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There is another important update in today’s eNews.  Please be sure to check out the article below:

• Grants Help Pastoral Leaders and Churches Form Generous Disciples
  • The Commission on Church Vitality and Trustees recommend you check out this grant program from the Presbyterian Foundation to attend a Church financial management seminar for free.
  • The deadline for applications is June 15th

A Word about GA:
If you are planning to attend the 223^rd General Assembly as an observer, you are welcome to participate in the group dinner with others from the Presbytery of Tampa Bay. Our commissioners and advisory delegate and their guests are getting together for dinner on Tuesday June 19. Let Patrice Hatley know as soon as possible if you’d like to join us, so we can make sure there are enough seats reserved! Send an email with your name and cellphone number to patrice@pbty.com.

Board of Pensions Updates:
I want to devote the main article to updates from the Board of Pensions.  Over the remainder of the year, the Board will begin to roll out several new programs that should significantly assist both pastors and churches.

Read about the new programs below, which include financial training and grants for pastors, and pensions dues relief for some small churches:

• One-Sheeter 2018-19 New Programs

The Board has also announced changes for 2019 to the Benefits Plan, and the results of a comprehensive study of Pastors (see link and article below):

• 2019 Benefits Plan To Offer Additional Healthcare and Income Security Options

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

The Board of Pensions worked with the Office of General Assembly last year to build the most comprehensive vocational data set on our ministers in a generation. Challenges emerged from the data but so did hopeful patterns. For one, our ministers are younger than we might have thought. The majority of those ordained in the Church in the last decade were in their 20s and 30s, and many are serving in positions with benefits through the Board.

Calling more ministers in such a way that they may have just compensation and so devote their best gifts to ministry is our collective challenge. In response, the Board has introduced Living by the Gospel, a guide to structuring ministers’ terms of call for Committees on Ministry, Committees on Preparation for Ministry, and Pastor Nominating Committees.

To help build sustainable ministry for the future of the PC(USA), Living by the Gospel introduces Pathways to Renewal. Effective July 1, Pathways reduces dues for small congregations and innovative ministries that hire ministers under age 40 who will be enrolled in Pastor’s Participation for the first time.

Pastoral leadership must be a top priority if we are to maintain a vital community.
The Board has committed resources and prayer to help create an environment in which innovation and just compensation might co-exist. But presbyteries, along with ministers and congregations, will need to create innovation on the ground as our Church continues to reform.

We’re excited about the new insights the vocational data has revealed, and we’ll be updating the vocational data set annually. Please stop by the Board’s booth at the 223rd General Assembly (2018) to talk to us about it.

Grace and peace,

 

 

The Reverend Frank Clark Spencer
President

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