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07614 September 26, 2007
Financial woes plague Stony Point
Business plan outlines possible way out for the New York conference center
by Toya Richards Hill Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE - Severely in debt and dependent on advances from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to keep it afloat, Stony Point Center has submitted a business plan that weighs the conference center's options for the future.
"Financial results for the Center have been disappointing, and the Center is not financially self-sufficient," the executive committee of the governing board of Stony Point Center said in its business plan. "Over the past years, approximately $800,000 has been advanced by the PC(USA) to support the Center's operations."
The business plan for Stony Point, located in New York's Hudson River Valley about 30 miles north of Manhattan, was submitted in response to a request by Joey Bailey, the PC(USA)'s deputy executive director for Shared Services, and the finance subcommittee of the GAC Shared Support Committee.
"Something has to be done to turn the situation around at Stony Point," Stony Point board chair Gary Batty told a joint meeting of the GAC Shared Support and Spirituality and Discipleship committees on Sept. 20. The meeting was part of the larger GAC meeting that took place Sept. 17-21.
"We are going into this process with our eyes wide open," he said.
The situation at Stony Point has reached a critical level in light of its indebtedness. As of Aug. 31, Stony Point had negative unrestricted assets of $607,905, and owed $911,494 to the GAC.
"The deficits have been covered by loans from the GAC," Bailey said. "We've kept them solvent."
"We've really got to move ahead with this post haste," he said. "The immediacy of the action is what's critical."
Among the causes of the trouble pointed out in the business plan are low occupancy, with groups coming mainly seasonally and on the weekends; "Spartan" conditions that are "not conducive to welcoming corporate customers"; and limited endowment.
Stony Point's roots date back to the late 1940s when the Gilmor family bequeathed the property to the denomination, which used it as a retreat for retired ministers and missionaries, and also as a training center for overseas missionaries.
Its facilities include three lodges, the Victorian Gilmor Sloane mansion and the Beta House complex. Batty acknowledged the buildings need improvements and are not up to standards for a certain clientele.
Three basic choices for what to do at Stony Point are outlined in the business plan: continue operations without significant change; discontinue operations and sell the property; or bring expenses into line with revenues "so as to operate on a basis that will reduce the cumulative historic mission cost to the PC(USA)."
Batty said continuing without significant change "is not an option," and that leadership has a number of short-term actions on the horizon. Key among those efforts is pinpointing additional income sources "to get the utilization of those facilities up," he said.
Emailing denomination leaders, especially in presbyteries in the Synod of the Northeast, and continuing program development with PC(USA) new-immigrant groups are among the revenue-enhancement recommendations in the business plan.
Additionally, "we've got to do some serious review and alteration of our expense picture," Batty said. That includes the goal of reducing staff costs by 10 percent, taking into account salaries, benefits and payroll taxes, and reducing food expenses by 10 percent.
Long-term actions outlined in the business plan include exploring possible partnership in mission with bodies such as the United Church of Christ and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, assessing the value of Stony Point property for possible sale packages, and developing an active marketing plan.
Also under discussion is shifting the scope of what's done at Stony Point. One proposal recommends creating an "International Residential Spiritual Community" of peacemakers who would live and study on site.
Bailey said the Shared Support Committee has asked the Stony Point board to report its progress to the committee at its February meeting, at which time the committee will determine what recommendation it will make to the GAC regarding the conference center.
Asked why the board had not considered leasing or selling the Stony Point property in the past, Batty answered that the board did not see that as its role. Bailey said the GAC owns the Stony Point property and its board members are "governing advisors."
"That was not in front of us as a task," but the board now has begun investigating what certain parcels are worth, Batty said.
The governing board "is taking all of this very seriously," he said, calling the business plan a "first step." "Our goal is to have Stony Point be a viable ministry of the church," and with time "we believe that we can make that happen."
Yet the question of whether or not Stony Point is a ministry that should even be kept is still swirling and was touched on several times during the meeting.
"All of this talk, in my mind, is the wrong discussion," said GAC member John Bolt. The worthiness of Stony Point's mission and how much the GAC is willing to pay to support it are the key questions, he said.
"I think we need to be intentional about having that conversation before we have a conversation further," said Bolt, a former member of the Stony Point board.
The Rev. Tom Taylor, the PC(USA)'s deputy executive director for mission, raised a similar concern. Is this a worthy investment, he asked?
Taylor said his concern is the daily financial losses occurring at Stony Point and "what other ministries are not getting funding because of that outgoing expense."
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