Advocacy groups to get more money By Parker T. Williamson The Presbyterian Layman Monday, September 28, 1998 LOUISVILLE - Three special-interest groups have won an appeal to the General Assembly Council (GAC) for budget transfusions. The General Assembly advocacy committees for Women's Concerns, Racial/Ethnic Concerns, and Social Witness Policy were created at the time of Presbyterian Church (USA) reunion in 1983 in order to give institutional visibility to their causes. Funded by the per capita budget, the groups are complaining that they have received only cost-of-living increases since 1993. "Here's the nub of the situation for us," said Women's Advocacy Committee member Mary Ann Eschbach in her appeal to the GAC's Division of Mission Support Services. "The old budget has no rationale. It only covers two meetings a year for our committee. We believe that advocacy contributes to the churches mission. But for us to do what we are required to do, we simply must have more money." Eschbach's group requested that its budget be increased from $26,000 to $44,125. Taking women's concerns seriously Division member Alfred Warren responded: "Tell me how you are contributing to our church. I'm not sure I understand the necessity for your organization." Eschbach replied that her group is primarily concerned with advocacy and monitoring on women's issues. She explained that her group checks to see that the General Assembly and its program agencies take women's concerns seriously. A recent example, she pointed out, was the fact that GAC leaders had announced plans for a theology conference in which no women were included among the major speakers. "We address those kinds of concerns," she said. "I would object to an all-male program, too, but I have to ask if you really need to have an expensive meeting of your committee in order to correct a problem like this." said David Greer. "Couldn't you just have a conference call or make a few telephone calls to leaders of the program group?" A three-day meeting of a twelve-member committee costs the denomination $9,000, according to Presbyterian Center estimates. Rev. Unzu Lee, a staff person from the National Ministries Division who works with the Women's Advocacy office, also described a trip to Asia made by members of the advocacy committee, after which they wrote a resolution on child pornography that was approved by the 1998 General Assembly. Questioning the possibility of duplication, Louis Jacobo of Phoenix, Ariz., asked, "Is there no other organization in the PCUSA that is doing advocacy work for women? Are you saying that no one else in the system deals with these issues?" Eschbach replied that women's concerns has advocates in every program division, but that her committee often initiates and coordinates issues through them. A novel approach The other two advocacy groups made similar arguments. One tried a novel approach in speaking for the Racial/Ethnic committee, recommending that those who control denominational funding consider "WWJD.FAST.NET." The symbols represent a question and an answer, he said. "What would Jesus do?" is the question, and "the answer is, he would give us the money 'fast' and he would honor our request by giving us the 'net' amount."
Shriver's group produced a paper called Building Community Among
The General Assembly Council voted to "recommend" (effectively "instruct") that the Executive Director adjust his budget to meet the advocacy groups' requests. In addition to the increase for the Women's Concerns committee, the Racial/Ethnic committee's budget will be increased from $26,000 to $44,025 and that of the Committee on Social Witness Policy from $26,000 to $41,000. Since the amount of per capita income is fixed, these increases mean that expenditures will have to be cut from other areas. |
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