The Archdiocesan Synod of Bishops convened for their regular Spring meeting in Englewood, New Jersey on Thursday May 20th in the evening, and continued on Friday May 21st in the morning.  The hierarchs participated in a lengthy and thoughtful discussion regarding the North American Episcopal Assembly which is currently in session in New York City.  Each of our hierarchs gave a report on important developments in his diocese since the last meeting, with a focus on the status of existing missions and the development of new missions.  The hierarchs discussed the topic of financial transparency at the local parish and mission level.  As a result of this discussion, the Synod gave a mandate to the Archdiocesan Department of Finance to develop a policy at the Archdiocesan level that will specify a standard set of procedures, processes and reporting which apply to parish and mission finances.  In addition, it was decided that the monitoring of this policy will be implemented at the diocesan level with the details of the actual implementation left to the bishop in each diocese.