FORT WORTH, Texas – The Special Committee on Per-Capita Based Funding and National Church Financial Sustainability is starting to identify next steps — including developing a list of questions about finances in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) it wants to ask, and arranging a schedule of meetings with mid council leaders to talk about finances. The committee held its first in-person meeting May 13-15 in Fort Worth — well-aware of pending deadlines (Dec. 31 for the financial sustainability report and Feb. 21 for per capita). As the gathering came to a close, committee members voiced feelings of excitement, trepidation, of making progress and feeling a little in the fog. Part of the final morning of the meeting was spent with committee members divided into two work teams: one on per capita and one on financial sustainability. The per capita team is scheduling listening sessions with presbytery and synod leaders in the coming months. And the financial sustainability … [Read more...]

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...]