Assembly reaffirms voluntary nature of per-capita giving By Paula R. Kincaid The Layman Online Thursday, June 20, 2002 214th General Assembly Columbus, Ohio June 15-22, 2002 COLUMBUS, Ohio – Instead of replying with an affirmative or negative vote to Overture 2-15, on setting aside the authoritative interpretation that requires presbyteries to pay the per capita not paid by a session, the 214th General Assembly – stressing the voluntary nature of congregational giving – replied with a comment: "Whereas, giving to the church must be based upon a joyful response to God's providence and grace; and "Whereas, our polity is based upon connectional, covenantal relationship of governing bodies to one another and to higher governing bodies, the 214th General Assembly (2002) expresses its concern that, for many reasons, churches do not pay their share of per capita; therefore, be it "Resolved, That presbyteries are urged (1) to partner with those churches who struggle financially to pay per capita and (2) to work pastorally with those sessions who choose to withhold their per capita. Individual sessions are reminded that to withhold per capita puts at jeopardy the connectional and covenantal nature of our church that is affirmed by our ordination vows. "We call on the General Assembly agencies and presbyteries to work to alleviate the problems that lead to withholding so that the church may proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world. We believe that at such a time as this, it is not wise or prudent to change the current understanding of the way per capita is collected and transmitted. Nevertheless, presbyteries are encouraged to raise per capita payments from churches through voluntary payments in the spirit of 2 Corinthians 9:7: "Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." (NRSV) The recommendation came from the assembly's committee on General Assembly Procedures. James Thurman, committee chairman, said commissioners struggled with the issue. "We are concerned about this in the life of the church and felt answering this overture with the recommendation before you is the more pastoral response to and for our church," he said. An amendment to insert " that those churches not paying their per capita be reported to the 215th General Assembly with the notion as to the reason for not paying, specifically if it is a financial hardship or any other reason," was not approved by the assembly. In speaking against the amendment, Thurman said his sense was "that the committee did not want to approve or disapprove this particular motion and, at the end of a long period of discussion and debate and testimony, my opinion was that the committee felt that the interpretation of the Book of Order was quite in order and wanted to be as conciliatory as possible. The committee wanted to be sensitive to both sides of this issue."

Respond to this article

2002 General Assembly news index Home · News · PLC Publications · The Presbyterian Layman Online Reviews · Archives · History of the Lay Committee · Feedback · Links