Why Pay Per Capita?

April 30, 2018

Inside this Edition

Synod of the Mid-Atlantic 241st Meeting Highlights

879th Gathering of the Presbytery of Baltimore

Presbytery Vacancy: Associate for Congregational Vitality

Clerks' Meeting Schedule

The Center needs Volunteers for a Special Workday (Date Change)

The Center Needs Donations

Synod of Mid-Atlantic Hosts One-Day Seminar for Church Administrators

Presbytery Investment & Loan Program

Final Shows for Woodbrook Players in Camelot

BAD Hosting Stewardship Training with Orlando Carr, Presbyterian Foundation

Spire Series: 2nd Annual Baltimore Marathon Piano Concert

Grace PC Hosting Crab Feast. Get Discount Tickets Now!

Trinity Women's Day Service Featuring Gen. Presbyter Jackie Taylor

Havenwood PC seeks an Interim Organist

Light Street PC seeks a Communications Director

Hughes Memorial PC offers Free Tableware

Oak Crest Village in Parkville seeks Part-time Pastoral Associate

Meetings

Committee and Commission meetings will be held at the Presbytery's office (unless noted otherwise.)

Spiritual Leader Development meets at 1pm on Wednesday, May 2

Committee on Ministry meets at 2pm on Wednesday, May 2

Presbytery Gathering, 9:30am to 3:30pm Thursday, May 10 Westminster PC

Prayer & Praise

Please pray for TE Renee Mackey, Pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church, as she copes with challenging transitions in her personal life.

Praise God for the continued ministry of TE Ronnie L. Hankins, as he prepares to defend his doctoral dissertation and graduate with an advanced degree in ministry.

Please continue to pray for TE Neta Pringle, Interim Pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church, as she recuperates from a leg injury.

Please pray for Tawes DeWyngaert, as he recovers following a successful surgery. Mr. DeWyngaert is the husband of TE Susan DeWyngaret, pastor of Woods Presbyterian Church.

Please pray for Erik Burris as he recovers following a successful surgery. Mr. Burriss is the husband of TE Carrie Finch Burriss, Pastor of Kenwood Presbyterian Church.

Why Pay Per Capita?

A History of Per Capita in PCUSA

Where did the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.'s system of funding the General Assembly -- k nown as Per Capita -- come from, and why is it flat? As with so many other issues, American Presbyterian s have long struggled with the means of supporting their mission and ministry. Eschewing England's system of patronage by landed gentry, American Presbyterians' Scots forebears supported their ministers by pew rents. By the middle of the nineteenth century, pew rents had fallen out of favor.

But how would a national body, meeting annually to conduct the legislative and judicial work of the church, support and sustain those assemblies? In 1857, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (PCUSA) promulgated a flat apportionment based on a presbytery's population, called the Plan of Mileage. At 5 cents per member, the Plan of Mileage would pay into a Delegate Fund, from which commissioners to General Assembly could be reimbursed for their travel.

The apportionment was understood to be voluntary, but presbyteries were required to pay their share, regardless of any congregation's delinquency. From 1860 to 1869, 90 percent of presbyteries participated in the plan, whose revenues were reported under a fund called Commissioners and Contingent Funds. In 1870, this fund was changed simply to General Assembly Tax.

Conflict over the apportionment was constant. Alternate funding plans were proposed and repealed until the 1900 General Assembly firmly establish the General Delegate Fund wholly supported based on the good will and faith commitment of its churches.

The amount of the Per Capita assessment, and commissioners' and congregants' satisfaction with it, would change at every assembly. Major reorganization of PCUSA national agency offices in 1923, and of PCUSA offices in 1972, led to dramatic increases in Per Capita. Between 1972 and 1978, commissioners would bring ten separate overtures to General Assembly dealing with Per Capita. By this time, of course, Per Capita was not just remunerating commissioners from far-flung presbyteries for their travel in order to ensure total representation at General Assembly. By the 1980s, Per Capita sustained not just the operations of the Office of the General Assembly, but the Committee on Ordination Examinations, the Department of Chaplains, and the staffing and administrative costs of the General Assembly Mission Council.

The long-running tensions between what money is given out of duty and what is given freely, between what is spent on necessary bureaucratic functions and what is spent on work in the world, has never in the past 160 years been satisfactorily resolved. Yet the system of funding the church's ecclesiastical and juridical functions prevails. One suspects that a simple, flat, per-person assessment (the current system) remains the easiest to administer-even if a flat rate has regressive effects.

