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2019 Per Capita
WHAT IS PER CAPITA? In the Presbyterian Church (USA) each
member is assessed each year so that all our ministries and mission
work can be carried out. In Lehigh Presbytery, the per capita
apportionment for 2019 is $36.00 per member.
Each governing body, or council, needs income so that it can carry
out ministry and mission. Here are the three areas of governing
bodies to which we here at the Hokey church belong: 1) the local
PCUSA churches make up the Lehigh Presbytery. Our staff offices
are in Allentown. 2) All the presbyteries in Pennsylvania, West
Virginia and eastern Ohio make up the larger governing body called
the Synod of the Trinity, whose staff offices are located near
Harrisburg. 3) All of us in the PCUSA have the governing body
called the General Assembly. Our staff headquarters are in
Louisville, KY. To carry out its work, Each has staff to do this, as
well as volunteer committees made up of elders and pastors. As in
everything, money is necessary to carry out the ministry and mission
for all these areas of governance and mission. (Please remember that
the people on the staff that work in all these areas do not work in
order to tell us what to do. Rather, they are elected by elders and
pastors, carrying out the ministries and mission as brought to them
and voted upon by presbyters—e.g. elders and pastors.)
Here is some information from the PCUSA website. “Why is per
capita important? Per capita brings Presbyterians together —
literally! Presbyterians are connected in many ways, including our
church government. We believe we discern best what God is calling
us to do when we gather as mid councils, ‘seek[ing] together to find
and represent the will of Christ’” (Book of Order F-3.0204). Per
capita dollars pay for the costs of holding a General Assembly —
including costs of travel, room and board of commissioners and
advisory delegates, many of whom would not be able to afford these
expenses on their own. Per capita makes it possible for
Presbyterians to govern ourselves. Presbyterians have a form of
government built upon shared power and mutual accountability as
we seek together to represent the will of Christ. By providing the
primary means through which commissioners and advisory
delegates can do their work, per capita dollars help to undergird our
governance system. The per capita funding that is sent to General
Assembly helps to pay for our staff persons there, as well as (just a
few examples) Bible study materials for Presbyterian Women, the
design and content of the website, the Youth Triennium, and the
materials for the denomination’s special offerings and missionary
efforts. This is what the per capita money does for us in each area:
the presbytery, the synod, and the general assembly.
More than half of the per capita funds our members give, go to
Lehigh Presbytery, and the remainder to Synod and General
Assembly. Every year, our Session has budgeted an amount to pay
our total per capita assessment out of the general budget, because
the Hokey church has to pay it, whether each member remits it to us
of not. We must pay the assessed amount, based on the number of
active members in our church during the previous year. If you give
your annual per capita apportionment, we are able to spend all the
funds the Session has budgeted for our own local ministry in Hokey,
for their designated purposes. Thank you from your Finance
Committee and the Session! If you have any questions about per
capita, please see our Treasurer, Sue Butchinski.
[Note: Please be sure to indicate that your
contribution is for “Per Capita” or use the designated blue envelope
in your 2019 offering envelope box. Thank you!]
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