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Making sense of money and church culture: Financial sustainability special committee continues discussion

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FORT WORTH, Texas – Let’s talk about money and the way things work in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A).  How about power and church culture too? Because that’s what the Special Committee on Per-Capita Based Funding and National Church Financial Sustainability spent part of its time May 14 discussing. For example: “I don’t think per capita is the big issue,” said Scott Lumsden, a committee member and co-executive presbyter of Seattle Presbytery. “I actually think we have all the resources we need as a denomination to do what we want,” but the problem is how the resources are allocated and distributed (and who gets to make decisions about that). Or the fact that in a connectional denomination, the budgets of Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency depend on funding from per capita – but those of the other four PC(USA) agencies do not, creating a sense of unevenness. “These are the two agencies that take the hit,” said committee member Kevin … [Read more...]

Tagged With: per capita

Financial health and stability: Per capita special committee gets to work in Texas

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FORT WORTH, Texas – The timeline is tight. The work is immense. And the questions being explored go to the heart of the concerns of local Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations — most of which are small and struggling with money. The PC(USA)’s Special Committee on Per-Capita Based Funding and National Church Financial Sustainability is holding its first in-person meeting May 13-15 in Fort Worth – beginning to dig into its work and to unpack both financial details and big-picture implications. The 2018 General Assembly, which created the committee, gave it two big tasks: By the end of 2019, “to provide a comprehensive resource projection analysis and summary assessment — in conjunction with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation and representatives of all other agencies — of national church assets and income for financial sustainability review.” The deadline for that was set early so that the analysis would be available to other groups (such as the 2020 Vision … [Read more...]

Tagged With: per capita

Moving Forward Implementation Commission to assess agency culture

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  The Moving Forward Implementation Commission has voted to proceed with an “agency culture assessment” that will include the six agencies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Administrative Services Group that is a part of the PC(USA), A Corporation. The commission also voted during a conference call May 7 to invite Presbyterian Women to have its employees participate as well, although it doesn’t have the authority to require Presbyterian Women to participate. The idea is this: to get a sense of what people working at the national staff level of the PC(USA) think about the culture within their agencies – both what’s working well and what might need improvement. The commission is particularly interested in focusing on the culture at the denomination’s national office building in downtown Louisville – but has broadened the initiative in the hope of identifying  “best practices” or what may be working well in some agencies as well. The commission is working to … [Read more...]

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Board approves funds for Stony Point Center improvements

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The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board continues to struggle with a question that it’s been poking at for years: how much it’s willing to spend to continue the operations of Stony Point Center outside New York City. The board, meeting by conference call April 24 (part of that in closed session) voted to authorize spending up to $630,750, for “critical expenditures” for capital improvements at Stony Point, a conference center about an hour outside New York City that also is home to an interfaith community. The board also gave permission for the board’s Coordinating Committee to approve additional spending for a roofing project involving two buildings at Stony Point should bids for doing that work exceed initial estimates, and once money from a fund held at the Presbyterian Foundation for support of one of those buildings has been used. Discussion during the open portion of the meeting, however, showed that some board members still are uncomfortable with how much the … [Read more...]

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PC(USA) releases 2018 statistical report

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The 2018 statistical report for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) shows a continuing decline for the denomination in both membership and the number of churches, although the rate of decline may be slowing slightly. The PC(USA) lost 62,375 active members from 2017 to 2018, dropping from 1,415,053 members in 2017 to 1,352,678 in 2018 (a decrease of 4.4%). That compares to a membership decline of 67,714 members from 2016 to 2017 (a decrease of 4.5%). The PC(USA) also has fewer churches. The number of churches in the denomination dropped by 143 over the last year – from 9,304 in 2017 to 9,161 in 2018. While fewer churches than in recent years were dismissed to other denominations (34 in 2018, compared with 45 the previous year) the PC(USA) continues to see churches dissolved as they become too small to continue operating – with 108 churches dissolved in 2018, while only 20 new churches were organized. The Office of the General Assembly is looking for good news in the … [Read more...]

Presbyterian Outlook recognized at Best of the Christian Press Awards

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CHICAGO — The Presbyterian Outlook received top honors in several categories at the Associated Church Press (ACP) 2019 annual conference in Chicago last week.  The ACP awards recognize excellence in faith-based media — including magazines, news services, online media and podcasts. The Presbyterian Outlook was commended at the ACP “Best of the Christian Press Awards,” receiving: Best in class: Denominational magazine. Best in class blog: Outlook Outpost blog, featuring voices of younger Presbyterian leaders. Here are three of the posts the judges considered: My children aren’t part of my résumé by Rachel Young. The correct way to pray by Alex Becker. Say this, not that by Emma Nickel. James Solheim Award for Editorial Courage: Renouncing white Jesus by Jill Duffield. Award of excellence in personal experience (long format) for My mom and me: Theological comfort and the suicide crisis by Chip Hardwick Award of excellence for a blog series: The sisterhood of … [Read more...]

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