In a private meeting held June 18 during the 45th General Assembly, leaders of eleven churches from the Presbytery of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) met with representatives of the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) to voice concern about financial transparency and the budgeting process.
In response, the OGA agreed to meet with them again later this year with the goal of working together to improve financial practices. The June 18 meeting was attended by Stated Clerk Dean Weaver, Chief Financial Officer Pat Coelho, Moderator-elect Jack Cathey, and other OGA representatives.
The eleven PNW churches first raised concerns about financial transparency in October 2024. In February 2025, the churches sent a letter to the National Leadership Team. In particular, the group wanted to know why the OGA has failed to account for $1.2 million in unrestricted reserves that were spent during a three-year period between 2021 and 2024, and why these expenditures had not been previously reported.
The PNW churches came to General Assembly with a list of questions they were prepared to ask from the floor during the presentation of the 2026 budget. However, TE John Carpenter contacted Weaver to schedule a private meeting in an effort to avoid controversy.
Carpenter said that he and other representatives from the PNW churches were encouraged by the meeting.
“Everyone was cordial and cooperative,” said Carpenter. “Some of our questions were answered.”
At the June 18 meeting, representatives of the OGA explained that most of the $1.2 million in unrestricted reserves had been moved to a designated account to cover church planting and church health expenses in the transition from Per Member Asking (PMA) to Percentage of Income (POI) funding models. With the expected rise in income generated by POI, those two gospel priorities are now funded from the general fund.
Another concern raised by the PNW churches is the lack of a supporting narrative to explain and interpret the budget. Without such a narrative, it is impossible to know if funds are being spent effectively. Moderator-elect Cathey, who has a PhD in accounting and a background in finance and banking, said he would be open to collaborating with the PNW churches to create such a narrative, as well as improving the budget reporting system both at and between GA meetings.
“The encouragement was mostly the consensus that we all want to work toward more robust reporting,” said TE Bill Heming, who attended the June 18 meeting. “Jack Cathey was a big reason for that encouragement,” added Heming.
The PNW churches also expressed concern about the recent expansion of the OGA staff and seek confirmation that there are currently 32 OGA employees and how many are full-time. In addition, the churches are seeking to confirm if 80 percent of the 2026 administrative budget is devoted to staff salaries and benefits and supporting materials and services.
Representatives of the OGA committed to meet again with the PNW churches by early fall, before the next meeting of the National Leadership Team. Although the meeting has not yet been scheduled, Carpenter hopes it will take place sometime in September or October.
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