Press release from the Board of Pensions and Presbyterian Foundation.
Determined to serve the Church to the utmost in this time of evolutionary change, the Presbyterian Foundation and The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have forged a pioneering partnership.
Funds development by the agencies is being consolidated under the Foundation, which has helped raise, steward, and distribute funds for ministry and mission for 216 years. In recent years, the Foundation has responded to technological advances and changes in giving patterns by providing congregations with online giving tools and access to investment management services, and guiding pastors and church leaders in bequest fundraising, more commonly associated with educational institutions.
The Rev. Dr. Thomas F. Taylor, President and CEO of the Foundation, and the Rev. Frank Clark Spencer, President of the Board of Pensions, said the consolidation would better meet the needs of donors and the denomination.
“God means for us, as Christians, to be instruments in answering people’s prayers for help,” Taylor said. “The Foundation is committed to making stronger congregations. We want to strengthen their mission and ministry efforts. We’re helping them build communities of generosity.”
Kevin J. Garvey — a Board of Pensions employee who now serves jointly as the Board of Pensions’ Chief Development Officer and the Presbyterian Foundation’s Chief Ministry Relations Officer — will join the Foundation full time July 1, 2015, as Senior Vice President of Development. Garvey, who has coordinated the agencies’ funds development work since 2012, will continue to serve the Board in a consultative capacity.
In his new role, Garvey will oversee the Foundation’s asset-gathering work, providing leadership to the development of fundraising strategies, resources, and tools. He will lead fundraising collaboration efforts among PCUSA agencies and institutions, including the Board of Pensions, Presbyterian Historical Society and Presbyterian Women. He will be a member of the Foundation’s senior management team.
“This is a natural next step for our two agencies and for the church,” Spencer said. Traditionally, the Board’s role has been to administer the church Benefits Plan. Today, the job of caring for retired and active church workers and their families is more complex, he said. In response, the Board recognizes the need to focus on a holistic approach to benefits, one that considers care for the whole person, for spiritual, vocational, and financial well-being as well as physical health.
The Board of Pensions will continue to conduct the annual giving campaign for its Assistance Program. The Assistance Program — funded by gifts, legacies, endowment income, and half the Christmas Joy Offering — is the only Board-administered program for which funds are raised. No dues go to support it.
In addition to the consolidation of funds development work, the Board of Pensions and Foundation are also working together on the National Initiative to Address Economic Challenges Facing Pastoral Leaders, an initiative funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. Also, the agencies are now collaborating to design programs they believe would encourage cultural change in the denomination, supporting the future ministry of the PCUSA.
About the Board of Pensions
The Board of Pensions is the agency legally responsible for administering the pension and benefits programs of the Presbyterian Church (USA). It is required by law to administer these programs for the sole and exclusive benefit of its participants and members, and is governed by an independent Board of Directors, elected by the General Assembly of the Church.
About the Presbyterian Foundation
A vital part of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Foundation gathers, stewards, and disburses financial resources of individuals and institutions in service of Christ’s mission.
7 Comments. Leave new
Something about this does not smell right, two totally different agencies with different intended purposes, partnership, or a way to swap funds without questions being asked, or a quiet way to layoff some staff, or both?
Frankly louisville has not been honest 1001, so why believe this now. I’m sorry, but I’m a little jaded.
I like the lead paragraph; ‘this time of evolutionary change.’
Now even fewer people will control the good faith donations of dead Presbyterians.
‘This time of evolutionary change.’ They (PCUSA) certainly tells it like THEY see/perceive/opine it.
I wonder what kind “programs” of “cultural change” the last sentence is referring to, particularly from these two organizations.
“Also, the agencies are now collaborating to design programs they believe would encourage cultural change in the denomination, supporting the future ministry of the PCUSA.”
louisville is slowly chipping away at the evangelicals in the pcusa, they need money to forward their agenda, and well it’ not coming from of us……….
When Scripture and culture are in conflict it appears that PC(USA) chooses to go with the culture. This is not the Presbyterian Church I grew up in. God Bless the Southern Baptist Convention for taking the stand that all Christians should be taking. Love the sinner, but hate the sin.