wfn.org | Title: WCC approves new membership contributions system

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
2 September 2003

CENTRAL COMMITTEE					     16  

WCC approves new system for calculating membership contributions 

The World Council of Churches' (WCC) Central Committee yesterday approved a
new system for calculating membership contributions.  

In introducing the proposal to the Central Committee, its Finance Committee
vice moderator, Dean Anders Gadegaard, emphasized that the new system was
developed after much discussion, in an effort to reach a method that is
"fair, transparent and objectively determined for all members".  

The new membership contribution calculation is based on the size of the
church, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country (or countries)
where it is located.  

Church size is determined by membership data submitted by the churches
themselves when applying for allocation of seats at the WCC's forthcoming
ninth assembly. A minimum contribution is linked to size, which is then
lowered, based on a comparison between the GDP of the country concerned and
that of the USA, the country with the world's highest GDP.   

In specific cases where church members' income is significantly lower than
the national average, the church can request an adjustment, to be authorized
by the Finance Committee.  

Churches which currently contribute more than the figure calculated in the
new system are requested to maintain their level of contribution.  

The new system will be introduced as from 1 January 2004, with the first year
seen as a transition period.  

The new system is part of a membership campaign that aims to raise WCC
membership income to CHF 10 million by 2006, the time of the ninth assembly,
with all member churches making a minimum contribution of 1,000 CHF.   

In encouraging the churches to pay their membership contributions under the
new calculation, WCC general secretary Rev Dr. Konrad Raiser says that the
goal of 10 million CHF comes from a decision at the Harare assembly that
sought to ensure that the core structure of the WCC as a fellowship of
churches is funded without any outside financial pressures.  

Previously, all member churches were simply asked to contribute to the WCC,
with a minimum contribution set at 1,000 CHF. In 2002, 226 of the 342 member
churches paid a membership contribution, up from 163 in 2001. The total
income from membership contributions in 2002 was 6.5 million CHF.  

WCC Central Committee documents are available on the Web at:  
http://www2.wcc-coe.org/ccdocuments2003.nsf 

For further information, please contact the Media Relations Office, tel: +41
(0)22 791 64 21 /61 53

**********

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which
meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in
1948 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary
Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

World Council of Churches
Media Relations Office
Tel: (41 22) 791 6153 / 791 6421
Fax: (41 22) 798 1346
E-mail: media@wcc-coe.org 
Web: www.wcc-coe.org 

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