The board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation, has new leadership. Meeting via Zoom Aug. 8, the board elected as its co-chairs Chris Mason, a ruling elder and lawyer from New York, and Bill Teng, a pastor from Florida. For the past two years, Mason has been serving as the A Corporation co-chair (along with Bridget-Anne Hampden, a ruling elder from Charlotte); he was elected for an additional one-year term in that role. Teng was elected for a two-year term as co-chair – with the board using a co-chair model but with staggered terms of service, to allow for new leadership to rotate in. Hampden will continue serving on the A Corporation board but not in a co-chair role. Cynthia Campbell, who chairs the board’s Nominating, Governance and Personnel Committee, said this model of leadership allows the co-chairs to share responsibility, but the staggered terms of service will allow for a succession of responsibilities as well. She and Mason thanked Hampden … [Read more...]

The plan for now is this: The 2020 General Assembly will be asked to approve a General Assembly per capita rate for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) of $9.99 per member for 2021 and $10.50 per member for 2022. That’s according to a unified budget proposal (A.102 Unified Budget)  that the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board (PMAB) and Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) will consider in meetings those groups are holding virtually April 15-17. The per capita rate currently is $8.95 per member – so the proposed new rates would mean an increase from the current rate of $1.04 per member for 2021 and $1.55 per member for 2022. But here’s a caveat: The COVID-19 pandemic is having financial repercussions around the globe – including for the PC(USA). So denominational officials are trying to come up with their best projections of the impact the coronavirus will have on denominational finances – and may adjust the proposed budget by May 21, which is the 30-day … [Read more...]