Will spending $2.4 million in renovations on the Presbyterian Center in downtown Louisville, in order to hold a hybrid General Assembly with committee meetings there in 2022, cost more than having an in-person General Assembly?
Where will the money to pay for it come from, and how long will it take to recover the costs?
Will other Presbyterian groups gathering in Louisville in the future be required to hold their meetings at the Center? How much will they be charged?
What about parking?
Members of the board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation, asked these questions and more during a May 19 Zoom session — with the vote on the $2.4 million renovation budget and facilities plan expected to come May 20 (P.102).
Among the answers given: The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board is being asked to provide about $1.6 million for the project from unrestricted reserves – with the understanding that those funds would be repaid later in 2021. Kathy Lueckert, president of the A Corporation – which is the corporate entity for the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) and the Office of the General Assembly (OGA), and which provides administrative services for those agencies through the Administrative Services Group (ASG) – said the hope is that a Paycheck Protection Program loan the PC(USA) received will be forgiven, and that money could be used to replenish the unrestricted reserves.
But board co-chair Chris Mason pointed out that the PPP loan was used to support salaries for PMA, OGA and ASG — and the boards of all those entities should have a voice in determining how that money is used if the loan is forgiven. “There’s a cash piece to this” — with the money to recover the construction costs needing to come from somewhere.
“I don’t dispute that,” Lueckert said. “We are trying to be creative in how we support” the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly “and their decision to house the assembly in this building. This is one way of doing that.”
Board co-chair Bill Teng asked how the cost of $2.4 million in renovations (Project Estimate) compares to the cost of a traditional in-person assembly.
Kerry Rice, the PC(USA)’s deputy stated clerk, responded that a traditional General Assembly typically costs about $2.5 million, and this hybrid assembly is expected to cost about $1.4 million (excluding the costs of the building renovations), or possibly less if another group rents the convention space in Columbus, Ohio, that the assembly had planned to use, negating some of the contract cancellation fees.
J. Herbert Nelson, the denomination’s stated clerk, spoke of his vision (Nelson Letter) — saying he wants the church to “take a pause” and consider questions both of how the assembly meets and how the building in Louisville can be used to create greater connections to the community.
Among his ideas: involving General Assembly commissioners for the full two years they’ve been elected to serve, helping them to “think critically about the world order” on issues such as race or the Israel-Palestine conflict.
How can the assembly become a place of building unity, rather than having a focus on up-or-down voting on particular measures? How can the procedures for making decisions be made less divisive and more inclusive?
And “what is our relationship to this city as a corporate citizen?” Nelson asked. “What is the role of the church in this place that we know is one of the hotbeds of struggle,” where protests continue following the police killing of Breanna Taylor in March 2020, and which had a record-setting levels of violence in 2020, with 173 homicides, and already has had at least 66 homicides in 2021?
Nelson has said that he hopes the renovated conference space in the Presbyterian Center could be used by community and nonprofit groups or rented out to produce income, urging Presbyterians to “use our sanctified imaginations” to dream up possibilities.
However, there also are practical considerations regarding the renovation on the first floor of the Presbyterian Center. Lueckert said the timeline is for design work to take place this summer and for construction to begin in October and to be completed by April 1, 2022.
“There are a lot of unknowns with this budget — it could go up or down,” Lueckert said, calling it “our best guess at a budget as of May 19.” Contractors have warned of supply chain issues. It likely would take at least two General Assembly cycles to recover the investment costs, she estimated.
But Rice said part of the “pause” that Nelson spoke of involves not making a determination yet about where and how the 2024 General Assembly – currently scheduled for Salt Lake City – will be held. “We believe this is time for us to do some discernment” and get feedback “from the whole church about where General Assembly should be held,” and how it should function. So that’s an open question, Rice said, about “what long-term the assembly should look like.”
Nelson and Lueckert also stressed that the building renovations also would have benefits beyond the General Assembly — such as improvements to technology and security systems and the creation of gender-neutral and family restrooms.
Shorter term, OGA does have a backup plan for the 2022 assembly — with extra meeting space reserved at the Galt House Hotel, where commissioners will stay, Rice said.
Will PC(USA) groups meeting in Louisville be required to use space at the Presbyterian Center?
“That’s certainly part of the intent,” Lueckert said — saying national-level groups meeting in Louisville would be “strongly encouraged,” although not mandated, to use that conference space. No fee structure has yet been established.
As for parking, that’s still a concern — with perhaps parking subsidies as an option in some scenarios. “That’s certainly at the top of the list to begin to work on,” Lueckert said.
Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, said, “I’m very supportive of what we’re doing here,” but added that the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board has not yet discussed the financial implications, such as providing funds from unrestricted reserves. “It is ultimately a board decision,” Moffett said.
