Presbytery Clergy Pay

One metric used to measure corporate health and vitality is transparency and openness. How open is the information, structure, and policy of the organization to those inside and outside the process. We learn that when Sessions, churches, companies, Wall Street tend to be opaque, closed, or secretive in their dealings bad things usually happen.

From a career in Federal service, and the corporate world of a hospital before that, I am amazed just how open we Presbyterians are with data and information. It is all there for any and all to see, if they choose to take an interest. Clergy pay, church information, financial data is all there, for all. We may disagree on matters of ideology or theology, but compared to many institutions in our culture, we are a very healthy organization by and large.

On that matter of clergy pay in BNP we learn that if one goes by the Bureau of Labor Statistics clergy pay will run from the top 7%of all wage earners, to that of the bottom 20%, highest to lowest. In others terms the same people with a M.Div. and fully qualified by the any standard can earn either an income on par with family practice MDs, to that who earns a full 10% below poverty level for a family of four. At $44,000 per year in family income, a family of four qualifies for reduced lunch programs and other income support programs from the state/federal levels. NJ has one of the highest cost of living relative to the nation in terms of the basics of food and shelter, and highest in the nation relative in terms of taxes paid.

I do not know if this a commentary on us, our relative values as a people, or the state of health of our churches. But the data and information is there, for all to see, and draw their own conclusions.

Lambertville Church Cuts Energy Bill

Lambertville Presbyterian recently conducted its annual energy review task force, a joint venture of the Session and Financial Management Team. This resulted in the church, through aggressive energy conservation and pro-action in fuel oil contracts, reducing its annual usage of fuel oil by 2,000 gallons for the 2007/8 heating season from the 2006/7 season. Additionally, the church was successfully able to negotiate a better contract from its supplier by shopping around and getting volume discounts and direct billing agreements. The results have been a reduction in the expected fuel oil bill for the 2008/9 heating season from $42K to $33K.

Learn about GA at Sept. Presbytery meeting

If you haven't heard much about GA, plan to attend the Sept. 9th meeting of the Presbytery to hear a report from our commissioners: Marcia MacKillop, Nancy Prince, Bisi Shofu, Jeff Vamos, and our Youth Advisory Delegate Alex Phipps!


Ernie Kimmel

Going Green

Click on the link below to read about efforts to become more energy-efficient. More will be added as we get information.

http://www.presbynewbrunswick.org/sites/PRESNB/edithtml/dynamic/Images/heat.pdf

Posted by Ilene, Financial Secretary

2008 General Assembly

I was wondering if any of you New Brunswick Presbyterians have heard about what happened at the General Assembly last month. If so, what do you think?

submitted by Greg Albert, AEP