The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board voted May 13 to expand the mission of the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program (ILP) to allow the loan program to finance some operational expenses for congregations and presbyteries — with financing “to be provided on a temporary basis with a short-term payback,” according to the recommendation for the action. (Read the full recommendation: PILP Operational Loans.)
James Rissler, ILP’s president and chief executive officer, told the board that the original deliverance from 1995 creating the loan program made it clear that loans were restricted to acquiring or improving real property — in other words, for capital projects. ILP has been reluctant to consider funding ongoing operating costs because “it just snowballs and causes issues going forward” if a loan is taken for reoccurring operational costs, Rissler said.
But he said ILP has received inquiries in recent years for short-term loans for more limited operational costs — for example, when a congregation or church camp closes and the presbytery must pay insurance or maintenance costs until the building can be sold or used for another purpose.
And “the current borrowing needs of presbyteries as they provide some one-time assistance programs for congregations facing the impact of COVID-19 on their finances has brought this subject to the forefront,” the recommendation presented to the board states.
So the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board voted to expand the mission of PILP to enable it to grant short-term operational loans — with the funding coming from investor funds, not donor-restricted endowments, Rissler said. Lines of credit would generally be between $50,000 and $500,000, with payback over a 24-month period but the line of credit good for five years.
“Although we see this additional lending option assisting some churches, we see the greater use for presbyteries as they continue to navigate the evolving landscape of church in the 21st century and the impact on our denomination and their churches,” the rationale for the recommendation states. “Most notably are when presbyteries are faced with maintenance, utility, and insurance costs of properties they have received due to church closures.”
Board member Cecil Corbett raised the possibility that such loans could be used to provide assistance in a particular situation, in which Inland Northwest Presbytery has turned over a church property on the Nez Perce reservation — with the understanding that the Nez Perce churches would insure the building and take care of utility costs, perhaps by renting the property to the tribe for a preschool or other use. Then came the pandemic — so the possibility of renting the property has been put on hold, and there’s no income, Corbett said.
“We would welcome that conversation” about how ILP might help, Rissler said.
The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board will meet again May 18, in joint session with the board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation, and the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA). The purpose: to approve a unified PC(USA) budget, including a proposed General Assembly per capita rate for 2021 and 2022.
A unified budget proposal presented in April included a preliminary proposal of recommending a per capita rate of $9.99 per member for 2021 and $10.50 per member for 2022, compared with $8.95 per member currently. But neither the PMA board nor COGA formally voted on that per capita rate — knowing that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing financial difficulties for congregations and that the unified budget and proposed per capita rate might need to be adjusted, probably downward, in response.
A cross-agency COVID-19 Financial Implications Team has been working to develop new projections, and the revised budget will be up for a vote at the joint meeting May 18.
Barry Creech, director of policy, administration and board support for PMA, said there will be a large group of voting members participating in that online meeting and it will serve as a sort of test of the voting system that the virtual General Assembly will use when it meets in June.
Voting members will receive credentials to register and log in to the meeting via PC-Biz. Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri and Cindy Kohlmann, co-moderators of the 2018 General Assembly, will moderate the meeting. And observers can watch a livestream feed of the meeting, on either the General Assembly 224 website page or the Spirit of GA Facebook page, beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern time May 18.
