Layman Online compiles archive on per-capita issue
The Layman Online, July 28, 2003
In light of the fact that “God loves a cheerful giver,” the General Assembly and the highest court in the Presbyterian Church have repeatedly said payment of per-capita apportionments by local church sessions is optional.
But, as Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick and his top constitutional aide, Mark Tammen, have declared – also repeatedly – any church officer who advocates not paying the per-capita operating costs of higher governing bodies is violating his ordination vows and subject to church discipline.
So what’s the real story?
The Layman Online has archived a wealth of information about per capita – 47 different documents, including court rulings, a comprehensive analysis titled “Responding Faithfully: Making Decisions about Financial Support of PCUSA Governing Bodies in Times of Disorder,” news stories and editorials.
The archive includes an index to help church leaders easily locate material that they may wish to consider in making decisions about how they spend the unrestricted tithes and offerings of their congregations.
The courts and past General Assemblies have given a resounding yes to the voluntary nature of paying per-capita apportionments. They have also said that sessions and church officers cannot be punished for withholding per capita as an expression of dissent from policies of presbyteries, synods or the General Assembly.
The most recent court ruling was on June 12, when the General Assembly’s Permanent Judicial Commission said, ” … a church may neither be compelled to pay nor punished for failure to pay any amounts pursuant to such [per capita system] plan.”