wfn.org | Belt-tightening begins at the Presbyterian Center

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #7097 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

19-March-2002
02110

Belt-tightening begins at the Presbyterian Center

Cuts will be made by end of April

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - Staff leaders at the Presbyterian Center have started the wheels rolling that will, by the end of April, produce the largest overhaul of the General Assembly Council's (GAC) mission program since 1993. 

Faced with a projected shortfall of almost $3 million in the unrestricted 2003 General Assembly mission budget and the need to reallocate $2.4 million more to fund new GAC priorities next year, the Staff Leadership Team (executive director John Detterick and deputy director Kathy Lueckert, the three ministry division directors, and a number of other GAC officials) are readying proposals to trim $4 million from the existing General Assembly mission program in order to balance the 2003 budget.

The $3 million shortfall for next year lies in four areas: 

*	a $500,000 reduction in income from Presbyterian Women; 

*	$1 million less in bequests and annuities than earlier anticipated; 

*	a decline of $900,000 in investment income; 

*	and the need to reallocate $530,000 of unrestricted funds to programs that have previously been funded by the restricted portion of the mission budget.

New GAC priorities which will require an additional $2.4 million include:

*	$1 million to fund the first year of the Mission Initiative, a targeted campaign to raise $40 million over the next five years for overseas mission personnel and new church development;

*	$500,000 - in addition to the $250,000 already budgeted - for the new We Believe curriculum;

*	and $900,000 for employee compensation adjustments at the Presbyterian Center.

Nearly $1.4 million of the total cuts and reallocations will be realized by appropriating reserves ($720,000) and eliminating a previously budgeted $610,000 allocation to the church's capital reserves.

In contrast to the 1993 "shape and form" downsizing - when 185 jobs were cut to save $7 million but no programs were eliminated - Detterick and Lueckert insist that the current reductions will include "strategic" elimination of some General Assembly programs. Lueckert says a few dozen positions will be eliminated as a result of the program cuts.

On March 8, 22 national staff members who are retirement age were offered an incentive-laden "voluntary retirement package." They have until April 22 to accept or decline. That will be the last day of work for those who accept the offer, though they will have one week to change their minds.

Between April 4 and April 19, the SLT will review recommendations from the division directors - the Rev. Marian McClure of Worldwide Ministries, the Rev. Curtis Kearns of National Ministries and the Rev. Don Campbell of Congregational Ministries - and from Mission Support Services director Joey Bailey and Lueckert for the $4 million in cuts and will prepare its budget cutting proposal.

The SLT has set preliminary targets for the $4 million reduction, based upon the percentage of the unrestricted budget each entity receives:

*	Congregational Ministries - $629,000
*	National Ministries - $1,352,000
*	Worldwide Ministries - $1,044,000
*	Mission Support Services - $448,000
*	Executive and Administration - $527,000

Detterick and Lueckert said those numbers may shift some as strategic 
decisions are made.

On April 22, the SLT is scheduled to send its proposal to the GAC Executive Committee. On that day, staff members whose positions have been proposed for elimination will be notified.

The Mission Support Services Committee will meet by telephone conference call April 25 to formulate a budget for 2003 and the Executive Committee will meet April 26-27 to approve the budget recommendations that will go to the full GAC in June. 

On April 29, staff members whose positions have been eliminated will receive official notification, including the "Reduction In Force" compensation packages they will receive under the General Assembly's personnel policies. Some staff will leave immediately. Nearly all staff members whose positions are eliminated will be gone by May 3.
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