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First Presbyterian Church of Honeoye Falls 27 North Main Street, P.O. Box 568, Honeoye Falls, New York 14472 (585) 624-2160 |
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Church News
First Presbyterian Church of Honeoye Falls
Posted February 7, 2007
A Way To Help Our Congregation's Mission:
"Per Capita" (A.K.A. "Membership Dues" Or "Initial Offering")
Per Capita is one of the expenses related to being organized for mission in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Per capita is a responsible way of sharing costs of administrative, legislative, and judicial functions of the church. This year, the per capita is $24.72 per member ($5.79 General Assembly, $15.23 presbytery, $3.70 synod) for a total of $10,233 (based on 418 members as of 12/31/05). Merl Galusha (our presbytery financial secretary) puts it well: Per capita is the way Presbyterians are honest about the skim.
Where do per capita dollars go?
The amount set for per capita apportionment is a calculation based on the number of church members and the budget established annually by presbyteries, synods, and the General Assembly. Per capita supports these kinds of things:
Per capita is one of the reasons that when you contribute through the church, very little is taken from your offering (compared to non-church fund-raisers which will take 30% or more of your contribution . . . or telemarketing companies which take 60% to 80% of contributions). The Presbyterian Church is still the best deal around for charitable dollars; per capita is part of the reason.
How does this affect our mission?
Our 2007 budget includes the $10,233 per capita total. If each member of our congregation were to contribute their per capita, above and beyond regular contributions, those per capita contributions would free up the total per capita amount for other ministries and missions of this congregation. If you have offering envelopes, there is a special envelope for per capita contribution. If you do not have envelopes you could send a check, marked "for per capita." Per capita contributions are shown in our income budget as "initial offering."
First Presbyterian Church of Honeoye Falls
Posted February 7, 2007
A Way To Help Our Congregation's Mission:
"Per Capita" (A.K.A. "Membership Dues" Or "Initial Offering")
Per Capita is one of the expenses related to being organized for mission in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Per capita is a responsible way of sharing costs of administrative, legislative, and judicial functions of the church. This year, the per capita is $24.72 per member ($5.79 General Assembly, $15.23 presbytery, $3.70 synod) for a total of $10,233 (based on 418 members as of 12/31/05). Merl Galusha (our presbytery financial secretary) puts it well: Per capita is the way Presbyterians are honest about the skim.
Where do per capita dollars go?
The amount set for per capita apportionment is a calculation based on the number of church members and the budget established annually by presbyteries, synods, and the General Assembly. Per capita supports these kinds of things:
- » Meetings of the governing body (when Mary Tyson went to General Assembly her expenses were paid by per capita dollars)
- » The office of the stated clerk of each governing body (remember: Val is our presbytery's stated clerk; his work is supported entirely by our per capita dollars)
- » Committees and commissions that carry out functions of the governing body (e.g. Committee on Ministry, Committee on Preparation for Ministry, Permanent Judicial Commissions)
- » Certain administration costs (e.g. insurance coverage, legal counsel, accounting & financial services)
Per capita is one of the reasons that when you contribute through the church, very little is taken from your offering (compared to non-church fund-raisers which will take 30% or more of your contribution . . . or telemarketing companies which take 60% to 80% of contributions). The Presbyterian Church is still the best deal around for charitable dollars; per capita is part of the reason.
How does this affect our mission?
Our 2007 budget includes the $10,233 per capita total. If each member of our congregation were to contribute their per capita, above and beyond regular contributions, those per capita contributions would free up the total per capita amount for other ministries and missions of this congregation. If you have offering envelopes, there is a special envelope for per capita contribution. If you do not have envelopes you could send a check, marked "for per capita." Per capita contributions are shown in our income budget as "initial offering."