.S. General and Jurisdictional Conference Information Webinar