The good news and the not so good news

LOUISVILLE — The A Corporation Board completed its two days of Zoom meetings on Friday afternoon, hearing reports from A Corporation Interim President Ian Hall and Controller Denise Hampton as well as the Rev. Dr. John Wilkinson, director of Stewardship and Funds Development.

The board began its work Friday by moving one of its planned 2026 Zoom meetings from Nov. 12-13 to Nov. 5-12 in order to avoid conflicts with meetings of other Presbyterian boards.

Hampton and Hall, who’s also the A Corporation’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer, led the board through a summary of financial statements comparing the first seven months of 2025 with the same period in 2024, as well as comparing budgeted amounts with actual amounts.

The two painted a sunny picture.

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Mainly because of higher than budgeted investment returns, income for the period in 2025 was $71 million, or $31.3 million more than budgeted. Expenses to date are $40.6 million, about $5.6 million below the budgeted amount.

Hall reminded board members that the spending formula administered by the Presbyterian Foundation “smooths out those gains and losses” and that unrealized activity, including market gains, is not budgeted.

Contributions were $3.9 million over budget, although Per Capita and Shared Mission Support donations were about $575,000 less than the budget. Gifts, bequests and grants were $2 million over budget, including an unrestricted grant from a trust of $1.85 million.

Special giving was over budget by $2.1 million, mainly due to increased Presbyterian Disaster Assistance receipts, which were up by $1.9 million. Special Offerings receipts were about $400,000 over budget, largely because of Presbyterian generosity directed at the Christmas Joy Offering, which exceeded the budget by about $370,000.

Total contributions are about $2.4 million more than last year’s total.

On the expenses side of the ledger, total expenses came in at $5.6 million less than the budget and $600,000 under last year’s expenses. Administration expenses are $3.4 million less than the budget due to the unifying expenses of constituency relationship management and program continuity and transition reserve, which are $0 through July 31 though $1.9 million was budgeted. Hall called that a timing issue.

Program expenses are $2.5 million under budget, mainly because of pending Presbyterian Youth Triennium expenses of $2.2 million.

Net assets increased by $30.4 million.

The Unification Commission’s annual budget for 2025 is about $189,000, with expenses through July totaling nearly $136,000. The Unification Management Office is under budget by nearly $151,000.

Stewardship and Funds Development update

Wilkinson provided the board with selected giving updates. PDA received about $10 million in 2023 and about $10.1 million in 2024, and has received $5.8 million in donations to date in 2025.

Giving for sending and support of mission co-workers was at nearly $4 million in 2023 and $3.8 million in 2024, but is about $1.1 million so far in 2025 as World Mission has transitioned to a Global Ecumenical Partners model.

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While “it appears we are up in giving, that’s due to disaster response,” Wilkinson said. More than 200 recurring gifts concluded in 2025, with 89 of them previously supporting World Mission efforts.

Within Special Offerings, the Peace & Global Witness Offering, which is in its final year this year, is up 25% year to date. Overall, Special Offerings receipts are down 3% year to date, Wilkinson said.

“We anticipated some of that decline,” he said, “but nevertheless these are numbers we are paying attention to.”

Stewardship and Funds Development is working “to broaden the base” of the Presbyterian Giving Catalog, including appealing to people “who may not be Presbyterian,” Wilkinson said.

“In the face of lots of change and lots of challenges, our team remains excited,” he told the board. “We want to be sure to be accountable to you all as we do our work.”

A leadership profile for the A Corp president

Friday’s meeting included a closed session to discuss personnel, property and security matters.

Following the closed session, board members rose to announce they'd approved a leadership profile for the A Corp president.

The profile calls the president "a hands-on and collaborative leader with responsibility managing the Administrative Services Group," which has about 100 employees.

The president is responsible for:

• Customer relations management. The president "will work closely with other agency CEOs and/or executive directors to build a financial model in support of each agency's strategic initiatives as required by the General Assembly."
• Organization management. The president is accountable for building and leading high-performing teams and assessing organizational capacity to implement strategies and identify gaps in systems and staffing.
• Strategic management. The president serves as the principal resource to the A Corp Board and the key committees of the A Corporation and gives "strong direction in policy formulation and interpretation."
• Organizational culture. The president will lead a multicultural staff structure "that fosters commitment, trust and collaboration and an organizational climate that supports the goals and mission of the organization, and promotes a culture that ensures Christian-based values, quality, efficiency and effectiveness of services."
• Processes and performance. The president will oversee the development of systems to monitor and assess processes and performance and to measure results, impact and customer satisfaction.

The successful candidate will have "substantial experience" working in the nonprofit sector and "extensive senior strategic leadership experience" of at least seven years. The ability to command the confidence and respect of agency heads and executive directors is required, as is experience in developing partnerships, building teams and managing conflict.

The new president "must demonstrate a high level of intelligence and intellectual curiosity and a desire to explore new ideas and innovative approaches to solving problems."

The successful candidate will have "unquestioned integrity; a long-term perspective; a strong sense of accountability; a practical ability to get things done; wisdom and good judgment; and a fair and thoughtful approach to management, combined with the flexibility and courage to shift direction in keeping with the mandate of the General Assembly as it explores new initiatives every two years." Also required are excellent verbal and written communication skills.

An undergraduate degree is required, and training, experience or an advanced degree in business, public administration, legal or a related field is preferred. The position is located in Louisville, Kentucky, and the successful candidate will live or relocate to the greater Louisville area and work at the Presbyterian Center at 100 Witherspoon Street.

The PC(USA) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Candidates from Presbyterian communities in the global south and other historic Presbyterian communities of color, preferably with theological training and fluency in languages other than English, are encouraged to apply.

The A Corporation Board next meets Nov. 20-21 via Zoom. Learn more about the work of the board here.