PITTSBURGH, July 4, 2012 – Recognizing the difficulty that some presbyteries and synods are having in paying per capita to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the General Assembly voted July 4 to ask the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) to study the issue and report back to the assembly in 2014.
The assembly’s action came in response to an overture from the Presbytery of Detroit – an overture that sought to change the PC(USA) constitution to say that presbyteries would only have to send on to synods and the General Assembly per capita payments they actually receive from congregations, not the per capita amount they would have received if all congregations paid fully.
Per capita is a per-member payment each congregation is expected to pay the PC(USA). Some congregations don’t pay it because they are short on funds. Others can afford to pay, but withhold out of disagreement with denominational policies.
The assembly’s Committee on General Assembly Procedures responded to the Detroit overture by asking that the matter be sent to the Committee on the OGA, stating that “the difficulty of presbyteries raising and transmitting per capita funds goes beyond the scope of the original overture.” On July 4, the assembly voted 723-128 to do so.
Robert Austell, a teaching elder from Charlotte, had presented a substitute motion that would have allowed presbyteries to cap the amount of per capita they sent at 18 percent of the presbytery’s annual operating budget. Over the years, Charlotte Presbytery has seen per capita taking up an increasing share of the presbytery budget, and the presbytery’s staff has been cut.
“Per capita is not to blame for that, but it is a burden too much to bear,” said Austell.
Paul Hooker of the Advisory Committee on the Constitution responded by raising concerns that allowing presbyteries to limit per capita payments “undermines the consultative nature of mission” – with the decisions of presbyteries limiting the work of the broader church.
Barb TerLouw, a ruling elder from Western Colorado presbytery, said every year her presbytery takes some money given for mission and uses it to pay per capita. “Mission is being starved to support per capita, yet our call from Christ is to do mission,” she said.
Carole Isley Corey, a teaching elder from Redstone Presbytery, said Redstone had faithfully paid per capita but began running a deficit. Even after cutting the mission budget in half and laying off staff, it faces a shortfall for 2013 of $45,000, she said.
“We just aren’t receiving the money,” Corey said. “The churches are speaking with their dollars. We have five churches that have left, and others that simply aren’t supporting our work.”
Becca Schuster, a young adult advisory delegate from Lake Erie Presbytery, said congregations which refuse to pay per capita send the message that “you don’t want to be part of this family.”
And Nik Fegenbush, a ruling elder from Transylvania Presbytery, said “the most fundamental representation of that connection between my presbytery and your presbytery and all Presbyterians is the Office of the General Assembly.” By not supporting it financially, “we are simply furthering the problems.”
When asked if Austell’s substitute motion should become the assembly’s main action, the commissioners voted “No” by 441-216.
In considering the report of the General Assembly Procedures Committee, the assembly also:
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Approved a per capita budget of $13.8 million for 2013 and $14.1 million for 2014. The rate was set at $6.80 per active member for 2013 and $6.98 for 2014.
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Asked the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly to develop and submit to the 2014 General Assembly an ethics policy governing commissioners and advisory delegates to the assembly.
