Leadership
by
Sandy Huneycutt
I am submitting this information as the Moderator for the Women of Benton
Heights Presbyterian Church in Monroe, N.C.
In 2004, after becoming discouraged with the Horizons Bible Study
literature, our Coordinating Team (‘CT”) began looking into new literature
for our circle groups. In further research, we became aware of the fact that
some of the money we give to Presbyterian Women (‘PW”) was going to support
organizations or causes we did not approve of. We took an interest in Voices
of Orthodox Women’s informative website and some of our women attended a
meeting at Siler Presbyterian Church here in Monroe hosting Sylvia Dooling
from VOW. We decided to host our own meeting in August for our church and
other churches in surrounding clusters on the liberal direction our PW
literature was taking. We invited Reverend Pinky Bender as our guest
speaker. We had 13 churches represented and over 90 women in attendance, so
I know there is an interest in what is happening in our denomination.
In an effort to be better stewards of our gifts and not just walk away from
PW, our CT elected to start asking questions and stop sending our money
until we were satisfied that we were honoring God by doing so. We did not
want to continue to give blindly without holding PW financially accountable
for how our gifts are being used. We are sharing this information with
others now so that you can benefit from our findings and hopefully improve
communications between the denomination and local organizations! We are
asking honest questions of those who are employees of the PCUSA and we are
determined to keep asking. What follows are my correspondence with Ann
Ferguson, PW Program Coordinator, since October 24, 2004.
(*Note*: *Before releasing the following correspondence to VOW for
publication in their newsletter, and posting on their website, I obtained
the permission of our Coordinating Team, and our Church Session, in turn.
Each of these bodies voted unanimously to release this correspondence to VOW
for publication.)*
*MY E-MAIL OF 10/24/04 TO FANNYE BELT*
Mrs. Fannye Belt
PW Mission Interpretation Associate
Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202-1396
Dear Fannye:
I am the Moderator of the Women of Benton Heights Presbyterian Church in
Monroe, N.C., and I currently chair a team charged with investigating how
contributions to specific funds associated with the PCUSA PW are being
awarded and used.
Our Coordinating Team has elected to withhold further contributions to the
Thank Offering and Least Coin until we receive Mission Statements from each
of the organizations chosen to receive these grants. Specifically, we want
to know how each of the recipients is chosen, and how the money allocated to
each is to be used.
A couple of weeks ago I contacted our local PW Treasurer requesting
information on how our contributions are being used. The material that I
received consisted of excerpts from Horizons; this information is vague at
best.
We routinely require Mission Statements for the local mission agencies that
we support, and are now requiring the same of the PCUSA PW funds that we
support. We are also requesting Mission Statements from Ann Ferguson,
Program Coordinator, regarding the Birthday Offering. We want to make sure
that our mission money is being used to build up the Church of Jesus Christ
and support Biblical values.
Given that the Thank Offering is collected in November, we would like to see
Mission Statements for the recipients of these grants no later than November
15th, 2004, so we can review them at our November 17th meeting. If we do not
receive the information requested by that date, we will have to withhold our
donation until we do receive it. Please send the Mission Statements for the
recipients of the 2004 Fellowship of the Least Coin grants as soon as it is
available.
Please send this information to me at the address below. I am following this
e-mail up with a copy sent Certified Mail to insure that you receive it.
Thank you in advance for your prompt assistance in this matter.
Sandy Huneycutt
Moderator of Women of BHPC
2803 Trinity Church Road
Monroe, NC 28112
(704) 764-3734
*MY CERTIFIED LETTER OF 10/25/04 TO ANN FERGUSON*
BENTON HEIGHTS
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
2701 Concord Highway
Monroe, N.C. 28110
October 25, 2004
Mrs. Ann Ferguson
Women’s Ministries Program Coordinator
Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202-1396
RE: PW Birthday Offering
Dear Ann:
I am the Moderator of the Women of Benton Heights Presbyterian Church in
Monroe, N.C., and I currently chair a team charged with investigating how
contributions to specific funds associated with the PCUSA PW are being
awarded and used.
Our Coordinating Team has elected to withhold further contributions to the
Birthday Offering until we receive Mission Statements from each of the
organizations chosen to receive this grant. Specifically, we want to know
how each of the recipients is chosen, and how the money allocated to each is
to be used.
A couple of weeks ago I contacted our local PW Treasurer requesting
information on how our contributions are being used. The material that I
received consisted of excerpts from Horizons; this information was vague at
best. As an example, Camp Luminaria, Santa Fe, New Mexico is described as a
‘faith-based” program. We would like to receive their Mission Statement so
we can examine what ‘faith” they are talking about, and what type of
faith-based programs they are administering.
We routinely require Mission Statements for the local mission agencies that
we support, and are now requiring the same of the PCUSA PW funds that we
support. We are also requesting Mission Statements from Fannye Belt, Mission
Interpretation, regarding the Thank Offering and the Least Coin
contribution. We want to make sure that our mission money is being used to
build up the Church of Jesus Christ and support Biblical values.
