GAC September 20. Pre-Meeting.

I left Kansas City this morning at 4:00 am Pacific time and arrived at the Sacramento Sheraton Grand Hotel at 12:45 pm. I Checked in and went to Restricted Funds Oversight Committee meeting at 1:00. Except for a one and half hours for supper, the seven members and two staff worked until 9:30. The Governance Task Force, the Mission Funding Task Force, and the Personnel Subcommittee were also meeting today.

The Restricted Funds Oversight Committee receives grant requests from across the denomination from churches, presbyteries, synods, and other denominational entities, for funds that have been donated and restricted for specific purposes. For an overview of the restricted fund process, visit the PSUSA site for GA Restricted Funds. If you want to see a list of the funds, go to this link: GA Unassigned Funds List.

Nearly thirty funds will be addressed this year, and nearly 150 grant requests. Requests ranged from $500 up to about $175,000. (Only a very few are for more than a couple thousand dollars.) Our staff person Shelly Lewis did a masterful job organizing the information and tabulating data in various informative ways. Each member has had the paperwork to review for about a month, and it was clear from the start of the meeting that everyone had done their homework.

I am not at liberty to discuss much of what happened today. We have made a first pass through most of the requests, and we discussed oversight issues this evening. We convene in the morning to finish our work. We have a 2:00 deadline to meet, and then plenary for the GAC officially starts at 3:30.

Keep us all in your prayers.