LOUISVILLE, KY. (PNS)
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s spending on missions must shrink as giving to its mission agency declines.
On May 11, the General Assembly Mission Council bowed to that principle by recommending to the upcoming 220th General Assembly steep reductions in mission budgets for 2013 and 2014.
The 2012 mission budget is $89,091,490. The GAMC’s proposed budgets for 2013 and 2014 respectively are $81,576,103 and $78,196,031. That’s a reduction of more than $7 million in the first year and almost $11 million over the two years.
The mismatch of dollars to needs might be less dire than those numbers suggest, however. Joey Bailey, GAMC’s chief financial officer, said the budget for 2013 is $5 million more than the GAMC actually spent in 2011. And he noted the 2012 budget included $4 million carried over from prior years for disaster relief.
“We were able to keep expenses low in 2011 due to a number of unfilled positions, and we expect to build on that with this budget by eliminating a number of those vacant positions and taking advantage of technology improvements,” Bailey said.
He said the mission budgets are built on 20-year giving trends “so we can be realistic in our projections.” He noted “a particularly dramatic decline” in shared mission support (unrestricted contributions) from congregations and presbyteries.
The high mark in unrestricted giving was $18 million in the year 2000, Bailey said. That number has fallen to a current level of $8 million. Another major factor in declining revenue, he said, is the required spending down of endowment funds over the last 10-15 years.
The proposed budget trims the GAMC’s workforce by 13 positions, to a new total of 308. It aligns spending and staffing to a 2013-2016 Mission Work Plan that GAMC Executive Director Linda Valentine said continues “a shift away from doing ministry on behalf of the church and toward inspiring, equipping and connecting the church for Christ’s mission.”
The Mission Work Plan sets out six “directional goals”:
» Transformational leaders: “inspire, equip and connect the church to cultivate, nurture and sustain diverse, transformational leaders for Christ’s mission.”
» Compassionate and prophetic discipleship: “inspire, equip and connect the church to make, receive and send disciples who demonstrate and proclaim God’s justice, peace and love in an increasingly globalized world.”
» New worshipping communities: “inspire, equip and connect the church to ignite a movement within the PC(USA) that results in the creation of 1,001 new worshiping communities.”
» Young adults: “inspire, equip and connect the church to engage and join with young adults in reforming the church of Christ’s mission.”
» General Assembly engagement: “engage with, respond to, resource and represent the General Assembly in alignment with the vision and mission for the GAMC.”
» Organizational integrity: “build confidence, trust and engagement in all that we do by being collaborative, accountable, responsive and excellent.”
Valentine said that amid painful budget and staffing cuts, there remains “much to celebrate.
World Mission Director Hunter Farrell said Presbyterian overseas mission, in its 175th year, is being asked to help partner churches “leverage financial and social capital to weave a new tapestry throughout the world.”
To that end, Farrell said, World Mission will tackle issues of poverty, reconciliation and sharing the Gospel.
Through all the efforts already emerging from the new Mission Work Plan, said Sara Lisherness, director of Compassion, Peace and Justice ministries, “we are trying to put into practice what we’ve heard over and over again — that justice and evangelism cannot be separated, that we must weave them together into a single tapestry of ministry.”
All with fewer resources.
