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 … [Read more...]

The decision has been made: the 2022 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be a hybrid gathering, with in-person committee meetings at the denomination’s national offices in Louisville, Kentucky, and plenary sessions held virtually. Now the question is emerging: How much will it cost in renovations at the denomination’s office building to make that happen? In order to make the in-person part of the assembly possible, some significant renovations are planned for the PC(USA) building at 100 Witherspoon Street along the Ohio River in downtown Louisville. That includes creating additional larger meeting spaces big enough for committee gatherings and the construction of a production studio and gender-neutral bathrooms. Kathy Lueckert, president of the PC(USA), A Corporation – which is the corporate and administrative arm of the church – told the A Corporation board in a virtual meeting Feb. 12 that the timeline for doing that work is tight, with the hope of … [Read more...]

The Presbyterian Foundation is considering making a change in the spending formula it uses to provide mission funding to the Presbyterian Mission Agency — meaning that increases in available funding would decline in the short term, but compounding interest on a larger endowment fund should produce greater payouts over time, depending on how the financial markets perform. The board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation – the administrative and financial services arm of the denomination – heard a report on the proposed change during the first afternoon of its virtual meeting Feb. 11-12. The A Corporation board also heard updates on denominational giving and the progress of the Coordinating Table, which is working to develop a unified budget for the PC(USA) for 2023 and 2024. Here are more details. Spending formula  The Presbyterian Foundation is responsible for managing and investing PC(USA) endowments, and currently provides funds to the Presbyterian Mission Agency … [Read more...]

With the COVID-19 pandemic undermining the finances of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), denominational leaders are starting to look not only at the short-term impact, but come up with a plan for developing budgets for 2023 and 2024, when the long-term impacts of the pandemic are likely to be felt. PC(USA) leaders are working now to determine who will serve on a new coordinating table that will have representation from the Presbyterian Mission Agency, the Office of the General Assembly and the PC(USA), A Corporation, and will begin the difficult work of trying to craft a unified budget for all three agencies. In an administrative action taken the day before the 2020 General Assembly convened last June, the Moving Forward Implementation Commission required that a coordinating table be convened and work be done to develop a unified budget, rather than separate budgets for each entity. Kathy Lueckert, president of the A Corporation, told the A Corporation board during its … [Read more...]

During a series of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) meetings that have taken place in recent weeks, some questions have surfaced over and over. With General Assembly held virtually this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, what will – and should – happen in 2022? With the pandemic reducing the funds available for both the national levels of the denomination and for local congregations, what can be done to cushion the blow and encourage Presbyterians to give? And whose voices are not at the church decision-making tables that need to be heard? On Oct. 15, the board of the PC(USA), A Corporation, the corporate expression of the denomination, began its two-day virtual fall meeting. That included a 45-minute conversation with the co-moderators of the 2020 General Assembly, Elona Street-Stewart and Gregory Bentley. The co-moderators said they had just announced a new book study – asking Presbyterians to study together Edgar Villanueva’s book “Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous … [Read more...]