wfn.org | Committee Presses For More Funds

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

GA99054 
22-June-1999 
 
        Mission Budgets Committee Presses For More Funds  
            For Mission Personnel, Church Development 
 
FORT WORTH The Assembly Committee on Mission Budgets has adopted 
recommendations seeking increased funding for mission personnel and church 
development programs. 
     However, the committee stopped short of specifying specific amounts or 
percentages of the General Assembly mission budget, as a number of 
overtures had sought. 
     The committee voted to answer overtures 99-6 from the Synod of the 
Northeast and 99- 18 from Seattle Presbytery   both of which sought 5 
percent off the top of all unrestricted contributions from congregations 
and presbyteries for new church development and church redevelopment   and 
overture 99-15 from Mission Presbytery   which sought a 15 percent rake- 
off   by asking that up to $500,000 from uncommitted reserves be used to 
bolster current church development grant programs in the year 2000 and that 
more money be budgeted for those programs beginning with the 2001 budget. 
     The committee asked the Assembly to "reaffirm the strong desire of the 
church at large that more resources be given" for "new church development, 
redevelopment and racial ethnic church development."  It also asked the 
Assembly to declare that it "shares the frustration of the church that more 
resources have not been allocated ... as has been repeatedly requested by 
past General Assemblies." 
     The committee also approved and sent on to the Assembly an appeal to 
the General Assembly Council and executive director John Detterick to 
develop "a creative funding plan" as quickly as possible to raise more 
money for additional mission personnel in the United States and overseas. 
     The Council has begun work on a feasibility study to increase mission 
personnel support in response to an overture passed by last year's General 
Assembly which envisioned creation of an $80 million endowment to fund 
additional mission personnel. 
     Highly motivated by reports that the Worldwide Ministries Division 
will experience a $3 million shortfall in funding for mission personnel in 
2000 as accumulated restricted reserves are spent down this year, the 
committee added a note of urgency in responding to the progress report on 
the funding initiative from the Council. 
     Still smarting from a Bicentennial Fund Campaign that barely reached 
50 percent of its goal, mission funding officials advocated a cautious 
approach to launching another major fund- raising campaign right now. 
Committee members heeded that advice, declining to put a firm time-line in 
place for raising the money and instructing "that care be taken in the 
development and implementation of the creative funding plan." 
     In other business, the committee endorsed and sent on to the Assembly 
for its approval a 2000 General Assembly mission budget totaling 
$128,243,848.  The budget is $3 million lower than 1999, but includes 
increases in unified and select (restricted) giving, the two predictable 
categories of mission giving.  The decrease is in the supplemental 
category, money that is spent only if and as it comes in   such as money 
given in response to disaster appeals and extra commitment donations. 
 
Jerry Van Marter 

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