About the Foundations
The Foundations of The Episcopal Diocese of Texas provide a number of options from which congregations can request funding for future initiatives.
The Episcopal Foundation of Texas
The Episcopal Foundation of Texas H. H. Coffield left one-third of his estate to the Diocese of Texas for the support of several institutions of the diocese and for grants, loans or advances to the Bishop Quin Foundation. Since 1982, nearly $35 million has been received from the Coffield estate. The institutions supported by the Episcopal Foundation, by Canon, are Camp Allen; St. Vincent’s House, Galveston; El Buen Samaritano, Austin; Bishop Quin Foundation; St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Austin; Seminary of the Southwest, Austin; and the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. The Episcopal Foundation has given away more than $58M in grants and still has a corpus of more than $63M. The Foundation annually grants a tithe gift outside of the Diocese. Bruce Harper of St. Mark’s, Houston serves as President of the Episcopal Foundation.
The Church Corporation
The Protestant Episcopal Church Council of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, commonly known as the Church Corporation, holds title to the properties of the diocese. With a corpus of $29M, the Church Corporation oversees the property and the expansion of the Diocese. It is in charge of reviewing proposals from parishes and other diocesan entities who want to engage in building projects. The Church Corporation is authorized to receive and administer funds and properties given to the Episcopal Diocese of Texas and, through the Participating Funds, the Church Corporation also acts as a trustee in receiving and administering funds for the use and benefit of the churches in the diocese. With cash and property assets totaling over $300 million dollars, the Church Corporation continues to provide for the sound financial management of the diocese’s real estate and the individual investment funds of the churches. JoLynn Free of All Saints’, Austin serves as President of the Church Corporation.
The Bishop Quin Foundation
The Bishop Quin Foundation was established in 1943 to honor Bishop Clinton S. Quin. Its largest gift was a generous bequeath from Annie B. Laird. The Foundation is currently valued at more than $34 million and its work focuses on new development grants for parishes, redeveloping and restarting churches. The Foundation’s mission is to help build the Church. The Bishop Quin Foundation also supports sabbatical grants for the welfare of the clergy, curate placement grants, and Strategic Mission Grants to parishes in collaboration with the Episcopal Foundation of Texas. The Rev. Bill Fowler of St. Paul’s, Waco serves as President of the Quin Foundation.
The Episcopal Health Foundation
The Episcopal Health Foundation was established through the 2013 transfer of the St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas to Catholic Health Initiatives. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that operates as a supporting organization of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas pursuant to Section 509(a)(3)(B)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Foundation works to improve the health and well-being of the 10 million people in the 57 counties of the Diocese. EHF embraces the World Health Organization’s broad, holistic definition of health: a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease.
2014 was a year of discernment and planning as the Foundation developed priority areas of focus, goals and strategies for its work leading to a strategic plan. The plan is the product of extensive research and input from multiple stakeholders gathered over eight months as EHF identified opportunities for the Foundation to make a meaningful impact on community health within the Diocese.
You can learn more about the Foundation, its grant-making, and efforts to engage EDOT congregations in its work. Watch Angel’s Story here.
The Great Commission Foundation
The Great Commission Foundation is a Texas nonprofit corporation created in 2013 to support the missionary and church planting strategies of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Texas. The organization of the Foundation is set forth in Canon 49 of the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese. Maria Boyce of St. Martin’s, Houston serves as the President of the Great Commission Foundation.
Read the article about The Great Commission Foundation and St. Mary Magdalene, Manor.
RESOURCES FOR PLANNING NEW INITIATIVES
Congregations may choose to use additional dollars left at the local level from lower assessments and the elimination of the Asking to support locally directed initiatives.
In the early stages of creative thinking, congregations should consider available research for their area to develop the most effective initiatives. There are many tools available to assist local congregations in identifying their community’s particular needs.
UNIFIED BUDGET
In 2014, as the Episcopal Diocese of Texas (EDOT) moved into a new era with a unified budget that not only lowered assessments significantly, it provided congregations with renewed opportunities for funding a diversity of initiatives.
Previously, funding requests would have come to the Diocese for funding from either the Assessment or Asking Budget. These have now been combined. In the process of creating a budget that reflects the unity of the diocese and that is more transparent, assessments have been reduced significantly so that more money remains at the local level. At the same time, the foundations within EDOT have taken many of the previously funded items from the Asking or Missionary Budget as is appropriate to their goals. The foundations also provide a number of options from which to request funding for future initiatives.
