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The Diocese of Pennsylvania (DIOPA) held our annual convention on Saturday, October 18th, at the Sheraton Valley Forge. Fr. Karl, Chris Herring, Joe Merino, and I represented CCI. There are 136 Parishes in the Diocese. The Diocese asks each church to contribute to its expenses (known as the Sacred Ask), for salaries, admin, and outreach. The 2026 budget for the Diocese showed Revenue of $6,280,900 and Expenses of $6,309,900. Expenses are down from 2025 due to a reduction of one full-time staff member and one Vicar.
The Diocese has set the Sacred Ask at 8% for churches*, but since not all churches can contribute that much, the Budget is set with an expectation of receiving 6.5% from churches overall.
The Budget includes a 8.5% salary increase for the Bishop, which puts his salary in the 75th percentile of comparable dioceses.
The Diocese has recommended a 3.7% cost-of-living increase for all clergy.
The Diocese contracted with a firm to review 27 underutilized properties and develop a proposal. This contract is fee-based and paid from the proceeds of the 2018 sale of the diocesan summer camp and retreat center in Maryland, Wapiti. They typically propose ways to turn the properties into revenue-generating low-income housing units. All proceeds will go to the Diocese.
EPIP: sharing admin tasks where collective work can yield benefits – bookkeeping, admin, snow and trash removal, etc.
The Diocese asks all churches to host an ECS on the Sunday closest to June 11th.
Anti-Gun Violence: The Diocese asks each church to host one event, invite the community, and report back to the Diocese.
Yours in faith,
Jacqui North, Rector's Warden
*The CCI Vestry will discuss our Sacred Ask commitment for 2026.
CCI Op Rev: $417,541 8% would be $33,403, and 6.5% would be $27,140.
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