Given our contribution to the 2004 Birthday Offering in May, we would like
to see Mission Statements for the five recipients of the 2004 offering, as
well as Mission Statements from the recipients of the 2005 offering as soon
as that information becomes available.
Please send the requested information to me at the address below. Thank you
in advance for your assistance in this matter.
Sincerely,
Sandy Huneycutt
Moderator of Women of BHPC
2803 Trinity Church Road
Monroe, N.C. 28112
(704) 764-3734
*ANN FERGUSON’S E-MAIL RESPONSE OF 10/25/04*
Dear Sandy,
Fannye is on short term disability leave at the moment and I am handling
her email. I will respond to your question about the Birthday Offering in
this note, too.
I appreciate your careful consideration for the use of funds.
The Fellowship of the Least Coin grant recipients are selected by the
International Committee for the Fellowship of the Least Coin. The Least
Coin is an international ecumenical program. Each fall the committee meets
somewhere in the world to select the recipients for the year. This year for
the first time in a number of years, the international committee will meet
in New York City. The meeting is next week and I will attend as an
observer. I will be more than happy to give you a report after the meeting,
however I will not be able to send you the recipient list until after the
International Committee makes its announcement after the first of the year.
I will be better able to describe the selection process to you, though.
The Fellowship of the Least Coin is not for fund raising. It is a symbolic
act of solidarity with your sisters around the world. Women are asked to
give the least coin of their country when they meet together in prayer. The
Fellowship of the Least Coin is much more than money. The Fellowship brings
together the power of women’s prayers for peace and reconcilation in the
world that is desparately needed today.
The Thank Offering recipients are selected after the offering is
collected. The list of recipients you have were selected in the spring of
2004 to receive money that was given in 2003. The projects that will
receive the Thank Offering you give this fall will be be selected in March
or April 2005. So you see, there is no way for me to give you mission
statements for projects that have not been selected. The Thank Offering,
unlike the Birthday Offering, is based on giving out of gratitude for the
many blessings God has bestowed on you during the year in the trust and
assurance that the funds will be used to further the mission and ministry
of the church.
The Thank Offering and the Birthday Offering are different in this aspect.
The Birthday Offering is given to support known projects. They are selected
in the fall – the committee meets this weekend to select the 2005 Birthday
Offering projects – and money is given the following spring. The Thank
Offering is received in the fall and the recipients are selected the next
spring. Birthday Offering received this year – 2004 – is given to the
projects announced back in January 2004.
You will be interested to know that the committee will discuss adding a
statement requesting the project or agency mission statement to the
offering proposal forms when they meet this weekend. At present, the form
asks for either the mission of the organization or the purpose statment of
the particular project. Some applicants send a mission statement for the
organization and some send only the purpose statement for the particular
project. The recommendation is to ask for both – the mission of the
organization and the purpose of the particular project – in order to make a
more informed decision. The committee is carefully reviewing the
guidelines, policies and procedures for both offerings. Again, I will be
happy to send you a report.
One more thing I must mention to you which I am sure you are aware is part
of our fiduciary responsibility. Moneys received for any of the offerings -
Least Coin, Thank Offering or Birthday Offering – are designated funds
received in trust and must be used for the purpose for which they were
given. Presbyterian Women churchwide take this responsibility seriously.
The Creative Ministries Offering Committee prayerfully and with much
research select projects that are consistent with the mission and purpose
of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Ann
Ann Ferguson
PW Program Coordinator
100 Witherspoon St.
Louisville, KY 40202
aferguso@ctr.pcusa.org
1-888/728-7228, ext. 5365
*MY E-MAIL OF 11/01/04 TO ANN FERGUSON*
Dear Ann:
Thank you for responding to our request. We eagerly await your reports on
each of these meetings.
I would like to reiterate our need for any Mission and/or Purpose Statements
available for the 2004 recipients of the Birthday Offering grants, as well
as the recipients of the 2003 Thank Offering and Least Coin grants.
All of this information will be used by our Coordinating Team committee to
determine further contributions to these funds.
I spent some time pondering your closing. In reference to your statement
regarding our fiduciary responsibility, we have given our money
unquestioningly for many years now trusting its use to the PCUSA-PW. We
fully understand our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s blessings
which is precisely why we are asking for more detailed information from PW.
Just to say that it is being used for the purposes for which it was intended
is not financial accountability on the part of PW. PW’s side of this
fiduciary responsibility is to make sure that they do “select projects that
are consistent with the mission and purpose of the Presbyterian Church
(USA)”, thus allowing us to have the “trust and assurance” we so desire.
That is what we are asking for.
By recommending that both Mission and Purpose statements be provided, the
committee is moving in a positive direction.
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sandy Huneycutt
Moderator of women of BHPC
2803 Trinity Church Road
Monroe, NC 28112
(704) 764-3734
*MY E-MAIL OF 11/10/04 TO ANN FERGUSON*
Dear Ann:
I’m just following up on my e-mail to you of November 1st. I realize you
have been out of town with these recent meetings, however, I need to know if
I can expect any reports from you before our Coordinating Team meets next
Wednesday, November 17th.
Please let me know and, as always, I appreciate your help in this regard!
