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Money talk in the PC(USA): Per capita, who makes decisions, and more

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We know, most Presbyterians don’t sit around all summer thinking about the denomination and money. There are, however, at the top levels of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ongoing conversations about per capita funding and financial sustainability that will result in reports to the 2020 General Assembly. Here are some of the threads of the funding conversations that have wound through a series of recent meetings. Per Capita. A team from the PC(USA)’s Special Committee on Per-Capita Based Funding and National Church Financial Sustainability that’s looking into the denomination’s per capita funding system is in the process of holding consultations with synod and presbytery representatives. Among the points of discussion: How do mid councils collect and use per capita? What do mid councils do if congregations don’t remit per capita, the per-member assessment that congregations are supposed to send to support the work of the broader church? If the PC(USA) didn’t use a … [Read more...]

Tagged With: A Corp • per capita • PMA board

A Corporation board considers issues of authority in the denomination

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The board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation finished its two-day meeting July 19 by working systematically through its business — nothing flashy on the surface, but with the details giving testimony to the ongoing efforts to sort through relations at the top levels of the denomination. The reconfigured A Corporation board – an 11-member board which now has representation from five of the six PC(USA) agencies – has been making some changes that affect its relationship to the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board. Among them: The board voted to approve a measure stating that the A Corporation board has authority to hire, oversee or pay for outside lawyers to act on behalf of the PC(USA) – stating that “no other person or entity” would have that power or authority without approval from the A Corporation board. The board voted to clarify which entities have authority to create policies on behalf of the A Corporation. That action states that policies of the … [Read more...]

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A Corp board meets alongside Triennium to discuss finances, agency culture (and sneak in an energizer)

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While some 4,000 Presbyterian teenagers are bringing the energy to Purdue University this week at the Presbyterian Youth Triennium, the board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation is meeting at Purdue as well — taking care of the business of the church. The A Corporation board chose this location intentionally — breaking during the first afternoon of its July 18-19 meeting to worship with the young people, set aside their financial discussions and get their energizers on. Because: Who doesn’t want to see adults in khakis trying to dance? There is, however, a more serious question of how the board of the A Corporation (the corporate entity for the Presbyterian Mission Agency and the Office of the General Assembly) can build connections across the church that will benefit the denomination. For example, the board is having conversations at this meeting with representatives of both the Moving Forward Implementation Commission and the Special Committee on Per-Capita … [Read more...]

Tagged With: A Corp

The work of the church: Boards of the Presbyterian Mission Agency and A Corporation hold meetings in Louisville

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LOUISVILLE – Presbyterian leaders concluded a week of policy-making meetings in Kentucky, with the boards of the Presbyterian Mission Agency and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation – meeting in different rooms at the same hotel – considering everything from financial matters to use of the denomination’s national offices in Louisville. Here’s some of what happened March 29. Translation services The board of the A Corporation – which is the corporate entity of the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) and the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) – voted to create a new position of manager of global language services for the PC(USA), and to begin the process of creating a job description. What has been referred to as Translation Services will be known as Global Language Services, “hoping to be more accurately descriptive and expansive,” said Julie Cox, a mid council executive and A Corporation board member who leads the board’s Translation Services Task … [Read more...]

Tagged With: A Corp • PMA board

In the midst of business: A conversation with PC(USA) leaders

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The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a denomination of connections - and the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board spent time in its March 28 meeting exploring what that means. Herbert Nelson, stated clerk of the PC(USA), brought greetings – saying both the denomination and Christianity are in a time of transition, “and it feels good.” People of faith are working together on contextual issues in their communities and learning that “Christendom is a whole lot bigger than our own church, our own denomination,” Nelson said. Christians are struggling to “become the church that Jesus Christ wants us to be. It is not always comfortable. … We are walking in God’s way until the answers come.” Cindy Kohlmann, who serves as co-moderator of the 2018 General Assembly along with Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri, brought greetings on behalf of them both, as Cintrón-Olivieri is grounded at home in Miami because of illness. Kohlmann summarized their travels since the assembly last summer, … [Read more...]

Tagged With: A Corp • Moving Forward Implementation Commission

Board announces changes involving PC(USA) administrative services

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The board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation met in closed session Jan. 16 and later announced it had taken action to reconfigure within the denominational structure the way that administrative services will be provided. The A Corporation is the corporate entity for the Presbyterian Mission Agency and the Office of the General Assembly. The change being announced is not a matter that will have a direct impact on congregations or Presbyterians in the pews. The change means that departments providing administrative services to Presbyterian agencies and which were formerly considered to be providing services through the Presbyterian Mission Agency now will be part of the newly-created Administrative Services Group in the A Corporation (although a news release regarding the decision states that “structurally, they have always been housed in A Corp.”) The change involves about 80 employees in seven departments: Finance & Accounting, Information Technology, … [Read more...]

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