wfn.org | GAC Seeks Solutions to PC(USA) Funding "Crisis"

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

2-October-1997 
97385 
 
    GAC Seeks Solutions to PC(USA) Funding "Crisis" 
 
    by Bill Lancaster 
 
SAN ANTONIO, Texas--The General Assembly Council (GAC) has approved a set 
of nine recommendations that offer new ideas about and solutions to the 
funding "crisis" in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). 
 
    The recommendations came from the GAC's Comprehensive Strategy for 
Mission Funding Work Group, established by the Council in 1995 and chaired 
by Gay Mothershed of Grace Presbytery.  They were passed Sept. 26 with few 
amendments and now will go to the 210th General Assembly (1998) for 
approval as part of a 71-page report on the denomination's funding 
predicament. 
 
    "The funding of our national Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)  mission 
budgets has reached a crisis level we can no longer afford to ignore," said 
the executive summary of the report.  It also said, "The wide range of 
theological perspectives in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)  has stretched 
the fabric of the church.  While we accept our diversity as a fact of life, 
it is a major obstacle given the importance of theological convictions 
related to the funding crisis at both the congregational and denominational 
levels." 
 
    And even though the report says that the system of unified 
(unrestricted) funding for the church is "no longer viable," Mothershed 
told the Council the work group was not proposing a "donor-driven" 
approach.  The work group, she added, believes individuals and governing 
bodies can have a commitment to the connectional system of the church 
without automatically giving all funds unrestricted. 
 
    The recommendations are 
 
    1) that the GAC, the Presbyterian Foundation and middle governing 
bodies provide training of pastors and stewardship officials in synods and 
presbyteries to increase support for Presbyterian mission 
 
    2) that presbytery Committees on Ministry and Preparation for Ministry 
and the seminaries include instruction on the theology of stewardship, 
personal financial management and financial planning in their preparatory 
work with candidates for ordained ministry 
 
    3) that the GAC share and provide stewardship resources and models that 
are working with others throughout the church 
 
    4) that the General Assembly "affirm that the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.) is one church with one mission validated by sessions, 
presbyteries, synods and the General Assembly and that this mission is 
appropriately funded by appeals to the whole church within and beyond 
governing body boundaries or budgets," thereby loosening restrictions on 
who solicits and funds mission in the name of the denomination 
 
    5) that "greater integration" of the stewardship function at the 
General Assembly be accomplished by redefining the roles of General 
Assembly staff with stewardship responsibilities and by seeking better 
cooperation between them 
 
    6) that presbyteries challenge congregations to give a minimum of 10 
percent of their regular contributions to Presbyterian mission beyond their 
bounds and challenge congregations already giving 10 percent to general 
mission to increase that by 1 percent per year 
 
    7) that governing bodies using per capita apportionments as part of 
their budgeting "clearly communicate the purposes for which it is used to 
their sessions in a timely manner" 
 
    8) that the GAC continue to expand its use of electronic media 
(PresbyNet, PresbyTel, the Internet, teleconferencing, electronic versions 
of print publications) to help Presbyterians learn more about Presbyterian 
mission 
 
    9) that the GAC establish an innovative program called "Come and See 
 ... We'll Meet You Halfway with a Money-Back Guarantee!" in which sessions 
giving at a certain level to General Assembly mission will be invited to 
send two representatives to selected General Assembly mission projects, 
with expenses for the visits shared by the session and the General 
Assembly.  If after the visit the representatives are not satisfied that 
their money is being well spent, their share of the cost of the visit will 
be refunded. 
 
    One significant amendment rejected the work group's call for 
"consolidating" the basic stewardship functions in one Louisville office. 
The Council instead called for "increasing cooperation among" these 
functions, which currently are lodged in several places in each of the 
three major divisions, according to the report. 
 
    This change was pressed by the Congregational Ministries Division 
Committee, which currently houses the Stewardship Education and Mission 
Interpretation and Promotion functions.  Mission Funding is located in the 
National Ministries Division.  Long-range planning resides in the Office of 
the Executive Director. 

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