Monetary contributions appear to go hand-in-hand with political influence in the church. T he Per Capita apportionment system prohibits large churches from gaining political advantage in the denomination by contributing funds for the administering of the Church in excess of their personal representation, since even the smallest churches give equitable financial assistance to the denomination for administrative and other services on a Per Capita basis, according to PCUSA historian Clinton McCoy. Whether concern for equitable political representation is enough to sustain Per Capita as an institution remains to be seen; nevertheless, its track record remains impressive. In McCoy's words: Per Capita is "like the mustard seed which grew and spread its limbs, becoming a shade tree."

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This article was adapted from " Where Did Per Capita Come from?" by David Staniunas of the Presbyterian Historical Society. It was published online Apr. 14, 2018 by the Presbyterian News Agency.

Take Note/Act Now

Presbytery and Churchwide

Take Note: 241st Synod of Mid-Atlantic highlights, Click here for details.

Click here to view the 879th Meeting Agenda

TAKE NOTE: The P resbytery of Baltimore announces the following vacant position:

Associate for Congregational Vitality. The Deadline to apply is May, 7, 2018

2018 Schedule of Clerks' Meetings


Date	Time	Church	Location	Facilitator
Thursday, May 17	7pm	Harundale PC	1020 Eastway (21060)	J. Carlson
Saturday, May 19	10am	Hunting Ridge PC	4640 Edmomdson Ave. (21229)	J. Carlson
Monday, June 11	7pm	FPC of Howard Co.	9325 Presbyterian Circle (21045)	M. Gaut
Saturday, June 30	10am	Hancock PC	17 East Main St. (21750)	M. Gaut

The Center Needs Volunteers!

Volunteers needed! The Center is holding a workday to spruce up its dormitory space for summer mission weeks: Saturday, May 12, 9am - 2pm. Some (but not all) tasks will require basic carpentry and/or painting skills. To sign up, email Sara Clauss at [email protected]

and

The Center is seeking a few donated items to help spruce up its dorm space. To see a list of what is needed, and to sign up to donate, click here .

TAKE NOTE: Synod for the Mid-Atlantic hosts Administrators' One Day Seminar in Columbia, MD! Click here for Invitation and Brochure.

The Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program is offering a two percent investment rate, two year fixed rate term note for new applicants. Click here for details.

Churches

The Woodbrook Players of Brown Memorial Woodbrook PC present their FINAL show at the Charles Street location: Lerner & Loewe's classic musical Camelot . Saturdays and Sundays through May 13. Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 3pm. Get details at http://woodbrookplayers.wixsite.com/home.

The Bay Area Disciples are hosting a Stewardship Training led by O landa Carr of the Presbyterian Foundation. The event will take place at Harundale Presbyterian Church from 9am to noon on Saturday, June 2. All church leaders of the Presbytery are invited! Please contact Jon Nelson with any questions.

The Spire Series at First & Franklin Presbyterian Church is thrilled to sponsor the Second Annual Baltimore Piano Marathon Concert. Beginning at 2pm on Sunday, May 6, a new artist will take the stage every thirty minutes, with Kati & Mark introducing each performer and offering insights into the music. For details, click here.

Grace Presbyterian Church is hosting a Crab Feast on July 28 but tickets now available for $55. (The regular price of a ticket is $55.) For additional information call the church, 410.466.4000.

Trinity Presbyterian Church will host a special Women's Day service entitled "Celebrating the Gifts of Women: Faithful Women are God's Witness" at 11am on Sunday, May 20. The event will feature General Presbyter, The Rev. Dr. Jacqueline E. Taylor, as guest speaker.

Havenwood Presbyterian Church seeks an Interim Organist to begin employment on or before Apr. 29, with the expectation of providing music and accompaniment for worship services. Click here to view the job description.

Light Street Presbyterian Church is currently seeking a part-time Communications Director to manage communication across a number of different platforms (printed materials, website, and social media). If interested, please click here to view the job description .

Hughes Memorial Presbyterian Church is offering a supply of tableware free to any church in need. These dishes are in perfect condition with no chips or cracks: 70 bread plates, 207 dinner plates, and 200 coffee cups. To express interest in receiving the tableware: email Deborah Gamble.

Other

Oak Crest Village Retirement Center in Parkville seeks a part-time pastoral associate. Click for details.