General Assembly income soars
By Parker T. Williamson, The Layman Online, February 18, 2000
LOUISVILLE – Denominational leaders were jubilant as record-breaking receipts surfaced in their unaudited 1999 financial reports. Unrestricted giving from Presbyterian congregations to the national church totaled $18,428,966. That’s a $2.4 million jump over budget expectations.
Members of the General Assembly Council interpreted the data as an expression of renewed confidence in national church programs, particularly under the leadership of Executive Director John Detterick. Named to the council’s top staff job in 1998, Detterick has allocated major blocks of his time to “listening to the church,” and working toward “creating a servant culture” in denominational offices. “This is really good news,” declared council member John Evans, who has been a long-term advocate of increased support for the General Assembly. “We’ve made progress in getting our congregations to think beyond their local situations.”
But the big money at denominational headquarters is coming not from the living, but from the dead. Interest and dividends from funds given by past-tense Presbyterians was an astounding $36,528,206. New bequests in 1999 hit $6,923,721, exceeding expectations from that source by $5.4 million.
Introduced to the General Assembly Council during its February meeting was Robert Leech, the newly elected president of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Foundation. Leech reminded council members of the huge asset transfers that are passing from one generation to another. Almost half of the American public does not have a will, he said. Leech said one of his goals is to encourage every Presbyterian to engage in good estate planning that would result in a decreased tax burden and an increase in support for the church.
General Assembly Council Controller Nagy Tawfik reported a 1999 total of income from all sources, including restricted offerings, sales of materials and services, outside grants, etc., of $135,113,644.