wfn.org | Congregational Ministries Division Discusses Ways to Increase

[PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org]

2-October-1996 
 
 
96389      Congregational Ministries Division Discusses 
            Ways to Increase Shrinking Unified Giving 
 
                         by Julian Shipp 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Rolling up its collective sleeves here Sept. 27-28, the 
Congregational Ministries Division (CMD) Committee devoted a significant 
portion of its time together discussing ways to increase shrinking unified, 
or unrestricted, giving, which will affect future budgets. 
 
     With more than 25 percent of the division's $20 million budget covered 
by unified funds, a projected $2.4 million decrease in unified giving to 
the 1988 General Assembly mission budget spells potential problems for CMD. 
Nonetheless, in an effort to diminish the impact of these dwindling funds, 
division officials agreed to develop a plan of action and implementation. 
 
     The Rev. Blair R. Monie of Dallas, CMD Committee chair, cautioned the 
church against slipping into what he described as a "predictable pattern of 
declining giving" followed by budget cuts. 
 
      "I get real concerned when we say to our churches every two years or 
so that budget cuts are going to give us less money then we had in previous 
years," Monie said. "I think that this has a tendency to become a sort of 
self-fulfilling prophecy and my concern is what we say to the church in the 
meantime." 
 
     Summarizing the division's proposals to deal with the projected 
decline in unified funds, the Rev. Eunice B. Poethig, CMD director, said 
the division must 
 
     *    increase revenue in unified giving, Special Offerings, and fees 
          for events 
     *    give more attention to fees for clients and Special Offerings 
          promotion 
     *    increase the sale of resources 
     *    reduce staff and programs, but only as a last resort. 
 
     "I don't think dramatic-enough action has been taken yet [to address 
declining unified giving]," Poethig told the Presbyterian News Service. 
"But what I do think is positive is the mood of the General Assembly 
Council members, especially the new ones, of assuming that they need to 
take a very active role in interpreting the mission of the church to their 
congregations, to their presbyteries and to their synods. 
 
     "I think the analysis of a lack of communication between the governing 
bodies all across the system and congregations is a fair one," Poethig 
said. "And I know from having worked for the presbytery how hard it is for 
people who work for the governing body system to get on the agendas of the 
presbyteries. But once we collectively begin to address the churchwide 
problems, then I think people are going to do something about it." 
 
     The Rev. John G. McFayden of Woodbridge, Va., CMD Stewardship 
Committee chair, said he'd like to see the division become more "proactive" 
to economic trends. For example, he said, one of the things the Mission 
Interpretation and Promotion area has committed to do is make congregations 
more aware of what programs their unified dollars support. 
 
     "I think we do an exceptional job of promoting the Special Offerings 
and interpreting those," McFayden said. "But now we're taking some steps to 
be more deliberate and intentional in promoting the general mission that is 
supported by unified giving. To that end, you will see a series of 
[promotional materials] coming out that are based on the [1997]  Mission 
Yearbook' that give interpretation of missions supported by unified 
giving." 
      
     But  all CMD Committee members do not share the same philosophical 
perspective. For instance, the Rev. K.C. Ptomey Jr. of Nashville, Tenn., a 
CMD Committee member, said he believes there is "nothing the denomination 
can do about unified funding from the top" and that the church "ought to be 
realistic about the shrinking of unified funding." 
 
     "I tend to be a person who thinks we have to deal with reality," 
Ptomey told the Presbyterian News Service. "I don't think it's just a 
denominational thing.  I think the decrease in the support of the 
denomination is cultural. The whole cultural move is away from centralized 
bureaucracy and supporting national organizations and taking things more 
down to the grassroots level. 
 
     "I don't think positive thinking is going to solve the problem," 
Ptomey said. "But I do think Presbyterians, like all other Americans in 
this culture, are much less enamored of national programs and are much more 
supportive of local mission efforts or those they can be personally 
involved in. It seems to me the direction we ought to take is to try to 
find ways in which we can enable congregations to do that rather than to 
try to increase unified giving to support national entities that we think 
are important." 
 
     CMD's work falls into four basic categories: 
 
     *    providing direct resources to congregations and Presbyterians -- 
          for example, curriculum, stewardship materials, and educational, 
          inspirational/events such as the Pastor as Theologian, Older 
          Adult Ministries, the Peacemaking Program and youth/young adult 
          ministries 
     *    maintaining a system of educational institutions that supplement 
          the ministries of congregations, such as conference centers, 
          presbytery resource centers, cooperative  programs with 
          theological institutions, and maintaining networks of specialized 
          ministries 
     *    providing services to General Assembly Council (GAC) program 
          areas and other entities that provide direct services to 
          congregations -- for example, Media and Research Services and 
          Mission Interpretation and Promotion 
     *    providing opportunities for congregations to be involved with the 
          global mission of the church through mission interpretation, 
          Special Offerings and participation in programs such as 
          peacemaking. 

------------
For more information contact Presbyterian News Service
  phone 502-569-5504             fax 502-569-8073  
  E-mail PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org   Web page: http://www.pcusa.org 

--