Presbyterian Church to cut more jobs at HQ

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) plans to cut jobs at its headquarters for the third time in four years.
Denomination officials wouldn't estimate how many jobs would be lost, but they said the church needs to trim its $114 million budget by 13 percent in the next two years. They said the number of cuts would be announced later this month.
In the past few years, a total of 85 jobs were cut at the headquarters through layoffs and attrition.
This year's cuts are designed to change the way the denomination does business, church officials said. The headquarters, which has about 600 employees, has historically been a hub for programs financed by member churches such as mission trips and social-outreach efforts.
But increasingly, individual congregations are using the money they raise to conduct their own trips and programs, said John Detterick, executive director of the General Assembly Council, which oversees most denomination departments.
"There will always be a key place for national missions, but I think we're at a transition, from a time when huge amounts of money were sent for other people to do God's work, to a time when more of it is going to be determined locally and regionally," he said.
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