wfn.org | PRESBYTERY OF SOUTHERN KANSAS HURT BY MISSING FUNDS

[PCUSA_NEWS@ecunet.org]

17-May-95

95156  PRESBYTERY OF SOUTHERN KANSAS HURT BY MISSING FUNDS 
 
                      by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
WICHITA, Kan.--Already facing "downsizing" because of shrinking income, the 
Presbytery of Southern Kansas has been dealt a severe blow -- the apparent 
embezzlement of more than a quarter of a million dollars. 
 
     On April 6, the Rev. Donald L. Brown, interim executive presbyter, 
sent a letter to the presbytery's 79 churches informing them that "we [the 
presbytery] discovered discrepancies in our accounts involving a 
substantial amount of money." 
 
     In a May 9 interview with the Presbyterian News Service, Brown said 
the loss is "about" $276,000 over three calendar years, 1993-1995. 
 
     He said police are investigating the apparent embezzlement but no 
charges have been filed to date.  The presbytery has, however, terminated 
bookkeeper Debbie Davis "and her lawyer is talking to our lawyer," 
according to Brown. 
 
     The financial hit comes at a time when the presbytery is already 
considering staff reductions due to declining revenues.  The presbytery's 
operating budget in 1994 totaled $435,000. 
 
     Layoff notices have gone out to some presbytery staff members, Brown 
said, in anticipation of expected presbytery approval at its May 31-June 1 
meeting of a recommendation from a self-study committee that the presbytery 
staff be reduced from five to two full-time persons. 
 
     "This is really tough stuff," Brown said, "because the self-study 
would have resulted in a reduction in force anyway, but this really 
accelerates the timeline." 
 
     Reaction by churches in the presbytery has been "mixed," Brown said. 
"Some want to offer us help to get over this hump, but others are saying, 
See, you can't be trusted.'" 
 
     In his letter to churches, Brown offered assurances that "all 
procedures and policies are being reviewed to determine changes which must 
be made to prevent the possibility of a recurrence of an act of this sort." 
 
     Brown, former director of the Education and Congregational Nurture 
Ministry Unit in Louisville and, more recently, the Stony Point (N.Y.) 
Conference Center, has only been in his interim post in Southern Kansas 
since January 1, 1995.  
 
 

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For more information contact Presbyterian News Service
  Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Louisville, KY 40202
  phone 502-569-5504            fax 502-569-8073  
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