During a time of great anxiety, grieving and loneliness brought on by the coronavirus, the corporate work of the Presbyterian Church (U.SA.) goes on, even as circumstances are trying and innovation and collaboration have become valuable traits.
LOUISVILLE — The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board will meet via Zoom Wednesday though Friday. The agenda, available here, includes a 2021-22 budget presentation and discussion, a presentation on the coronavirus and its implications for ministry, and a feasibility study report on fundraising for Stony Point Center, which was being studied for a $10.3 million capital improvement campaign.
Wednesday’s Zoom call runs from 1:30 p.m. through 5 p.m., with a closed session scheduled from 3:45 p.m. through the 5 p.m. recess. The Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, the PMA’s president and executive director, will make a budget presentation beginning at 2:20. Board members will have time to respond to her presentation before entering into closed session.
On Thursday, the board’s administrative committees (Personnel & Nominating and Resource Allocation & Stewardship) will meet separately at 10 a.m., with the board’s three program committees (Mid Councils, Nurture the Body and Outreach to the World) meeting separately at 11:30 a.m. The board meets in a plenary session beginning at 2 p.m., with the coronavirus presentation set to begin at 2:15 p.m. Thursday’s recess is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. No closed session is scheduled for that day.
On Friday, the board will consider committee reports beginning at 10:20 a.m. The Stony Point Feasibility Study Report is scheduled for 11 a.m., with prayer and then adjournment scheduled for noon.
2021-22 budget
The proposed unified budget — per capita, mission and Administrative Services Group — is about $90.5 million for 2021 and about $92.6 million for 2022. Those budget figures must be approved by the 224th General Assembly, which is scheduled to meet June 20-27 but could well occur during a June videoconference owing to the pandemic.
The proposed budgets are based on a pending apportionment rate of $9.99 in 2021 and $10.50 in 2022, reflecting a membership reduction of 4.5% year-over-year.
The budgets can be viewed independently, according to the report by the board’s Resource Allocation & Stewardship Committee, “but the underlying numbers and assumptions show the support and connectivity of each budget.”
Under the budget proposal, all new unexpected, unrestricted gifts or bequests of more than $50,000 received by the A Corporation will be shared according to a cost allocation formula of 20% to OGA and 80% to PMA.
Investment revenue makes up 21% of the revenue budgets for each year of the two-year budget cycle. Other income, such as income from the sale of offering envelopes and sales generated from everything including copies of Presbyterians Today and the Presbyterian Planning Calendar, are forecast to generate 18% of the 2021 revenue and 19% the following year’s revenue.
The proposed budget includes 533 full-time staff and 51 part-time staff. Salaries are budgeted to increase by 3% per year.
Stony Point Center
Following a study on fundraising by a consultant, CCS Fundraising, the board’s Coordinating Committee is recommending, “in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic which causes us to proceed carefully regarding our next steps,” that the board authorize Moffett to:
• Implement a focused exploratory planning phase for a multi-year national campaign, with a Northeast regional focus, that has a preliminary working goal of $4 million plus a campaign budget, down from the $10.3 million originally envisioned.
• Engage “strong volunteer campaign leadership with an emphasis on a diverse group of individuals who have the interest and capacity to open doors to gifts for Stony Point.”
• Enact initial Matthew 25 programming at Stony Point Center before going public with the campaign.
• Approve priorities as recommended by the other consultant on the project, Run River, including private bathrooms in lodges; solar power; landscaping; other facility upgrades, such as window replacement, keycards and a commercial laundry; and enhancements to the Evergreen building, to modernize administration, conference and dining spaces.
According to a 2020 Baseline Year report prepared by PMA’s Theology, Formation & Evangelism, the pandemic has placed on hold or significantly altered work on a number of projects, including development of marketing, financial and development plans; staff structure; and site/facility improvements.
“The current disruption of business at Stony Point Center is clearly a crisis,” the report states. “The impact on finances, staffing and groups is plainly catastrophic. It will require heroic and creative solutions from many persons.”
But it’s also an operational crisis, “and every possible operational response must be fully explored. It should only be a measure of extreme last resort to change strategy as a result of an operational issue. Strategy may be slowed and may need to be adjusted but should not be sacrificed … Reconfiguring staff, developing programmatic initiatives and making improvements to facilities should all continue to proceed on as realistic a schedule as possible.”
Two major initiatives from Compassion, Peace & Justice (CPJ) ministries took significant steps forward Friday during the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board (PMAB) winter meeting and will be up for approval by General Assembly 224, June 20 to 27.
The second day of the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) board winter meeting — which met jointly Thursday with the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly — concluded with presentations from two groups addressing issues of race and gender equity within the church’s national offices and in communities across the country.
Rather than tell Thursday’s joint meeting of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board about cultural humility, the Revs. Denise Anderson and Shanea Leonard showed those in attendance by inviting local voices to share their experiences.
A rare and rousing doubleheader sermon — one by the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett with the second by the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II — launched a combined gathering Thursday of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board.
Meeting jointly all day Thursday in Baltimore, the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board and the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly will also meet separately Wednesday and Friday as both bodies take care of business items leading up to the 224th General Assembly set for June 20-27, also in Baltimore.
Proposals including shifting the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s funds development, interpretation and education function into the PC(USA)’s Administrative Services Group are among those the Moving Forward Implementation Commission is nearly set to include in its report to the 224th General Assembly, due Feb. 21.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) took a step Thursday that could eventually lead to divestment from a trio of oil and gas companies for environmental and climate change-related reasons — if General Assembly commissioners agree this summer.