As you know, Central Church operations are conducted by our
pastors, the office and music staffs, and eleven "Teams"
(committees), ultimately under the direction of our Board of Deacons and the Elders
on the Session.
One of our Session Teams is dedicated to defining our
purpose outside Central Presbyterian Church. That is the
Members in Mission Team. It's members are continually asking "How
can Central best project to the world the caring concern of Christ by providing
encouragement to the poor, the needy, and those suffering physically and
spiritually?" Under this Team is a separate activity called the
"Hands-On Mission Team" focused primarily on encouraging Central members'
charitable engagement, as opposed to solely making financial grants.
It might be interesting to take a look at how the Central
Members in Mission Team has attempted to answer this challenge so far in
2018.
Let's start by determining the Team's resources. The
Session gave the Team a 2018 budget of $68,604. Importantly, the Team is
also blessed with a long-standing endowment of more than $4 million.
However, the Team has disciplined itself to spend no more than a portion of the
annual income from the Mission Endowment Fund. For 2018, they have
declared that limit to be $400,000. This endowment arose from the bequest
of Lena Willis, a CPC member who passed away in 1994. She gave Central
a gift of $3 million to be used to support the Church's mission
activities. We were directed to pay particular attention to care for New
Jersey's homeless. .
Therefore, the total financial resources of the Members in
Mission Team are $68,604 plus $400,000, amounting to a grand total of
$468,604 for 2018.
As of November 26, 2018, the Members in Mission Team had
committed itself to spend 93.6% ($443,538) of it's $468,604 resources for
2018. The final portion is being held back until December 31, for
emergency situations which may arise. If no emergencies arise by
year-end, the final portion will be granted to one or more worthy
projects.
Let's look more closely at where the committed grant money
will go in 2018:
--- 19.7% ($93,303) Youth
development projects
--- 18.0% ($85,000)
Providing temporary or permanent shelter for the homeless
--- 16.0% ($75,000) Pre-K
education for disadvantaged children
--- 9.6% ($45,631)
Food and simple clothing for the homeless
--- 7.4% ($35,000)
PCUSA programs for national disaster relief
--- 7.2% ($34,000)
Non-U.S. economic/social 3rd World Development
--- 5.8% ($27,604)
Presbytery's annual Per Capita Assessment
--- 5.2% ($25,000)
CPC Capital Campaign (also pledged $25,000 for each of the
next 4 years.)
--- 3.2% ($15,000)
Nadia (missionary in Greece)
--- 1.5% ($
8,000) Short-term personal financing to prevent homelessness
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93.6% ($443,538)
The Team has committed $130,631 to local homeless
programs. "Local" means programs based in Newark,
Elizabeth, Irvington, Morristown, and even Summit. However, a larger
commitment has been made to programs for the development and education of
needy youth. So far, the Team is committing $168,303 to finance Pre-K
education classes for disadvantaged kids, and youth programs such as the E'port
Tutorial Program.
Hopefully, you may now be a bit curious for more details
about the specific activities supported by our Members in Mission Team's
grants. We are out of space here, but in the next few weeks WEEKLY
COMMENTARY will identify specifically the beneficiaries of our Members in
Mission Team's grants, and describe briefly how the grant funds will be used.
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some
personal spiritual growth this Fall at CPC.
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