Overture 04-35. On Amending G-9.0104d Regarding Per Capita—From the Presbytery of Lake Erie.

The Presbytery of Lake Erie overtures the 216th General Assembly (2004) to direct the Stated Clerk to send the following proposed amendment to the presbyteries for their affirmative or negative votes:

Shall G-9.0404d be amended to read as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]

“d. Each governing body above the session shall prepare a budget annually for its operating expenses, including administrative personnel, and may fund it with a per capita apportionment among the particular churches within its bounds. The presbyteries shall be responsible for raising their own per capita funds, and for raising and timely transmission of per capita funds, received from the churches within its bounds, to their respective synods and to the General Assembly. The presbyteries may direct per capita apportionments to the sessions of the churches within its bounds.”

Rationale

The Book of Order, G-9.0404d, states “…The presbyteries shall be responsible for raising their own per capita funds, and for raising and timely transmission of per capita funds to their respective synods and to the General Assembly. The presbyteries may direct per capita apportionments to the sessions of the churches within their bounds.”

The session is “to establish the annual budget, determine the distribution of the church’s benevolences, and order offerings for Christian purposes …” Book of Order, (G-10.0102i).

The requirement of presbyteries to raise and transmit per capita funds to their respective synods and to the General Assembly without allowing for the session of a particular church to determine the distribution of its benevolences places a hardship upon presbyteries to remit per capita funds that are not received from churches within its bounds.

Some church sessions choose not to raise or remit per capita apportionments to higher governing bodies due to the same funds not being received from their membership, or as a statement of protest or dissatisfaction with the use of same funds by higher governing bodies.