At its mid-summer meeting, Diocesan Council awarded additional grants to parishes for this year and discussed ways parishes could pay less in assessments next year.
Council met briefly on July 25 at St. Paul’s, Mt. Lebanon. Financial requests from two parishes were unanimously approved:
♦ $1,300 to Christ Church for campus ministry at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Christ Church’s rector, the Rev. William Geiger, said the grant would provide seed money for programs the parish has wanted to explore for some time.
♦ $800 for All Saints, Brighton Heights, to hire clergy for Sunday Eucharist twice a month. Members currently gather once a month for Eucharist and at mid-week for worship, the latter lead by Lutheran clergy. Aiding an increase in the frequency of Eucharists was seen as a means to help the parish grow its congregation.
Council is in the process of finalizing a budget for 2010. Under consideration are two formulas that determine how much parishes will pay the diocese. Budget Committee chairman John Hose says a final budget proposal will be reviewed at the committee’s next meeting on August 19 and be submitted to the full Council on August 24.
Final approval of the diocese’s 2010 budget will be determined by the Diocesan Convention, which will take place at Trinity Cathedral on October 17.
(A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the frequency of Sunday Eucharists to be made possible by the grant to All Saints parish.)
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