Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring,

That the 80th General Convention and the Episcopal Church celebrates and supports the planting of new congregations and ministries, the training and recruiting of planters and mission developers, and the fostering of a church-wide network of support for new ministry development that was originally funded by GC2018-A005 and GC2018-A032; and be it further

Resolved, That the Church continues to prioritize establishing new Episcopal communities that are especially committed to mission and evangelism engaging under-represented groups, including youth and young adults, disabled persons, members of LGBTQIA communities, BIPOC communities, poor and working-class people, people with a high-school diploma or less, and/or people with little or no church background or involvement; and be it further

Resolved, That the budget for sustaining this new ministry development will be $5,800,000.00 for 2022-2024 to be allocated as follows:

• $200,000 to identify and support existing programs to train clergy and lay leaders in planting congregations
• $600,000 to provide mentorship/coaching/training for planters of congregations
• $1,000,000 for the continuing development and implementation of a program to train bilingual/bi-cultural lay and ordained leaders in church planting for various cultural contexts
• $500,000 to support a church-wide office staff person to oversee the planting network.
• $3,000,000 for grants to new and existing church plants, to be administered by the Task Force for Church Planting in consultation with the Churchwide Office Staff Officer for church planting.
• $500,000 for the support of leadership development programs for the next generation of church planters and ministry developers;

And be it further

Resolved, That the Convention urges The Episcopal Church Development Office establish an advisory group to study the possibility of creating an endowment for church plants; and be it further

Resolved, That Dioceses receiving money for planting new congregations under this program will be required to contribute significant, resource appropriate, and local funding to support the costs of any new plants; and be it further

Resolved, That the bishop or a diocesan advocate representing any diocese receiving funds shall take part in a cohort of church planting dioceses to share best practices and methods of supporting mission developers. Those dioceses not receiving grant funds are also invited to participate in the diocesan cohort; and be it further

Resolved, That this Convention embrace the future of our Church by, after this Triennia, moving the funding for a church-wide office staff-person to oversee the planting network (Staff Officer for Church Planting) into the continuing budget for the Presiding Bishop’s staff; and be it further

Resolved, That the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance consider a budget allocation of $5,800,000 for the implementation of this resolution.