Walter Rockenstein, moderator of the Mission Coordination committee, speaks during Saturday morning's plenary at the 223rd General Assembly. —Photo by: Danny Bolin
The 223rd Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly on Saturday approved mission budgets of $71,589,237 for 2019 and $70,531,957 for 2020.
The budgets were passed as submitted by the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA), but the PMA will be required to deal with financial implications of items approved during the Assembly. The financial implications total $1,030,978 for 2019 and $857,305 for 2020, said Mission Coordination Committee chair Walter Rockenstein, a ruling elder commissioner from Twin Cities Area Presbytery.
Yet Rockenstein said PMA leaders told the committee “that they believe the financial implications, with some difficulty, can be incorporated in the PMA budget as presented.”
However, the committee added a comment to its recommendation that noted the budgetary adjustments “may require a reduction in program or staff currently provided for in the budget or an increase in mission giving.”