Taxes and Death (of the PCA)

(Kevin) Benjamin Franklin once observed that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. He was right. It is interesting how the latter can sometimes lead to the former. In the case of British rule over the colonies, taxes were the spark that ignited the American Revolution. The colonists saw taxation as coercive and unjust.

It could be that the crafters of the new PCA Funding Model (You can read the actual model here and a summary of it by the Stated Clerk here), forgetting the lessons of history, may be doomed to repeat it…with similar, if ecclesiastical, results. In essence, the plan does away with Registration fees for General Assembly by replacing them with an assessment levied against churches and Teaching Elders (aka, a tax) that will fund the Administrative Committee from now on.

This New Levy is a Tax

We are being told that we are paying this money anyhow to attend and vote at General Assembly. Why all the fuss? Two reasons:

The proposed tax is mandatory: Whereas current funding of the AC is voluntary, the new tax must be paid in order to participate in the General Assembly. In fact, it must be paid, even if you do NOT go to General Assembly.

The tax is cumulative. I was providentially hindered from going to General Assembly this year so I did not pay the $400 fee. Under the old plan, if I decided to go next year, I would pay my registration fee of $400 and go. Under the new plan, my fee would drop to $100, but with some differences. Having not gone this year, I would not have paid the $100. But next year I would receive a bill (They will be billing us!) for $200. Last year’s fee is considered delinquent and must be paid as well in order to vote.

This New Tax is Coercive

Closely related is the idea of coercion. Whereas support of the AC has always been voluntary in the past, now it would be mandatory. Voting at GA becomes both the carrot and the stick. No pay, no play.

Some have argued that we already pay to vote at General Assembly and this is true. But such payment is voluntary. If I do not go, I do not pay. The proposed plan makes failure to pay punishable. If you are “delinquent” (THERE is a coercive word!) two years in a row, the AC will report offending ministers and courts to the General Assembly for further action.

This New Tax Sins, Yes Sins, against the Members of the PCA

In 1973, the newly founded PCA entered into a solemn covenant not to coerce property or money from its churches. The agreement reads:

The provisions of this BCO 25 are to be construed as a solemn covenant whereby the Church as a whole promises never to attempt to secure possession of the property of any congregation against its will, whether or not such congregation remains within or chooses to withdraw from this body. All officers and courts of the Church are hereby prohibited from making any such attempt. (25-10)

“Property” is understood to refer to monies as well, which 25-8 bears out:

The superior courts of the Church may receive monies or properties from a local church only by free and voluntary action of the latter.

25-12 holds that:

The relationship is voluntary, based upon mutual love and confidence, and is in no sense to be maintained by the exercise of any force or coercion whatsoever.

Apparently Atlanta does not see the covenant as solemnly as it once did. Stated Clerk Taylor on the changes writes:

In our concern to insure that abuses experienced in our former denomination (taking money contributed to one General Assembly ministry and giving it to another) could not occur in the PCA, we established a system in 1973 whereby churches could have all privileges of membership and no financial responsibility at all. (Consequently half of PCA churches do not support any General Assembly ministry.) Uniquely, we made contribution to essential support services (AC) a separate funding request. The proposed plan establishes a minimal required level of financial support to the AC to be necessary for participation in decision making on the General Assembly level, but retains the right of churches to choose which other General Assembly ministries they wish to support.

So the response is, “Hmmmm. We need more money. Let’s set aside one of our foundational principles, casting it in terms of necessity, and ram it through as fast possible, before someone realizes the plan puts us back on the road to why the PCA developed in the first place."

Beware, Atlanta. There is a groundswell of opposition to this. Smaller, conservative churches see themselves being pushed out as the PCA will inexorably become a plutocracy. It will be the death of the PCA as we know it.