Proposal to force sessions to pay per capita will not be heard by 2000 Assembly

By John H. Adams The Layman Online Monday, March 20, 2000 COLUMBUS, Ohio – A proposal that would force local congregations to pay all of their per-capita apportionments for presbytery, synod and the General Assembly will not be considered by the 2000 General Assembly. The proposal that would have effectively changed per capita from a requested contribution to a tax has been drafted by the Presbytery of Scioto Valley. Final action will not be taken in time to meet the deadline for the 2000 General Assembly. Any overture that would require a change in the Book of Order must be submitted at least 120 days before the General Assembly convenes, which will be June 24. The overture, if eventually approved by the General Assembly and presbyteries, would create "taxing" powers over local sessions for the first time. "There has never been a requirement that the dollar amount should be passed down to the sessions or to individual members," says C. Fred Jenkins, director of constitutional services for the Presbyterian Church (USA). Presbyteries collect per capita Meanwhile, though, some presbyteries are taking actions on their own to coax – or compel – local church sessions to pay their congregations' full per capita. The presbyteries serve as the collection agency for their own per-capita apportionments and those of the synod and General Assembly. The Presbytery of Northern New England has drafted a proposal would include language saying that "presbytery policy is that all member churches will pay their assessed per-capita amount." Furthermore, the proposal calls for a 3 percent surcharge on delinquent balances. While the presbytery may say that "all congregations will pay their assessed per capita," that is not required by the Book of Order. Nor are presbyteries allowed to punish sessions that withhold per capita as a matter of conscience. In a commentary on per-capita apportionments published in September 1999, Jenkins took note of a ruling handed down by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission in 1992. "The PJC held that the governing body may prepare and publish a list of churches that pay or do not pay according to a per-capita system, but a session may choose not to allocate part of its budget to pay a per-capita apportionment determined by higher governing bodies." 'Moral responsibility' "The PJC goes on to say the issue should not be dealt with in terms of requirements and punishments, but as an issue of moral responsibility to participate appropriately in funding the very processes and structure the session hopes to change," Jenkins said. That ruling was made in a high-profile case in which Central Presbyterian Church in Huntington, N.Y., withheld its presbytery per capita because the presbytery sponsored an event led by Dorothy Lunar Woman, a witch. The session of Central also objected to the use of per-capita funds to support the National Council of Churches. The presbytery responded with coercive action to collect the per capita – essentially barring Central Presbytery from any voice in presbytery. Central Church filed a complaint against the presbytery and won its case before the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission. The court said the presbytery erred in taking punitive action. One situation provoking the proposal in the Presbytery of Northern New England is that one of the larger congregations in the presbytery has withheld part of its per-capita in order to help finance its appeal of a presbytery decision. The presbytery allowed one congregation, Christ Church of Burlington, Vt., to declare its intention not to abide by the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). A synod court ruled that the presbytery erred by permitting that dissent. The case has been appealed to the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission. Funds withheld for appeal Londonderry (N.H.) Presbyterian Church, one of a number of congregations whose sessions instigated action against the presbytery because of the Christ Church decision, is withholding its presbytery per capita to help pay for legal and travel fees to oppose the presbytery's appeal. The Christ Church case will be heard by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission when it meets in Baltimore on May 19 and 20. In his commentary on the status of the per-capita apportionments, Jenkins made several references to the 1992 case and what action may be taken by presbyteries against local sessions that withhold their payments.

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