[Episcopal News Service] Seven Episcopal dioceses have requested and received assessment waivers, meaning they will not be required to pay the full 15% of diocesan revenue to support the churchwide budget in 2026.
Those waivers were approved by Executive Council at its Oct. 20-21 meeting at Kanuga, the Episcopal conference center and camp in the Diocese of Western North Carolina. The seven dioceses that received waivers are Albany, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Florida, Navajoland, New Jersey and Southwest Florida.
An eighth diocese, Puerto Rico, has also requested a waiver from paying its full assessment, but Executive Council chose not to approve that request yet, allowing more time for discussions between churchwide leaders and diocesan officials. Executive Council, the church’s interim governing body, did not specify why Puerto Rico had requested a waiver.
The 15% assessment on diocesan revenue is The Episcopal Church’s largest source of funding in the churchwide budget, more than $30 million of the $48 million budgeted for 2026. The waivers are intended for dioceses experiencing financial hardships or those that are gradually increasing their contributions after previously failing to pay their full assessments.
The Episcopal Church has worked over the past several years to secure full assessment payments from nearly all of its 104 dioceses and the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe. Some less resourced dioceses are not required to pay assessments because they have reported diocesan income lower than $200,000, which is the amount of revenue the church exempts before calculating each diocese’s assessment.
Dioceses that don’t contribute at the 15% rate and fail to apply for or receive approval for waivers can be ruled ineligible from participating in churchwide grant programs for one year.
The assessment waivers for 2026 total $582,000, which is distributed among the seven dioceses as follows:
- Albany: Agreed to pay a rate of 8%, with the remaining $65,000 waived. It and the Diocese of Florida have long paid less than the full amount, under previous diocesan leadership, but are working to increase their contributions.
- Colombia: Agreed to pay $2,000, with the remaining $25,000 waived. It and other Latin American dioceses in the church’s Province IX typically have far fewer financial resources than dioceses based in the United States and receive grants from the church.
- Dominican Republic: Another Province IX diocese, it received a waiver for its full $97,000 assessment.
- Florida: Agreed to pay 10.8%, with the remaining $73,000 waived.
- Navajoland: Agreed to pay $2,333, with the remaining $17,000 waived. This newly formed missionary diocese continues to receive financial assistance from the churchwide budget dating to when it was an area mission.
- New Jersey: Agreed to pay a rate of 11%, with the remaining $155,000 waived. The diocese, which has been working to address past accounting irregularities, first received a waiver in 2024.
- Southwest Florida: Agreed to pay a rate of 10.5%, with the remaining $150,000 waived. The diocese is recovering from Hurricane Milton, which hit in October 2024.
Episcopal Church Chief Financial Officer Chris Lacovara gives his report to Executive Council on Oct. 20 at Kanuga in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service
In a separate vote, Executive Council chose to lower the amount of revenue it draws from its investment portfolio to support the churchwide budget. Investment draws of 5% have been typical in recent years. It was lowered to 4.5% for 2026.
Chris Lacovara, the church’s chief financial officer, recommended the change, saying it was more in line with the recent average in annual investment returns of 7.5%, offset by a higher-than-normal inflation rate of about 3%.
Lacovara also said the church has been able to achieve annual expense reduction of $3.5 million, mostly through the staff restructuring overseen this year by Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe and reductions in staff travel and in use of consultants. Those savings will help cover the revenue lost by changing the investment draw and granting assessment waivers.
– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.