The Tie That Binds: Why Per Capita Matters Across Mountain Laurel Presbytery

To the Session, deacons, and members of every congregation across Mountain Laurel Presbytery, grace and peace.

When the Presbyterian Mission Agency produced a short video to help congregations understand per capita giving, they titled it The Tie That Binds. It’s an image worth sitting with as we come together as one presbytery. Per capita is not a line item buried in a budget report — it is the thread that connects Mountain Laurel’s congregations to one another, to our synod, and to the wider church we share with Presbyterians across the country.

We Are Mountain Laurel

Our presbytery’s mission statement puts it plainly: ”Mindful that Mountain Laurel Presbytery is all of us, we are committed to growing our congregations, nurturing the ministry opportunities and needs of our communities. Leaning into our connectional Presbyterian heritage, and for the sake of the Gospel, we boldly risk our comfort to partner with each other in ministry, outreach, and faith.” We summarize this vision simply: Better Together as We Grow and Serve in Christ.

Since our incorporation on January 1, 2026, bringing together the faithful histories of Lackawanna and Lehigh, we have been intentional about becoming Mountain Laurel — not starting from scratch, but building on decades of ministry now united for a greater purpose. Per capita giving is one of the most concrete ways every congregation participates in that becoming.

What Per Capita Makes Possible

Per capita is the shared, per-member giving that funds the connectional work none of our congregations could accomplish alone — the staffing, committee work, and ministry support that the General Presbyter’s and Stated Clerk’s office, Committee on Church Orders, Incarnation and Empowerment, Property and Resources committee, and other presbytery bodies depend on. It is also, in part, what has made possible the regional gatherings for pastors and retired ministers that we have been building — gatherings meant to “deepen our friendships and fellowships and surround each other with prayer and encouragement.”

It is also what helped send ten youth and three adults from congregations across our presbytery to Montreat this past summer — a trip made possible by a grant from Mountain Laurel Presbytery. That trip is a small but vivid picture of what per capita giving supports: young people from different congregations, discovering that they belong to something larger than their home church. As one of our leaders reflected afterward, “it truly showcased that we are growing together.”

Why This Is More Than a Suggestion

I want to be honest with you about something our presbytery leadership has recently had to work through ourselves. A question arose about whether Mountain Laurel — as a presbytery — is obligated to forward per capita in full to our synod and to the General Assembly, or whether we might simply pass along whatever portion our congregations happen to remit. It’s a fair question, and it deserves a clear, careful answer.

The Book of Order settles it. G-3.0106 states plainly that “presbyteries are responsible for raising their own funds and for raising and timely transmission of per capita funds to their respective synods and the General Assembly.” That word — responsible — is not incidental. A 1999 General Assembly authoritative interpretation (GA, 1999, 65, 107, 16.001–.007, Req. 99-1) confirmed that a presbytery retains this responsibility to pay its assessed per capita in full, even when one or more of its own congregations fall short of what has been asked of them.

This is not merely administrative language. A 2006 General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission decision (Johnston, et al. v. Heartland Presbytery, PJC, 2006, 217-2, 462) grounded this obligation in something deeper than budgeting: “Payment of per capita apportionments is a high moral obligation, the fulfillment of which visibly demonstrates the covenantal ties that bind us as the one church of Jesus Christ.” Per capita, in other words, is not merely a fee for services rendered by the wider church. It is a visible sign of covenant.

We also want to be candid that this obligation is not merely theoretical. In Green v. Presbytery of Pittsburgh (2012, Synod of the Trinity PJC), a presbytery that had adopted a policy of only forwarding what it collected from its congregations — rather than its full assessed apportionment — lost a remedial complaint brought against it, and was placed under an administrative order to provide full per capita, with the synod prepared to appoint an administrative commission to ensure compliance if necessary. While that particular synod-level ruling technically binds only the presbytery named in the case, it illustrates plainly what any presbytery could expect if a similar complaint were brought against it.

I share all of this not to alarm anyone, but because I believe transparency serves our covenant together. Mountain Laurel Presbytery has an obligation to our synod and General Assembly regardless of what any individual congregation is able to give in a given year. When a congregation’s per capita giving falls short, the presbytery does not simply pass along the shortfall — it absorbs it, drawing from other resources to meet an obligation that belongs to all of us together. Full and timely per capita giving from every congregation is what allows Mountain Laurel to meet this “high moral obligation” without straining the shared ministries described above. If your congregation is having trouble meeting its per capita apportionment, please reach out directly to our Stated Clerk, Rev. Scott DeCaro and ask for relief of the portion you cannot pay. He can guide you through the process of making that request to the Council.

An Intentional Choice, Not an Everything-Everywhere Approach

One of our presbytery’s guiding convictions is resisting the temptation to be “everything, everywhere, all at once,” and instead focusing our shared efforts in ways that “deepen our relationships with one another, share in mission together, and learn to depend on each other.” Per capita giving is precisely this kind of focused, intentional choice. It doesn’t fund every possible ministry — it funds the connective tissue that lets us discern, communicate, and act together as one presbytery, and that lets our presbytery in turn fulfill its own covenantal obligations to synod and General Assembly.

That connective tissue shows up in ordinary, practical ways too: in regular reminders and announcements that keep every congregation informed; in town hall meetings held to answer questions and build consensus as we’ve worked through governance documents together; and in the committee work — those mentioned above along with Budget and Finance, Personnel, Technology and Communications — that per capita helps sustain on behalf of every congregation in Mountain Laurel. The work of the Shared Gifts Committee and the Permanent Judicial Committee are also funded through per capita.

A Word from Scripture

Paul’s words to the Corinthian church remain the spirit in which we invite every congregation to give: ”Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7, NRSV). Per capita is not about compulsion. It’s about choosing, cheerfully and faithfully, to be bound to something larger than any single congregation — and helping our presbytery, in turn, honor a covenant it has made to synod and General Assembly on behalf of us all.

Our Invitation to You

As your Sessions consider per capita giving this year, I hope you’ll remember what it represents for Mountain Laurel: our shared voice in the wider church, our shared capacity to support congregations in transition, to send youth to Montreat, to gather leaders for encouragement, and to keep faith with a “high moral obligation” that binds presbytery, synod, and General Assembly together as one church. As we said at our last Assembly: we are not starting from scratch — we are building on decades of faithful ministry, now united for an even greater purpose.

We are Mountain Laurel. We are Better Together. And the best is yet to come.

With gratitude for your partnership in the Gospel,

Rev. Denise D. Pass,

General Presbyter

Sources

• Book of Order, G-3.0106

• General Assembly Authoritative Interpretation (1999, Minutes pp. 65, 107, 16.001–.007, Req. 99-1)

• GAPJC, Johnston, et al. v. Heartland Presbytery (2006, 217-2, 462)

• Synod of the Trinity PJC, Green v. Presbytery of Pittsburgh (2012)

• Mountain Laurel Presbytery strategic and identity documents; GP Presbytery Reports (Sept. & Nov. 2025); August 2026 Assembly Update

• Presbyterian Mission Agency, The Tie That Binds (video)

Drafted with the assistance of the Presbyterian Virtual Assistant on behalf of Mountain Laurel Presbytery; reviewed by Rev. Denise D. Pass, General Presbyter, before distribution.