wfn.org | Per Capita Reserves to Publish Every-household Publication into

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

1999 
25-February-1998 
98067 
 
    Per Capita Reserves Authorized to Publish 
    Every-household Publication into 1999 
 
    by Alexa Smith 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-The General Assembly Council has approved a 
half-million-dollar subsidy from per capita reserves to keep the 
denomination's popular new every-household publication going through 1998, 
with more funds earmarked for 1999. 
 
    Furthermore, a task force chaired by General Assembly Council (GAC) 
member Diane Wheeler of Detroit was assigned the job of bringing 
recommendations to the April meeting of the GAC's Executive Committee for 
funding the newsletter beyond 1999. 
 
    The General Assembly Council launched "Presbyterians - Being Faithful 
to Jesus Christ" last February with no budget.  Funds totaling $250,000 to 
publish the first two issues of the new publication came from a 1996 
General Assembly mission budget surplus. 
 
    Circulation for the free journal has climbed from 200,000 for the first 
issue to nearly 575,000.  Circulation jumped by more than 300,000 in 
January alone as the third issue went to press. 
 
    "Circulation continues to increase, so costs continue to increase," 
said the denomination's communication officer, Gary Luhr, who added that 
churches have been sending in their mailing lists and the Synod of Living 
Waters has incorporated the tabloid into its own every-household 
publication. Two other synods also are looking at that option.  "With this 
[money], we'll have enough to get through 1998 and we'll probably have 
enough for a couple of issues in 1999." 
 
    Pressure to publish some kind of every-household publication has been 
in existence for at least 50 years.  Recently, two former General Assembly 
moderators, the Rev. Robert Bohl of Prarie Village, Kan., and the Rev. John 
Buchanan of Chicago have made the creation of such a publication high 
profile. 
 
    But an informal fund-raising drive led by Bohl and Buchanan has turned 
up little cash.  "I don't have an answer in terms of the fiscal mechanics 
of getting [the newsletter published].  I wish I did, but I don't," 
Buchanan told the Presbyterian News Service about his own fund-raising 
efforts. 
 
    Buchanan said donors he's approached expect "responsible communication" 
from the non-profit organizations who solicit their money - and they expect 
a similar courtesy from a church they already support financially.  "I'm 
not able to be persuasive," he said,  "[but] with the combination of 
publications - `NEWS BRIEFS,' `Presbyterians Today' and the new publication 
- we've got the right things in place. 
 
    "It's a combination that the church wanted and needed." 
 
    Initially skeptical that another publication was what the church 
needed, Luhr, too, is a convert to the idea.  Some recipients have even 
sent small contributions to help keep the newsletter going, he said. 
Recently, a $1,500 gift was received from the Texas Presbyterian Foundation 
in Dallas. 
 
    "The response has shown there was an unexpressed interest in getting 
more information about what the church is doing," Luhr said, "and 
`Presbyterians - Being Faithful to Jesus Christ' is helping meet it." 
 
    Currently on a quarterly publishing schedule, the newsletter is 
designed to provide readers with brief synopses of national and 
international church news, provide information about denominational 
resources for ministry and mission, and to help local congregations 
identify ways to be involved in the wider mission of the denomination, 
through such activities as work projects, mission trips or disaster relief. 
 
    "[The newsletter] is basically set up to make it now," Stated Clerk the 
Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick told the Presbyterian News Service after the GAC 
meeting.  "It is guaranteed for 1998 ... and to continue through the middle 
of 1999. 
 
    "That gives time to develop other sources of funds." 
 
    Per capita reserve funding of the publication has been limited to 
$100,000 for 1999.  Kirkpatrick said per capita budget planners are 
reluctant  to continue tapping dwindling per capita reserves, which are 
harder to replenish as membership drops, or to increase per capita 
contributions. 
 
     Per capita (per member) dollars are contributed by each congregation 
and pay for the denomination's operating expenses. 
 
    Luhr said the task force looking at longer term funding for the 
every-household publication will be considering limited amounts of 
advertising or modest subscription rates to cover publishing and mailing 
costs.  Special gifts are also an option, he added. 
 
    The GAC has already budgeted $350,000 to publish the tabloid in 1999. 

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