The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board (formerly the General Assembly Mission Council) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has revised the 2013-2014 General Assembly mission budgets approved by the recent 220th General Assembly, increasing them by a combined $4.86 million.
According the Joey Bailey, deputy executive director for shared services and CFO, the recent 220th GA took actions with financial implications of $523,125 in 2013 and $423,186 in 2014.
Earlier this year, the mission agency board received two $1 million gifts ― one for international mission and one for domestic mission.
Those two factors, together with further adjustments resulting by the GA’s approval of the mission agency’s new Mission Work Plan for the next quadrennium, the revised budgets are $84,126,423 for 2013 ― up from $81,576,064 ― and $80,506,945 for 2014, up from $78,196,030.
The primary beneficiaries of the increases are Presbyterian World Mission ($1.9 million each year), Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministries’ leadership development programs ($140,000 each year) and Evangelism and Church Growth’s collegiate ministries ($47,500 each year).
The total increase in mission spending over the two years is $5,067,877.
In addition to the $1 million gifts, Bailey said, the increases will be covered by appropriations from the Presbyterian Mission Program Fund (PMPF) ― the mission board’s unrestricted cash reserve ― of $266,000 for 2013 and $247,000 for 2014.
“Even after these expenditures, we will have almost $5 million over our required reserve of $7.3 million,” Bailey said.
Also, some ministry areas in the mission agency will see reductions: $223,000 in 2013 and $288,000 in 2014. The reductions include:
- $129,00 for the Executive Director’s Office;
- $53,500 for Communications and Funds Development;
- $90,000 in cost reallocations for Shared Services; and
- $24,000 in other miscellaneous reductions.