A Corporation Board is updated on Presbyterian Foundation investments, Administrative Services Group accomplishments
The board also hears from the Rev. Jihyun Oh
LOUISVILLE — During the first of two days of online meetings Thursday, the A Corporation Board of Directors heard reports and established meeting dates for 2026.
Board members also met in closed session to discuss personnel matters, rising from closed session to announce they had elected the Rev. Jason Micheli to a two-year term as co-chair of the board. Micheli’s term begins immediately and will end on July 31, 2027. Micheli, the designated general presbyter for the Presbytery of Santa Barbara, is a current A Corp Board co-chair.
Update from the Stated Clerk/Executive Director
The Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and the Executive Director of the Interim Unified Agency, discussed the purpose and values statement approved by the Unification Commission last month.
“It’s important to have identity as being a General Assembly agency as part of the purpose statement,” she told the board. She called that “another key concept that will help folks connect with the Matthew 25 movement and other key mission and ministry priorities.” The call of the church is to be working toward God’s wholeness, she said, which is “part of the work of unification. That will continue to get lived out and interpreted.”
There’s been staff engagement around the four values — nimble, trustworthy, learning and courageous. During its Sept. 25-26 meeting, the Unification Commission will consider organizational structure, Oh said — “how we organize into areas to do the work, and the levels of supervision and titles that go along with that.”
Budget priorities are also being considered. “There are a lot of moving pieces — a lot of conversations and a pretty aggressive timeline, all while trying to do the ministry before us, including responding to the current context of the world,” Oh said.
Investment review
The team of Adriana Ballard, Director of Investments at the Presbyterian Foundation, and Paul Partington and Shari Gilfillan with Northern Trust, updated the Board on the $92.4 million in both restricted and unrestricted funds managed by the Presbyterian Foundation or its constituent corporation for the A Corporation.
The report touched on the effects of tariffs and reports that the Federal Reserve Board may be cutting interest rates next month.
The Presbyterian Endowment Fund has performed well during the first six months of 2025, Partington said. He also took time to explain how the spending formula is calculated, noting that the Presbyterian Foundation Board decided to gradually reduce the allocation from 4.25% to 4%. But with the markets continuing to be robust, distributions from the Presbyterian Endowment Fund are forecast to actually increase — $2.31 per share in 2025, $2.34 per share in 2026 and $2.39 per share in 2027.
Reports from other boards and entities
The Rev. Dr. Bridgett Green, interim president of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, celebrated the fact that John Pavlovitz’s book “Worth Fighting For,” published last year by Westminster John Knox Press, was recently named best nonfiction book by Foreword INDIES. “It’s a really big deal,” she said.
WJK is also excited to publish Matthew Boedy’s “The Seven Mountains Mandate: Exposing the Dangerous Plan to Christianize America and Destroy Democracy,” next month, Green said.
The Rev. Heidi Bolt, a member of the Funding Model Development Team, said presbyteries are now joining the team in its work of engaging in a year-long study throughout 2026. The Rev. Dr. John Wilkinson, who helps staff the team, said the presbyteries that have come forward will do field studies of what their funding model might look like. “Stay tuned,” Wilkinson said. “The group is working hard to figure out what that model looks like.”
The Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice is working to draft resolutions “and talking about things we will take to the 227th General Assembly next year,” said JoAnne Sharp.
The A Corp Board also heard brief reports on the work of the Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program, the Board of Pensions and the Presbyterian Foundation, as well as the Unification Commission and Presbyterian Women.
The board voted on these dates for its 2026 meetings: Feb. 5-6 via Zoom, April 9-10 in person, Aug. 6-7 in person and Nov. 12-13 via Zoom.
Interim president’s report
Interim A Corp President Ian Hall, who’s also the chief financial officer and chief operating officer, highlighted the work of such ASG groups as Presbyterian Distribution Services, which this summer has been picking and packing up to 1,600 tickets per month inside a warehouse that lacks air-conditioning. “Hats off to them,” Hall said.
Hall introduced Ezra Krumhansl, the Information Technology lead who began his service in July.
Krumhansl said the work so far has included strengthening security and multi-factor authentication. “We’re looking to streamline services and get rid of duplicative products, and moving some servers to the cloud,” Krumhansl said. New technology and security policies, as well as an Artificial Intelligence policy, are being drafted.
Improvements at the Presbyterian Center include renovation of The Spot, which in a few weeks will sport machines providing both hot and cold beverages. “It’ll be a place for staff and guests to gather and help themselves,” Hall said.
On the east side of the third floor, Building Services staff is removing interior walls to open up additional meeting space. “It’ll be a welcoming gathering space larger than many of the spaces we have now in the building,” Hall said. “It’s a prototype for using the building in a different way.”
The amount of work that Building Services staff has been doing — work that’s traditionally been outsourced — “is impressive,” Hall said. “It is saving the organization money and allowing us to do things we otherwise couldn’t do.” He called it “an illustration of what people can do given a little flexibility to step outside the box.”
Vicente Guna, the manager of Information Technology, updated the board on the digital strategy that’s in the works. The goal, he said, is to “create a centralized platform that enhances stakeholder relations, streamlines operations and supports data-driven decision-making.”
Denise Hampton, the PC(USA)’s controller, said work has begun on drafting the 2027-28 proposed budget, which must be approved by the 227th General Assembly meeting next year online and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Once the Unification Commission approves the structure of the Interim Unified Agency, the budget team will develop proposals, which will then be reviewed by the IUA’s senior leadership.
A complication is that thousands of funds that help support the budget have restrictions, Hampton said. “We will determine where we can apply and use those restricted funds,” she said.
Jan. 10, 2026, is the date the draft proposed budget will be submitted, she said.
“This is an aggressive timeline, but really necessary,” Hall said.
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