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[Editor’s Note:  Last year – after discovering that 1997 Birthday Offering receipts had been invested in the production of a video series on human sexuality that advocates and promotes a philosophy that is hostile to the biblical and confessional standards of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – Voices of Orthodox Women brought the matter to your attention.  This year, Marcia Slentz-Whalen has again examined the way in which PW is spending your mission dollars. This article first appeared in the March 2003 VOW Newsletter.]

Early January:

I received my January/February issue of Horizons magazine, and read the brief descriptions of the recipients of the 2003 PW Birthday Offering grants (pages 22-23). 

January 14: 

I wrote to several PW leaders in Louisville to ask for some additional information. To begin with, I inquired as to the actual dollar amount of each of the five grants.  I also requested some specific information about the grant that PW made to the Cleveland Campus Mosaic in Cleveland, Ohio.  For example, I asked for:

· a list of all of the churches (i.e. denominations) that are involved in United Protestant Campus Ministries; and

· the “Mosaic’s” mission statement, together with some information on the way in which they do their ministry;

· if that means that there will be a single new staff person from one of those backgrounds, or if there will there be three new staff members – one from each of those ethnic groups; and 

· if the PW Birthday Offering grant to this organization will be used for any other purpose than to fund these new staff positions.

"Jean Cutler...can give you the details you've requested. I will follow up with Jean in the morning to be sure she received your note." Ann mentioned that she would be away on travel, and she assured me that, "Jean will respond to you so that you will receive the information in a more timely manner." 

Sixteen days later, when I still had not heard from Jean Cutler, I again wrote to Ann Ferguson, saying, "It seems to me that the information I have requested would be readily available among the application materials that were submitted by the applicants for the PW Birthday Offering Grants." I also asked her to "Please respond as soon as possible." 

Again, Ann responded promptly, but with only the following note: 

"Thank you, Marcia, for writing again. Jean and I talked about your request before I left. I will get with her again today and see that you get a response."

Another 21 days passed, and I had still not received answers to my questions. So, I wrote once again to tell Ann that I considered this failure to respond to be a serious problem. I reminded her that questions have been raised in the past about the use (and, in some cases, the misuse) of PW Birthday Offering proceeds. I suggested that, given that recent history, it would seem logical that her office staff would make a particularly conscientious effort to provide prompt answers to my questions. Instead, my questions had remained unanswered for well over a month. 

I also let Ann know that I would be writing an article regarding this matter for the next edition of the VOW newsletter, and that I would like nothing more than to be able to provide solid answers to the questions I had raised. Furthermore, I expressed my hope that the answers would show that PW staff members had exercised impeccable stewardship in the management of this year's grant resources, and I observed that It would be wonderful to be able to report such news to concerned members of our VOW network. 

Since the deadline for our newsletter was March 1, I stated that I would need to have this information from Ann’s office by February 27 (giving her one additional full week to respond). I stated that if by that date (which was more than six weeks from the date of my original request) I had not received clear and thorough answers to the questions I raised in my original letter to her of January 14, I would have to address this disappointing failure of her office to respond.

February 26: 

I received a message from Susan Jackson-Dowd [PW Communications Coordinator], writing on behalf of Ann Ferguson, indicating that my questions were being addressed and that I would have information before the end of the week. She wrote, 

“It is taking some time to pull together the answers because all of what you are asking cannot be answered out of one office.”

I received a message from Jean Cutler [PW Mission Interpretation} that included the following:

“I regret that you did not receive my response to you by E-mail in January concerning your question about the 2003 Birthday Offering recipients

“There are no specific dollar amounts guaranteed for the grant recipients as the offering is received in the spring of the year 2003 and these monies will be received in Louisville by the end of September (they are sent from the PW Presbytery treasurers). There has been a history each year that $100,000 has been sent to each of the five recipients in October. If additional Birthday Offering monies come in the end of the year they are also sent to the selected projects.

“You may contact the Executive Director Re. Kim Auensteirn (sic), D. Min at the Cleveland Campus Mosaic--United Protestant Camous (sic) Ministries in Cleveland, Ohio (216) 232-2260 for the answers to the question on all the denominations that are involved.

“The Presbytery of Western Reserved has heartily endorsed the project.

“The mission statement is:

1) To celebrate the remarkable diversity on our urban Cleveland college campuses.

2) To provide support for leadership training and faith formation opportunities for students of African-American, Asian, Native American, and Latin/Hispanic decent (sic) on our urban Cleveland campuses.

3) To educate and engage constituents on all of our urban Cleveland campuses in the exciting aspects of the Church that are most vital to them contextually, on the urban campus.

“The Church's concern for them as children of God, the full development of their leadership potential, and the connection of justice with mercy through community service opportunities.

“Their hope is to have one staff person to serve as a role model and interpreter of the church's stance and programs initiative.”

• Based on historical precedent, it seems that the amounts of each of the five grants will be at least $100,000. That’s a lot of money. I am astonished to learn that the Birthday Offering Committee was not interested in discerning which denominations they would be supporting by helping to fund this Campus Ministry! I think this is a critical piece of information. 

• The statement that a presbytery “has heartily endorsed the project” means very little these days. It goes without saying that there are many projects that would be happily endorsed by renegade presbyteries that have demonstrated a clear intent to defy our denomination’s Biblical and Constitutional standards. Endorsement by a presbytery certainly does not guarantee that a project is an acceptable candidate for funding by Presbyterian Women. 

• The mission statement is "vacuous!” It really doesn't say anything specific about the content of the "faith formation" in which this Campus Ministry is involved. It reveals nothing about their theology. They talk about “the Church“ -- what does that mean to them? 

• The closing sentence reads, "Their hope is to have one staff person to serve as a role model and interpreter of the church's stance and programs initiative." What on earth does that mean? This fuzzy-language approach to statements of mission and purpose is basic to the problems we've been facing with campus ministries for years. 

• There was no answer to the last question I raised: Is the PW Birthday Offering grant to this organization going to be used for any other purpose than to fund this new staff position? 

The more I think about the information I received in response to my questions, the more troubled I am. If the grant committee makes decisions based on no more information than this, it certainly is not exercising responsible stewardship. In fact, this uninformed approach to the management of money given in good faith by Presbyterian Women from across the nation seems downright reckless.

I can think of three possible explanations for this apparent lack of information on the part of those who should be knowledgeable about these matters:

1. Either the PW Birthday Offering Committee has not been provided with clear information as to what the theological position of this campus ministry is, or 

2. The Committee simply doesn’t care to know what the theological position of this campus ministry is, or 

3. The Committee does know, and they are withholding information in response to direct questions from concerned women in the pews.

I think about the older women in PW Circles all across the nation who faithfully give their offerings. Do you think they trust that young college students are being nurtured in the historic faith of the Church? Of course they do. Do you think their trust is being betrayed? If you have doubts, contact these national officers who have been entrusted with the stewardship responsibility for managing your gifts.

Every one of us has an individual personal responsibility for holding our leaders accountable. When something that has the endorsement of our national offices and committees doesn’t seem right or consistent with our denominational standards, don’t just accept it, trusting blindly that those in charge must know more than you do about these matters. Ask your questions. Register your complaints. And then be prepared to follow up as many times as necessary to get an answer that actually addresses your concerns. Don’t stop asking until you see results that are completely consistent with what our Biblical, Confessional, and Constitutional guidelines declare to be our definition of who we are as Presbyterians in the U.S.A. and how we are to live as that part of the body of Christ.

Persist! Persevere! Insist on accountability! It is a vitally important part of your charge as a faithful member of the body of Christ.