Travel Expense Policy for Qualified Persons at Assembly

TRAVEL EXPENSE POLICY FOR QUALIFIED PERSONS AT ASSEMBLY 2023

Travel expenses as defined below apply to delegates, seconded staff, and invited partners or guests of General Synod at Assembly 2023 (“qualified persons”). General Synod is not responsible for travel expenses of other persons accompanying a qualified person.

All air and train travel must be booked through UNIGLOBE The Premiere Travel Group (UNIGLOBE). For Assembly 2023, this will be facilitated by completing a traveller profile at the website listed below. Prior to completing, please refer to this policy and the Registration Information Package, sections Registration Process and 4. Book Travel (pages 2-4) and Travel Arrangements section (pages 5-7). Once completed and submitted, an agent from UNIGLOBE will contact you to finalize your booking.

No matter your mode of transportation, please note the following:

1. Travel booked with UNIGLOBE will be paid directly by General Synod and is not to be included on the Travel Expense Form.

For Air Travel:

  • WestJet is our preferred airline for travel to Assembly.
  • General Synod will pay for one checked bag. This service will be carried out by UNIGLOBE. Additional baggage will be at the expense of the delegate.
  • Travel add-ons, such as travel insurance, can be arranged at the expense of the delegate.
  • Changes to your booking are subject to approval by General Synod. Please email requested changes to [email protected].
  • General Synod will not cover any costs for additional passengers travelling with a delegate. You are welcome to book through UNIGLOBE, and we are pleased to extend our group rate.

For Train and Bus Travel:

  • Travel by train must be booked through UNIGLOBE and is subject to the restrictions listed below.
  • Travel by bus may be booked independently and is subject to the restrictions below.

There are some restrictions on train and bus travel. General Synod will pay the lesser of train, bus, or economy airfare. For example, should train fare be higher than economy airfare, delegates will be advised of the difference in cost by UNIGLOBE and, should travel by train be chosen, delegates will be invoiced by General Synod for the cost difference. Bus travel is to be booked directly by delegates and if the cost is higher than economy airfare, delegates will be reimbursed for the equivalent of economy airfare.

For Car Travel:  

Qualified persons, who are driving, see Sections 2, 3, and 4 below.

2. Qualified persons within a reasonable driving distance who drive to Calgary, Alberta will be reimbursed a mileage allowance at the rate of .62¢ per km. Mileage allowance is reimbursed only to the driver; meals en route will be reimbursed for the driver and passengers who are qualified persons (also see Section 3). Carpooling is encouraged.

Other qualified persons, who prefer to drive, will receive the lesser of economy airfare (as determined by UNIGLOBE) or the mileage rate of .62¢ per km.

Parking fees along the route and on-site will not be reimbursed by the General Synod.

3. The General Synod will pay travel expenses for one return trip to Calgary, Alberta. It will not pay travel expenses for clergy or others traveling to their parishes or homes during Assembly.

4. Amounts indicated here for meals en route to and from Assembly are suggested maximums and apply only when extended travel time, or the timing of connecting flights necessitates. (B=$10.00; L=$15.00; D=$20.00). The daily maximum is $45.00. General Synod will not accept charges for alcohol.

5. Travel health insurance is not reimbursed by General Synod; however, it is recommended that you review your province’s policies regarding out-of-province medical coverage.

6. Itemize receipts must be provided for ALL expenses other than mileage allowance, and are due by July 31, 2023. Receipts from point of sales terminals that do not display purchase details may not be reimbursed.

Matthew 10:40-42

Rewards

40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

John 15:12-17

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

John 21:15-19

Jesus and Peter

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Luke 11:33-36

The Light of the Body

33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel basket; rather, one puts it on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but if it is unhealthy, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. 36 But if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.”

Matthew 8:1-4

Jesus Cleanses a Man

8 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him, and there was a man with a skin disease who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be made clean!” Immediately his skin disease was cleansed. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”