'02 PUSA curriculum losses are 15 times budget forecast By John H. Adams The Layman Online Friday, September 27, 2002 LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The publishing arm of the Congregational Ministries Division of the Presbyterian Church (USA) incurred a $300,721 deficit for the fiscal year that ended July 31. That's more than 15 times the $20,015 deficit that was projected for the period. The largest share of the deficit was $252,913, the value of published material that was written off as obsolete. That figure could have been considerably higher. The balance sheet for the 2002 fiscal year lists $1.5 million in inventory in the Presbyterian Distribution System, through which the Congregational Ministries Division sells PCUSA curriculum. The balance sheet does not suggest how much of that unsold material might be purchased, but it does say accounts receivable for PDS sales is $8,174. That suggests that without an extraordinary surge in sales, the losses due to write-offs could increase by several hundred thousand dollars. Sandra Moak Sorem, the publisher for Congregational Minstries Publishing, presented the financial report Sept. 27 to the General Assembly Council's Congregational Ministries Division. She said she had personally hoped that the write-offs for obsolete material could have been included in the 2001 budget so that her office could have begun 2002 with a clean slate. Much of the loss for fiscal 2002 was due to the failure of the PCUSA's Covenant People curriculum, which was shut down after incurring more than $1 million in red ink during 2001. Despite the failure of Covenant People, the Congregational Ministries Division – with the authorization of the 2002 General Assembly – has begun another publishing venture titled We Believe: God's Word for God's People. Pre-publication work – writing, focus groups, marketing plans, etc. – has begun for We Believe. Sorem and other staff leaders have expressed confidence that the curriculum will be successful. But Gregg Neel, vice chair of the Congregational Ministries Division committee of the General Assembly Council, said, "This is not about success. This is about value."

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