Note #9253 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06221 April 18, 2006
Decisions near on budget cuts, layoffs
PC(USA) leaders trying to trim $9.15 million
from spending blueprint 'in a pastoral manner'
by Jerry L. Van Marter
LOUISVILLE - A 16-person staff team is scheduled to finish its work on a drastically reduced General Assembly mission budget for 2007-2008 today (April 18).
That will pave the way for General Assembly Council (GAC) Executive Director John Detterick to add finishing touches and start sending it out to GAC members by Friday, April 21.
In an April 17 interview with the Presbyterian News Service, Detterick said the trimmed-down budget sent out this week will be in "Mission Work Plan (MWP) format, broken down by objective." A detailed budget, including proposed program and staff cuts needed to balance it, will be given to council members when they arrive on April 26 for their four-day meeting here.
The MWP, approved by the GAC in February, includes four goal areas - Evangelism and Witness, Justice and Compassion, Spirituality and Discipleship, and Leadership and Vocation - and eight objectives. It is the sole basis for the budget decisions now being made.
Detterick announced in mid-March that $9.15 million must be permanently removed from the mission budget between now and 2008 - $2.7 million from the unrestricted 2006 budget, $3.51 million from the 2007-2008 unrestricted mission budget, and $2.94 million from the restricted portion of the 2007-2008 budget.
The current mission budget, restricted and unrestricted, is $113.9 million.
The largest previous budget downsizing since Presbyterian reunion in 1983 came in 1993, when $7 million was cut from the mission budget, resulting in the elimination of 140 national staff positions.
Asked about current staff morale, Detterick said: "Staff knows that this is major, and are most apprehensive. I suspect that no one feels safe." He said he knows that "many in the church are praying for our staff, and I covet their prayers."
Because the GAC's budget deliberations next week will include staff cuts, it will be meeting for about 10 hours in closed session. Final action on the mission budget is due on Saturday, April 29. Presbyterian Center staff - who now number about 600 - will be notified of their employment status on Monday, May 1.
GAC Deputy Executive Director Helen Locklear told PNS: "Some are very anxious. Some are excited about the opportunity to do mission in the new way the Mission Work Plan envisions. But this process is very difficult for everyone."
Detterick said that "in a way, this process has been much more stimulating" than any other budget-building he has been involved in during his eight-year tenure as executive director.
"To start with program work in new formats that are critical to achievement of the eight objectives is fascinating," he said. "In the past, we've looked at various components of our mission separately, but this looks across the whole organization."
One benefit of the current process, Detterick added, is broader participation. A group of 40 mid-level managers have been meeting regularly to provide input to an eight-member Mission Work Plan "core team" and the eight-member Staff Leadership Team of senior executives, who have hammered out the details of the new budget.
"I understand that in the traditional business world, it's 'insane' (PNS' word) to do it this way," Detterick noted, "but I appreciate what we're doing here, that we respect honesty and the capacity for staff to reflect and make helpful suggestions. Our knowledge base is much better because of their input."
That doesn't make the tough decisions ahead any easier, he added. "In the corporate world, the bottom line is the measure. Here we're more people-oriented, and that makes the decisions much harder."
Locklear pointed out several ways the GAC is trying to take a pastoral approach to the impending layoffs. In addition to more generous severance packages than are often seen in the corporate sector, the PC(USA)'s Human Resources office is offering classes and workshops on everything from resume writing to job-interview techniques to "change management" and stress reduction.
A retired Methodist minister has been engaged as a special Presbyterian Center chaplain, and pastors from Mid-Kentucky Presbytery have been frequent visitors. "Betty Meadows (Mid-Kentucky's executive presbyter) has reached out in tremendous ways," Locklear said. "We're really trying to do this in a pastoral manner, reflecting our heritage and roots."
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