Corporate body

Anglican Church of Canada. Diocese of New Westminster. Administration and Finance Committee

1968-

At the first meeting of the Synod held on April 18th, 1882 canons were adopted of which Canon V, on finance, dealt with "the proper management and administration of the funds of the Diocese". A Finance Committee was appointed, "which shall consist of the Executive Committee of the Synod". The principles the Finance Committee had to act upon were: "to apply the funds of the Diocese so as to elicit the greatest amount of local assistance, and to render each Parish, as soon as possible, self-supporting". The Finance Committee "shall assess each parish for the necessary expenses of the Synod". A Treasurer and two Auditors were appointed by the Synod and followed the pertinent canons as enacted by the Executive Committee. Finance and Property Committee became a small sub-committee elected by the Executive Committee and reporting to it monthly. Over the years other committees evolved to deal with diocesan business matters in addition to this committee. As the fragmentation of the Diocese's programmes and committees gave rise to much discussions during the 1966 Synod meetings, Bishop Gower, Synod, Diocesan groups, and parish clergy and laymen believed that organizational changes could assist in making Church's operations more effective. Bishop Gower and the Executive Committee retained the management consulting services of Price Waterhouse & Co. to undertake a comprehensive study of the organizational structure and to guide the Diocese in introducing improvements. The report, known as Netten Report, suggested sweeping changes as a response to the need for renewal. Committees were disbanded, restructured or replaced with new ones. The Executive Committee was replaced by the Diocesan Council. The Finance and Property Committee, which functioned under the Executive Committee, was replaced in January 1968 by the Administration and Finance Committee. The committee was appointed by the Diocesan Council, together with the Strategy Committee and the Programme Committee. The Diocesan Council has the control, management and administration of the funds and assets of the Synod, and funds and assets entrusted to the Synod. The Council delegates the fulfillment of these responsibilities to the Administration and Finance Committee. The Administration and Finance Committee may consist of continuing sub-committees having responsibility for a particular area or concern (Financial Development Unit and Budget Unit in 1987). The number of units can be discontinued or replaced with new ones as new programmes are required. Temporary Task Forces, short term ad-hoc committees, are in charge of the implementation of a task or programme (Task Force to consider Clergy compensation, 1982; Task Force on Apportionments, 1987). They are disbanded as soon as the task is completed.