Presbytery Mission Funding: A New Future

Given the new wineskin of the Presbytery of Grand Canyon – less churches, decreased funding, enormous budget deficit – new wine of vision and mission is required. To confront the challenges before us, your Resources Committee and Leadership Team are proposing specific adaptations in the way we fund our budget.

The key philosophical decision is to use the dismissal and dissolution funds from churches departing the presbytery toward creating two endowments: a mission endowment and a connecting endowment (for operations). These endowments will help minimize the amount of budget deficits incurred by the presbytery. In addition to creating these two endowments, the Resources Committee finds it necessary to propose a budget that is decreased from previous years; further, this budget will be bifurcated into mission and connecting budgets.

Yet another key philosophical decision made by the Resources Committee and affirmed by the Leadership Team is to bifurcate the mission budget into fixed and variable accounts. Based on input received from members of presbytery at the March meeting and through subsequent surveys, the fixed accounts will be directed toward Native American ministries. (A fixed account in this context is a line item that is set by the Resources Committee as part of the annual budget.)

The variable accounts of the mission budget will be based on a Mission Funding application that can be found on the presbytery website (click here or visit the Resource Committee page on the  Presbytery website). Prior year mission partners are invited to apply for these competitive grants, and decisions about available funds will be made by the Congregational Resourcing Team. The variable accounts are open to all, including churches, based on the following categories of ministry:

·         Congregational development and collaboration among congregations

·         Starting new worshiping communities

·         Supporting regional programs

Our current mission partners have been apprised of the above changes in the way will fund mission together as a presbytery. In addition, I invite your congregation or ministry to consider writing a Mission Funding application. Applications are due November 15, with grant awards made at the December Congregational Resourcing Team meeting.

Together in Christ,

Brad Munroe