Links

This page will connect you with the many commissions, committees, and task forces of the Diocese of Milwaukee. Please click the links below to find the content you're looking for:

• Commission on Ministry
• Elder Ministry
• Ecumenical Relations
• Executive Council
• Commission on Global Reconciliation
• History and Archives
• Liturgy and Music
• Standing Committee 
• Title IV Disciplinary Board
• Trustees of Funds and Endowments

What's the Difference?

Church nomenclature can be complicated. This information is provided to help decipher the nomenclature used in the Diocese of Milwaukee.

In a nutshell (and for the most part), a Council functions for the Convention of the Diocese between Conventions, Commissions oversee large areas of ministry, Committees do targeted and specific tasks on an on-going basis, and Task Forces exist for the sole purpose to engage one very specific and time-limited issue, preparing recommendations for others to implement.

Each year at our diocesan convention we elect clergy and lay members of two bodies in which are vested the authority to act, in concert with the bishop, on behalf of the diocese—the Executive Council and the Standing Committee.

The Executive Council is established by the canons (laws) of the diocese to do the business of the convention between conventions. It is responsible for sharing with the bishop in the oversight of the diocese, the development of its mission and program, and the prudent stewardship and use of its financial and real resources.

The Standing Committee is created by the canons of the larger Episcopal Church, and every diocese must have one. It is the responsibility of the Standing Committee to consider all property transactions within the diocese, to give canonical approval to those in the ordination process, to act as a council of advice for the bishop, to give consent, on behalf of the diocese, to the election of bishops for other diocese of the church, and, when there is no bishop, to act as the ‘ecclesiastical authority’ of the diocese, carrying out the leadership, but not the sacramental, functions of the bishop.

To facilitate the work of the Executive Council in the Diocese of Milwaukee, sub-groups are appointed or called together to lead the varied ministries of the diocese. These groups may include members of the Executive Council, with at least one person serving as liaison to each one, but they also include other members of the diocese, both lay and ordained, who have interest or experience in the focus of the group. These sub-groups fall into three categories, a uniform naming pattern for which I would like to propose.

The Commissions on Ministry, Formation, Congregational Development, and Global Reconciliation, oversee critical ministry areas of the diocese. They are on-going, and their charges involve them in a wide range of topics, often interconnected. They each have their own line in the diocesan budget, and report on a regular basis to the Executive Council, and annually to the Convention.

With the exception of the Standing Committee (over the name of which we have no control) committees, such as the Finance, Professional Standards, or Property Committees exist to work exclusively in one targeted area, not so much exercising oversight of other sub-groups, but doing such focused and important work as developing the annual diocesan budget, the annual review of compensation issues throughout the diocese, and the on-going care of properties directly owned and managed by the diocese. Committees are on-going their work from year to year, doing the work they are asked to do, unless or until that work is no longer needed. Committee designation is also given to groups working in particular areas of ministry such as Elder Ministry, Global Reconciliation, and Alcoholism, among others.

Finally, task forces are created from time to time to address specific issues and tasks, and are not intended to have on-going lifespans. An example of a task force might be the one that was recently charged to consider the most faithful use of the property that housed St. Andrew’s Church in the central city of Milwaukee. The members met, did their work, and made their report to the Executive Council recommending a course of action, and then went out of existence.