The Episcopal Church invites all clergy to ‘Be a Part of the Picture’ as it seeks to Become Beloved Community
Efforts Will Help the Church Better Understand the Diverse Experiences of Clergy
The Episcopal Church and the Church Pension Group (CPG) announced that the Recorder of Ordinations will begin to collect data on race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation from all clergy. The data will be used to assist the Church in understanding how different groups are treated in terms of deployment and compensation, as well as in Episcopal elections. Responding to resolutions passed by the 79th General Convention, CPG updated various technology systems so it could collect the requested demographic information that it did not collect previously. The newly requested data will only be used for analysis and reported in aggregate form. The data will not be published or used to administer benefits and will not be printed in the Episcopal Clerical Directory. Individual clergy can visit cpg.org/picture to update their profile and to learn more.
“We are delighted to support The Episcopal Church’s Becoming Beloved Community initiative,” said Mary Kate Wold, CEO and President of CPG. “As a more fulsome demographic picture emerges, the Church will be in a better position to examine trends and respond to inequalities.”
The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church, shared, “If our vision is to reflect the vision of Jesus, we need to know how close we are to it. Having a picture will help us understand how we are doing on the journey to looking like God’s Beloved Community. These data will help us engage issues of racism and full inclusion that reflect the outstretched arms of Jesus embracing all the Church with the same outstretched arms.”
79th General Convention Resolutions:
- C029 Collect Data on Clergy Compensation by Race
Directs the Recorder of Ordinations to begin compiling and reporting data on the racial demographics including compensation.
- D005 Collect Racial and Ethnic Data on Episcopal Elections and Clergy
Directs the Office of Pastoral Development and the Recorder of Ordinations to gather and report data on the racial and ethnic makeup of the clergy and the episcopate.
- D037 Include Gender in the Clergy Compensation Report
Directs the Church Pension Group to expand its Clergy Compensation Report to encompass data needed to analyze disparities in compensation, such as gender identity.
- D069 Collect Data on LGBT Clergy Deployment and Compensation
Directs the periodic gathering and dissemination of data identifying the numbers, deployment, and compensation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and nonbinary clergy in The Episcopal Church.
About The Church Pension Group
The Church Pension Group (CPG) is a financial services organization that serves The Episcopal Church. It maintains three lines of business—employee benefits, property and casualty insurance, and publishing. CPG provides retirement, health, life insurance, and related benefits for clergy and lay employees of the Episcopal Church, as well as property and casualty insurance, and book and music publishing, including the official worship materials of the Church. Follow CPG on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn. cpg.org
# # #
Media Contacts:
Church Pension Group
Joyce Flournoy Wade
Vice President
Director of Marketing and Sales
O: 212-592-6359
jwade@cpg.org
The Episcopal Church
Nancy Davidge
Public Affairs Officer
Tel: 646-908-0643
