The cuts announced today reflect the determination by the denomination’s top leadership that they won’t try to balance the budget just by whittling away a little here and a little there — that probably wouldn’t bring enough. Instead, John Detterick, executive director of the General Assembly Council, has said that some of what the PC(USA) has done before will have to be eliminated altogether in order to make way for new things to be done.
And the job is made difficult by long-term shifts in giving to the denomination. Today, about 70 percent of the denomination’s budget is restricted — Presbyterians give the money with strings attached, specifying that it can only be spent for specific things. But most of the cuts are being made in the 30 percent of the PC(USA) budget that’s unrestricted, which doesn’t leave much wiggle room.
The proposal calls for the cuts to be divided as follows:
• Congregational Ministries Division, $1.33 million and 10 positions;
• National Ministries Division, $1.17 million and 13 positions;
• Worldwide Ministries Division, $980,000 with no jobs lost;
• Mission Support Services, $473,000 and six positions;
• Office of the Executive Director, $670,000 and eight positions.
According to a report that lays out details of the spending cuts, there are no more budget cuts predicted for next year.
The highest-ranking position being eliminated in this round of cuts is that of the chief information technology officer, a position created two years ago. But the report states that “technology is not a major focus of the Mission Work Plan,” the General Assembly Council’s effort to build a budget based on priority goals.
Others losing their jobs include secretaries and administrative assistants.
The report also describes a continuing effort to “flatten” out the management structure of the national staff. Four associate director positions are being downgraded to coordinators’ jobs. The position of associate director for Christian education and leadership development will become the coordinator for conference ministries and covenant groups. The job of associate director for theological education will become coordinator for theological education. The position of associate director for social justice will become the associate for corporate witness.
The position of associate director for women’s ministries will become coordinator for women’s ministries. And all eight of the Women’s Ministries staff positions — five associates and three support staff — in regional offices among the synods will be eliminated.
Worldwide Ministries will “dramatically reduce” the grants it makes to international church partners and ecumenical partners — a cutback that will allow it to keep PC(USA) mission co-workers out in the field.
The Church Leader Support program is being eliminated, because the Mission Work Plan emphasizes clergy leadership more than lay leadership, the report states.
It also says that “national and regional conferences on theology and liturgy will stop. Support for summer worship conferences and other national events will cease.”
And in-house development of the Spanish-language curriculum for adults will stop and that work will be given over to the United Methodists. According to the Presbyterian News Service, only about 90 of the PC(USA)’s 300 Spanish-language congregations — just under one-third — are using the curriculum the denomination produces in Spanish, which costs the denomination about $100,000 annually.
The proposed budget cuts — and there are others, too — still will need approval from higher governing bodies.
The executive committee of the General Assembly Council will meet May 7 and 8 in Louisville to consider the budget. The full council will not vote on the cuts — but did approve, in February, the Mission Work Plan and a set of priorities on which this budget is supposed to be based.
The General Assembly will meet in Richmond in June and is expected to vote then on the two-year budget for the denomination — a budget of nearly$114.4 million for 2005 and $115 million for 2006.
Over the last two years, the denomination has cut more than $7 million more from the budget, eliminating 85 jobs — laying off about 55 people and reducing the rest by cutting vacant positions. The proposed job cuts would reduce the number of General Assembly Council employees from 494 to 466.
Of the employees whose jobs are being cut:
• 21 are women (75 percent) and seven are men;
• 15 are white (53 percent) and 13 are racial-ethnic staff members, including eight blacks, four Hispanics and one Native American;
• 23 are over 40 years old (82 percent) and 5 are under age 40. The age range is 72 to 25.
Detterick said several months ago that this will be a “new day” for the denomination, because budget decisions, while difficult for everyone involved, would be made based on the agreed-upon but unranked priorities of evangelism and witness; justice and compassion; spirituality and discipleship; leadership and education; and the role and identity of the General Assembly Council. Programs that didn’t fall under one of the priority areas were more likely to be cut, Detterick said.
Regarding the cut in Women’s Ministries programming, the report points out that the denomination once had full-time positions for that program in every synod, cut those positions to half time, then consolidated them into full-time jobs in five regional offices among the 16 synods. Those employees were given “increased responsibility but virtually no program money and little other budget,” the report states.
Now, “recognizing that it will probably never be able to adequately support this work, the (national ministries) division reluctantly determined this function couldn’t be maintained,” the report states. And it says that “ending this work severs a direct link between the General Assembly Council and women’s organizations throughout the church; it also challenges the whole staff to be more conscious of and responsive to the needs of women . . . “
The report also refers to the “difficult decisions” that were made about what work the denomination will stop doing. Kathy Lueckert, the council’s deputy executive director, told the Presbyterian News Service that the departures of those losing their jobs “tears at the fabric of our life around here.”
This will be the first time the General Assembly has considered a two-year budget.
