A051 Amend Canons I.2.4.a Data Collection for the Church
Resolved, the House of ________________ concurring,
That the 81st General Convention amend Canon I.2.4.a to add item a.7 as follows:
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7. Make provision for the analysis of appropriate data about this Church’s mission, its opportunities, and challenges. An annual report, published freely to the Church, will include such data as to allow for data-informed decisions by the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, the General Convention, the Executive Council, dioceses, congregations, and local leaders.
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7. Make provision for the analysis of appropriate data about this Church’s mission, its opportunities, and challenges. An annual report, published freely to the Church, will include such data as to allow for data-informed decisions by the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, the General Convention, the Executive Council, dioceses, congregations, and local leaders.
And be it further
Resolved, That all dioceses, congregations, and other church institutions are urged to cooperate with all research endeavors sponsored by the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society by responding to requests for data; and be it further
Resolved, That the General Convention will provide a budget allocation of $75,000 to carry out this work in the first triennium.
Explanation
This resolution was co-sponsored by the House of Deputies Committee on the State of the Church and the Standing Commission on Structure, Governance, Constitution and Canons.
When is the best time to plant a tree?
Twenty years ago.
When is the second-best time to plant a tree?
Now.
The Episcopal Church is woefully behind our sister denominations in the collection, study, and use of data for decision making at every level of the Church, and in a perfect world, this resolution would be designed to create a high level staff position for such work. Given the realities of a new Presiding Bishop who will want to organize their own staff, this stop-gap measure is presented to a) require the next Presiding Bishop to offer a full data analysis and b) urge the Church-wide structure, dioceses, congregations, committees, commissions, agencies, and boards to make use of data in their decision making. Outsourcing this work in the first triennium will allow the Presiding Bishop, the House of Deputies Committee on the State of the Church, and the Standing Commission on Structure, Governance, Constitutions, and Canons to take an iterative approach in understanding what data is helpful, how it is best collected, and in what form the report should be produced.