Presbytery News
To: Interested Parties in the Presbyteries of Boise, Eastern Oregon and Kendall
From: David Carlson, General Presbyter
CC: Synod of the Pacific
Date: June 2, 2008
Re: Impacts of Reorganization
On December 31, 2008 the Snake River Mission Area will cease to exist. On January 1, 2009 the Presbyteries of Boise, Eastern Oregon and Kendall will begin a new life as individual presbyteries, responsible for their own mission, staffing and funding. What will be the financial impact of reorganization? How will life change in other ways?
| The most important difference is that,for 2009 the mission budgets are Presbytery budgets, Not an SRMA budget. |
This reorganization results in a major reduction in the number of staff who will be employed. When organized as a mission area, we employed two full time staff in the SRMA office (the General Presbyter/Associate Synod Executive and the Administrative Associate and Program Coordinator), half time Bookkeeper and half time Director of Resources (approximately 3.0 FTE = "full time equivalent"). In addition we employed three part time staff who served the presbyteries (Regional Presbyter in Boise and Eastern Oregon and Presbytery Administrator in Kendall - a total of 1.5 FTE). Thus, our previous staff configuration totaled 4.5 FTE to serve all three presbyteries.
Beginning January 1, 2009 there will be one half time staff person serving each presbytery. There will also be a part time person supporting the Shared Ministry Program and the Paul Kessell Resource Center. Thus, in 2009 the staff configuration will be a total of about 1.9 FTE (0.5 FTE per presbytery plus 0.4 FTE for Resource Center). Altogether this means a reduction of about $175,000 in costs of the former SRMA staff, an increase of around $27,000 as the presbytery staff move to a higher pay grade, and an increase of around $30,000 as services performed by the SRMA office are shifted to the Camp Sawtooth staff payroll.
| Emancipation describes the nature of this change better than Independence or Separation because the presbyteries hope to remain in cooperation. Emancipation calls to mind that phase in life where one's children grow up, move away from home and begin their own lives. That is a short lived sadness for Mom and Dad, but there are many wonderful things that lie ahead. On their own our children discover some of the best things in life: love, career, beginning their own family. If lucky, we become grandparents and hear, someday our own children admire our former wisdom! In the same way this will be a time of hope and achievement for our presbyteries. |
Reorganization Liberates Money For Mission
One might roughly calculate that the reorganization saves approximately $100,000 if presbytery staff are able to perform their responsibilities in a half time role. Clearly, this savings will not hold true if presbytery staff positions became full time. If that happened, payroll under the new organization would actually be higher than payroll under the old system.
| Reorganization saves approximately $100,000 IF presbytery staff are able to perform their responsibilities in a half time role. |
Attached to this are spreadsheets titled "2008 Planning Budget" and "2009 Planning Budget". The only way to compare "Before and After" is to compare these budgets in detail. The most important difference is that for 2009 the mission budgets are Presbytery budgets, not an SRMA budget.
Intention #1: Equal or Greater Funds for Mission
| Mission Projects Funded Per Presbytery | ||
| Presbytery/Year | 2008 | 2009 |
| Boise | $31,452 | $38,800 (+40,697 surplus) |
| Eastern Oregon | 22516 | 27,600 (+25,168 surplus) |
| Kendall | 19053 | 59,200 (no surplus) |
By comparing these budgets you can see that each Presbytery is able to continue each of the mission projects from 2008 into 2009. In fact, each Presbytery is able to do more than this. Boise and EOP have an unbudgeted surplus. In Kendall the mission budget increases significantly in order to fund a new church development (Teton Valley).
Intention #2: Adequately and Fairly Compensate Staff
We attempted to project salaries for 2009 by incorporating all present costs, including travel, and adding a cost of living increase (3.5%) and a grade level increase (13%). These are merely budget projections - the presbyteries will each establish their own salary structure.
Intention #3: Find a New Way to Fund Continuing Cooperative Ventures
In every Presbytery there was major concern how to support certain activities which have come to be known as "Cooperative Ventures" such as Camp Sawtooth, Campus Ministry, Resource Center, Shared Ministry, WNLT, and Youth Events. The following chart shows how MUCC recommends that funding of these ventures be shared in 2009. Future funding of these ventures will require ongoing consultation among the Presbyteries.
| Recommendation | Boise | EOP | Kendall | |
| COOPERATIVE VENTURES | ||||
| Camp Sawtooth | $30,000 | $15,000 | $0 | $15,000 |
| College of Idaho Campus Ministry |
12,000 | 6,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| Resource Center | 34,728 | 17,376 | 10,176 | 7,176 |
| Shared Ministry Program |
13,525 | 4,508 | 4,508 | 4,508 |
| Western National Leadership Training |
2,133 | 711 | 711 | 711 |
| Youth Events | moved to budgets of individual presbyteries | |||
The Future of Cooperation
Cooperation - shared work and shared activities among the Presbyteries - remains a high value. There have been many discussions how to achieve this future cooperation. Following are two thoughts as to how cooperative ventures may continue, and even evolve into new forms.
Quasi-Independent Boards
Camp Sawtooth is administered by a Board of Directors, and other cooperative ventures can be administered this way. Camp Sawtooth is a ministry of both the Presbytery of Kendall and the Presbytery of Boise. It "belongs" to the Presbytery of Kendall since it is located in Kendall's geographical territory, but it is governed by Board of Directors which is formed by the Presbyteries which elect the directors. That Board has its own bank account(s), and employs its own staff.
In the current process of reorganization a new board will be organized which will exercise similar oversight over the Shared Ministry Program and the Paul Kessel Resource Center.
Staff Collaboration
The primary liaisons between the Presbyteries are the Presbytery staff. They will meet regularly throughout the year, and will be alert to needs and opportunities for collaboration. Staff will seek to involve the Presbyteries in cooperation through the appropriate councils and committees of the Presbytery.
The Bottom Line
I believe that the work of a Presbytery is measured by a few important things:
- Quality of Relationships
- Support of Existing Churches
- Ability to Nurture New Churches
The deepest justification for change is that our Presbyteries may become better able to accomplish their mission. People have long believed that it might strengthen our Presbyteries if they could become responsible for their own mission. Our previous system was good in many ways, but it was difficult to interpret to people in the churches who were asked to support it. The new system is, by contrast, very clear: churches give directly (i.e. 95% directly) to support the mission of their Presbytery. We hope this brings better communication between the Presbytery and its congregations.
When I came to the Snake River Mission Area I saw a big opportunity: if the Presbyteries could work together and pool their resources, they could accomplish one major project at a time - whether that be a new church development or a major redevelopment. Even though not perfectly, we have accomplished this. But now, at the dawn of a new organization, the Presbyteries actually have the resources to mount three major projects simultaneously - one in each Presbytery! That is a major step forward.