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Bequest will fund jeopardized mission co-worker positions


From "News Service" <newsservice@ctr.pcusa.org>
Date Mon, 05 Jun 2006 10:37:25 -0400

Presbyterian News Service

06279

Bequest will fund jeopardized mission co-worker positions Woman's unrestricted gift saves 15 missionaries' jobs

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE -- A large unrestricted bequest from a Presbyterian woman will be used to maintain the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s overseas missionary force at its current level, General Assembly Council (GAC) Executive Director John Detterick said today (May 19).

The bequest comes on the heels of a May 1 GAC downsizing and restructuring that reduced the PC(USA)'s full-time missionary staff from 275 to 235 and threatened to shrink it further. The 40 positions were eliminated by attrition without pulling any missionaries from the field.

When it adopted the May 1 reorganization in late April, the GAC announced that the missionary force would have to be further reduced by at least 15 persons unless additional funding was found.

In response to the bequest, the GAC's executive committee voted Thursday (May 18) to increase the General Assembly mission budget by $315,000 in 2007 and $335,000 in 2008 -- the amount needed to keep those 15 missionarie s in the field.

A May 1 budget analysis noted: "Further, because of a decline in Directed Mission Support (DMS) funds (designated money from congregations and presbyteries to support overseas mission workers) we anticipate a reduction of an additional number of mission workers still to be determined ."

The DMS shortfall is now projected at $800,000 in each of the next two years. Combined with the exhaustion of some spendable endowments, Detterick told the GAC today that "the shortfall in funding for mission personnel is in the neighborhood of $2.5 million.

The bequest will also cover that shortfall, but Detterick said "as good as this news is, we all must acknowledge that it is a short term solution. In two years we need to find funding to replace the surprise gift*"

DMS giving for missionary support fell from $6.4 million in 1995 to less than $5.2 million in 2005, though it did increase last year by more than $160,000 over 2004.

"This church has a long tradition of strong support for international mission personnel and I believe that commitment continues," Detterick told the Presbyterian News Service, 'but it is not reflected in current giving. My generation is not coming forward the way my parents' generation did."

Detterick told GAC members in his "weekly letter" that he was "embarrassed that we had not identified this problem earlier," but told PNS "the process for building a budget around the Mission Work Plan has added an extra level of complexity" to the GAC's budgeting efforts.

"Funding of missionaries comes from a variety of sources, which makes the financial calculations for each missionary different," he added. "This has made all of these calculations very difficult."

The "Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts and Hands" -- a five-year, $40 million campaign to raise funds for church development in this country and new overseas missionaries above the current level -- is another variable in the PC(USA)'s missionary funding mix. The campaign has reached more than 50 percent of its goal and was intended to be split 50-50 between new churches and new missionaries. To date, $22 million has been earmarked by donors for new churches and about $4 million for missionaries.

"The Mission Initiative is important for adding to the base of our missionary force," Detterick said. "That number may go up as the Joining Hearts and Hands campaign adds new missionary positions. It is good that we are now assured of maintaining a solid base of mission personnel while the campaign focuses on adding more positions."

Detterick concluded his "weekly letter" by telling GAC members: "I'm sure you join me in giving thanks to God for the Presbyterian woman who made possible the unrestricted gift to the General Assembly Council. We don't know much about her yet except that she died 40 years ago. May our generation be as faithful in remembering the church in our wills as her's was."


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