Sandy Huneycutt
Moderator of Women of BHPC
2803 Trinity Church Road
Monroe, NC 28112
(704) 764-3734
*MY E-MAIL OF 11/30/04 TO ANN FERGUSON*
Dear Ann:
Attached hereto please find my letters to you of November 1st and 10th. We
are still waiting to hear from you. I realize that you may have been out of
town and wanted to make sure that you have received/read these previous
e-mails.
Our Coordinating Team did meet as stated on November 17th, and they decided
not to send our Thank Offering at this time since we haven’t had any answers
to our questions as of yet. If you could please respond to what you can in
these letters, we would greatly appreciate it and we will then decide where
to go from here. We do not desire to hold back our offerings but some of the
sentiment of our women is that we are not important enough to PW to warrant
answers to our concerns!
You also said you were going to observe/attend the meetings of the Least
Coin Committee and the Birthday Offering Committee in your e-mail of October
27th, and report back to me. I am very interested to hear how these went and
how the process works so I can in turn report back to our women.
On another note, our Coordinating Team would also like to know if our women
are allowed to designate the Mission Pledge funds which are sent in each
year to a mission of our choosing. Can you please address this?
Our CT waits to hear from you soon. Thank you!
Sandy Huneycutt
Moderator of Women of
Benton Heights Presbyterian Church
2803 Trinity Church Road
Monroe, NC 28112
(704) 764-3734
*MY CERTIFIED LETTER OF 12/08/04 TO ANN FERGUSON*
BENTON HEIGHTS
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
2701 Concord Highway
Monroe, N.C. 28110
December 8, 2004
Mrs. Ann Ferguson
Presbyterian Women Program Coordinator
Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202-1396
RE: PW Mission Offerings
Dear Ann:
Attached please find copies of my communications to you over the last two
months. Our Presbyterian Women Coordinating Team is still waiting for a
response from you.
Sincerely,
Sandy Huneycutt
Moderator of Women of BHPC
2803 Trinity Church Road
Monroe, N.C. 28112
(704) 764-3734
Sent via Certified Mail -
Return Receipt Requested
Restricted Delivery
*ANN’S E-MAIL OF 1/03/05*
Sandy,
I think you’ve sent me a certified letter that I haven’t received yet. The
attempted delivery notice says it’s from S Honeycutt. Both delivery
attempts were made when the building was closed and no one was here to
receive it.
The package is scheduled for return to sender tomorrow – 1/4. I called the
post office and was told it would not be returned tomorrow and I could pick
it up in the morning. For some reason the package is at an outlying
branch, not at the downtown office which is closest to the Center. The good
thing is I go right by that branch on my way to work every morning.
I will let you know if I’m successful in retrieving the package.
And while I’m writing to you, the Creative Ministries Offering Committee
did decided to ask for both a mission statement of the organization or
agency requesting a grant as well as the purpose of the particular
project.
Ann
*MY E-MAIL OF 1/03/05*
Ann,
Thanks for your e-mail. The Certified Letter is from me as you will see.
Please respond as soon as possible – our CT committee is to meet again later
this month.
Sandy
*ANN’S E-MAIL OF 1/04/05*
Hi, Sandy.
Well, the letter was not at the post office branch on the delivery
receipt, but at the one downtown. The carrier used the wrong receipt. So, I
will swing by the post office in the morning again and see if I can connect
with your letter.
I’ll let you know when it is in my hands.
Ann
*MY E-MAIL OF 1/05/05*
Ann,
I hope you were able to retrieve my letter today. However, if it has already
been returned to me, I have copied everything that was enclosed in that
mailing in a document which I attached to this e-mail for you, perhaps this
will save us some time. We would ask that you please review all of our
questions/requests and send us all the information you can. This is very
important to our women for 2005!
I am glad to hear that the Creative Ministries committee has chosen to start
asking for Mission Statements as well as Purpose Statements. This is
encouraging news for all concerned women! Does this apply to the 2005
Birthday Offering recipients which were chosen at the end of October or
first of November, 2004? If so, could you please send us copies of their
Mission Statements and Purpose Statements? Our women will want to see these
before our offering is collected in May.
Thank you!
*ANN’S E-MAIL OF 1/06/05*
Sandy
I was able to retrieve the letter yesterday. I will respond to you in
detail after I’ve had a chance to read it more carefully.
As for the mission statements, I have two of the project mission
statements and am waiting to hear from the other two projects.
Ann
*MY E-MAIL TO ANN (W/COPY TO FANNYE BELT) OF 2/08/05*
Dear Ann,
Well it has been another month and we haven’t heard back from you. Our
Coordinating Team is meeting again tonight and I will tell them we are still
waiting for your report. We will be considering sharing our questions and
any answers you have given us with other Presbyterian Women through Voices
of Orthodox Women’s website and newsletter in March. If you can send us
anything by February 25th, at the latest, it can be included. That date will
be four months from our first letter of inquiry to PW!
Thanks for your assistance in this regard.
Sandy Huneycutt
Moderator of Women of
Benton Heights Prebyterian Church
2803 Trinity Church Road
Monroe, NC 28112
(704) 764-3734