New churches or more money?
The Presbyterian Layman March/April 2001 Volume 34, Number 2, March 26, 2001
Pessimism is sinking roots into the economic forecasts for the Presbyterian Church (USA). The denomination’s budget planners are so convinced that membership losses will continue at the rate of 20,000 per year that they’ve locked that number into their annual forecasts.
There are other problems. The poor performance of the stock market in 2000 shaved expectations for dividends and interest on Presbyterian investments, and stock performance has continued to be erratic this year.
Not surprisingly, budget planners are asking the General Assembly to spend $720,000 for three years to hire regional fundraisers to generate more dollars from the shrinking remnant.
At the same time, there are optimists elsewhere. The Office of Evangelism and New Church Development has set a lofty goal of starting more than 1,000 new congregations by year 2012.
But it needs some more staff. Currently, there are eight vacancies in the office – all authorized positions – and one of them is essential. For two years, the denomination has been trying to hire a director of new church development, the key position.
The job has a pay scale of about $60,000, including housing and benefits. Some members of the General Assembly Council believe the pay’s too low, but Curtis Kearns, director of the National Ministries Division, rebuffed efforts to reclassify the job to make it more appealing to a qualified candidate. “That’s micromanagement to the extreme,” Kearns told elected leaders.
So the $60,000 job to develop new churches goes unfilled.
But here’s a prediction: If the 2001 General Assembly approves the pilot fundraising program, it won’t take two years to hire four regional representatives at $110,000 each and one program manager at $150,000.
It’s all a matter of priorities.