Overture seeks more accountability on budgets for PCUSA programs By John H. Adams The Layman Online Tuesday, May 13, 2003 To serve as a commissioner to the General Assembly, you need a sharp mind, a stout heart … and a strong back to tote the papers that are doled out by the pound. It's that ever-thickening pile of paper that contains the plan and the predicament of the Presbyterian Church (USA), although some things are not obvious. One dimension of the denomination that usually gets short shrift is its financial situation. The Presbytery of San Diego has submitted an overture to the 215th General Assembly that would give future General Assemblies an opportunity to wade more carefully through the numbers. "Proper stewardship of the resources that God gives the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is one of the most important activities that General Assembly commissioners do," the overture says. "Working through large and complicated budgets can be a difficult task, but it is one that ensures a more accountable and more efficient denomination for the next generation of Presbyterians." While calling for changes in the timeliness and manner that the General Assembly Council submits budget proposals, San Diego criticizes the way the process has been done in the past. The overture says budgets proposals should be sent to commissioners 45 days before the General Assembly convenes – not at the last minute, as sometimes has been the case. "Questions that commissioners could have answered before the General Assembly slowed down the budget process, and sometimes even went unanswered," the overture says. "The short committee meetings and the late arrival of the budget have limited commissioners' meaningful participation in the budget process. If the budget were made available well before the beginning of the assembly, commissioners may be better prepared and more effective during committee meetings." Besides giving commissioners a chance to assess budget figures before the convening of the General Assembly, Overture 03-05 calls for more detailed information and budget comparisons. Specifically, it asks the General Assembly to direct the General Assembly Council to submit complete details of budget and actual expenses, breaking down restricted and unrestricted giving, for each program and division. Furthermore, it calls on the denomination to post quarterly budget information on its Web site. "God has blessed our church with many financial resources given by faithful Presbyterians," the overture adds. "Recently, however, funding to the denomination has declined, causing painful budget cuts and staff layoffs." It notes that a study that proposed the denomination's new Mission Initiative Campaign "has identified what seems to be one cause for the decline: Donors have said, 'We don't have trust in where the dollars go.' If we ask our members to give substantial contributions to the work of the church – particularly with the start of the Mission Initiative – then it is important to let them know how their money is being used. Quarterly reports posted online and budgets available to commissioners help ensure transparent, open stewardship of God's resources." The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly responded to the overture by saying, essentially, that it was doing everything required. "Our review of the last four years indicates that the General Assembly Council and the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly have submitted the Mission and Per Capita budgets on a timely basis to the Stated Clerk and those reports were published and distributed to the commissioners prior to the convening of the General Assembly," COGA said. "[O]ur experience indicates that we have responded to commissioners questions prior to and during General Assembly meetings and know of no unanswered questions," COGA added. The General Assembly Committee on Mission Coordination and Budgets will consider the San Diego overture.

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