Board of Church and Society cuts staff
9/25/2003 By Joretta Purdue* WASHINGTON
(UMNS) - The United Methodist social advocacy and action board has cut
more than a third of its staff positions, becoming the latest church
agency forced to reduce its work force because of financial pressure.
The
Board of Church and Society terminated 11 people during a period of
several days, culminating Sept. 23. Four resignations created additional
unfilled vacancies during the past six months, and only one of those - a
part-time position - is being retained.
Just 26 people will remain in October of what was a staff of 40 at the beginning of the year.
The
cuts affect all levels of the agency. The staff was warned of impending
reductions months earlier and voting members of the board were apprised
as well. The board completed its semi-annual meeting Sept. 14.
Of
those who lost jobs, three were executives, four had program positions
and four were support staff. Their length of service ranged from eight
months to more than 22 years.
Jim Winkler, the top staff executive, spoke individually with every employee during the course of making the layoffs.
"I
am very sorry our financial situation has necessitated these painful
staff reductions," Winkler said in addressing the staff afterward.
The
Board of Church and Society joins several other United Methodist
agencies that have cut jobs in response to financial problems. Speaking
to the board, Winkler cited several causes for the job cuts: reduced
World Service funding in the 2001-04 budget, a forced spend-down of
board reserves, the rise in health care expenses and the decline in the
general agency Benefit Trust income. He could have added the stock
market downturn and a disputed earlier classification of assets that
affected the budget-funding process for the 2001-04 period.
"Ours is the only agency receiving fewer World Service dollars now than
it was receiving in 1988," Winkler had told the board. The World Service
budget for 2005-08 to be recommended to General Conference next spring
will be larger than the current allocation but would fall short of what
is needed to sustain the current level of staffing by more than $1
million a year, he added.
This year, he said, less than
two-fifths of the operating budget comes from the World Service Fund and
more than one-fifth is coming from reserves.
The elimination of
one-third of the staff positions is expected to reduce the amount spent
on salaries, benefits and related costs by more than $1 million next
year.
Of the 26 staff that remain, six are executives, 14 are
program workers and six are support people. The cuts are eliminating
jobs at the board's headquarters in Washington and its U.N. ministry
office in New York, as well as positions in North Carolina and Texas.
A
staff retreat is planned to develop a structure for handling the
board's responsibilities as outlined in the church's Book of Discipline.
# # #
*Purdue is a news writer for United Methodist News Service.
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