Budget projections are based on continued loss of members By John H. Adams The Presbyterian Layman Volume 34, Number 2 Posted March 26, 2001 LOUISVILLE, Ky. – During its recent meeting in Louisville, Ky., the General Assembly Council nodded its assent to three budget reports prepared by the staff. The final verdict on the budget for year 2002 will be rendered by the 2001 General Assembly. In the meantime, budgets past and present sketch a picture of the denomination’s fiscal and its spiritual health. From one standpoint, members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) are generous, particularly those who have died. Interest and dividends from gifts left to the denomination by bygone saints account for more than 25 percent of the mission budgets. But from another view, the budget projections begin to shrink as the reality of member losses continues. The budget makers are expecting to lose 20,000 Presbyterians in 2001 and another 20,000 in 2002. That two-year loss of 40,000 Presbyterians is equivalent to losing 200 200-member congregations. To offset that loss, budget planners are asking the 2001 General Assembly to increase the per-capita apportionment by 22 cents to $5.22 per member. For a 200-member congregation, that’s another $1,044 in the local budget – on top of a crunch year when heating bills skyrocketed. The General Assembly also will consider an overture that would require local congregations to pay their full per-capita apportionment, in effect a tax rather than the current voluntary gift. The same people who prepared the budget also proposed a way to reduce the impact of membership losses. They proposed – and the General Assembly Council agreed to – a pilot fundraising program that will cost $720,000 a year. The purpose of the program is to send representatives to presbyteries and congregations to help convince Presbyterians that they should give more to support the denomination and its ministries. The General Assembly will have the final say on the pilot program. By the numbers, the budgets represent little major change. There are two budgets. One, based principally on the per-capita allocation, pays for the General Assembly (a $2-million-plus meeting once a year), the Office of the General Assembly and the General Assembly Council. The budget actually shrinks slightly from 2000 to 2001 and then grows – by 3.5 percent. The other budget underwrites the mission of the denomination. The mission budget shows a jump from $136.3 million to $144.2 million – but the increase is possible only because the budget more than doubles the amount to be appropriated from reserves (prior accumulation). In 2002, the proposed mission budget will be smaller than the 2000 budget.   2000 2001 2002 Per capita rate $4.98 $5.00 $5.22 Per capita income $12,782,781 $12,673,781 $13,208,660 Other income $345,000 $420,652 $345,000 Other $13,127,781 $13,094,433 $13,553,660 General Assembly budget is based principally on the per-capita allocation. The budget actually shrinks slightly from 2000 to 2001 and then grows – by 3.5 percent.   2000 2001 2002 Mission support $24,521,886 $23,800,000 $23,950,000 Special offerings $18,189,648 $16,800,000 $17,000,000 Other appeals $15,209,925 $13,300,000 $15,270,000 Other gifts $7,501,464 $7,058,000 $7,420,000 Interest & dividends $36,270,848 $37,994,380 $35,496,857 Other $25,896,925 $25,659,222 $21,734,461 Prior accumulation $8,711,980 $19,587,751 $15,330,306 Mission Budget $136,302,676 $144,199,353 $136,201,624 The mission budget grows in 2001 from reserves, but drops significantly in 2002.

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