2023 Year-End Benevolence Processing

As the year comes to an end, I want to encourage you to remit any amount remaining in your church’s Shared Mission pledge, Per Capita, or other benevolence payments for 2023. The General Assembly is allowing us a little extra time to submit payments for this fiscal year, so please, forward all remaining 2023 contributions to the Presbytery office by Wednesday, Jan. 10 and those contributions will be included in the 2023 records.

Minister and Staff Appreciation/Christmas Gifts

As we’re in the holiday season, Sessions and congregations will be contemplating an appreciation or Christmas gift to ministers and other church staff. It is important to remember if the gift comes from the church or passes through the church’s account(s), the gift is taxable income to the recipient. Here are some examples:

1. The Session decides to give the minister a Christmas bonus and directs the treasurer to write an extra check to the minister. This would be considered taxable income (and should include a S.E.C.A. adjustment).

2. A church takes an offering from the congregation for a Christmas gift to the minister. The treasurer deposits the offering into the church’s general fund and then writes a check from the church to the minister. This would be considered taxable income (and should include a S.E.C.A. adjustment).

If the gift passes directly from the donor to the minister, this would be considered a non-taxable gift.

Changing the previous example, a church takes an offering from the congregation for a Christmas gift to the minister. The treasurer collects and counts the offering and then gives the offering directly to the minister. This would be considered a non-taxable gift. Please note, however, in this scenario, a gift to an individual is not a tax-deductible charitable contribution. It’s important to consider the tax implications of these heartfelt gestures for both the recipient and the giver.

Mastering Seventeen End-of-Year Financial Tasks

Churches should complete several end-of-year financial tasks before January 1, 2024. To help you navigate this, Church Law & Tax works with tax and accounting experts to develop this checklist each year. Here’s to finishing 2023 strong and getting off to a great start in 2024!

Feds roll out new Form I-9, sunset key Covid-19 deferment

All employers, including churches, are to begin using a new Form I-9, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced in late July.

Form I-9 is required of employers to verify the identity and the employment authorization of their employees to work in the country.

The new form became available August 1, 2023, and allows certain qualifying employers an alternative way of examining identifying documents for new employees using E-Verify.

  • According to the Homeland Security Department rule, to use E-Verify, an employer must be an E-Verify participant in good standing, which is defined as:
  • An employer that has enrolled in E-Verify with respect to all hiring sites in the U.S. that use the alternative procedure;
  • is compliant with all requirements of the E-Verify program including but not limited to verifying the employment eligibility of newly hired employees in the U.S.;
  • continues to be a participant in good standing in E-Verify at any time during which the employer uses the alternative procedure.

The agency also announced other key changes likely affecting most, if not all, employers, including many churches. Read more here.

The new I-9 form can be found here.

More info on E-Verify can be found here.

2024 Pastor Minimum Compensation

The 2024 rates for pastor compensation are now available on the Presbytery’s website under the Documents section. At the August Presbytery Meeting, a 2% increase in minimum compensation for Ministers of the Word and Sacrament and Certified Christian Educators for 2024 to the following amounts was approved.

Cash salary: $36,435
Housing: $11,011
Utilities: $3,672
Total: $51,118

The Committee on Ministry strongly encourages all churches to consider a 2% salary increase for all pastoral leaders currently working above the minimum compensation level.

2024 Per Capita

The 2024 Per Capita rate will be $30.30 per member, according to the church’s membership in the most recently filed statistical report. The 2024 Per Capita was approved at the August Presbytery Meeting. With the total rate at $30.30 per member, the Presbytery of West Virginia will keep $18.05 and send $9.85 and $2.40 to the General Assembly and Synod of the Trinity, respectively.

Helping us understand the importance of Per Capita to our connectional church is this excellent article from Presbyterians Today, titled (coincidentally enough) “Understanding Per Capita.”

2024 Shared Mission Pledge Request

The 2024 Shared Mission pledge request and Per Capita notice letter were mailed to the treasurer, Clerk of Session, and pastoral leader of each church in early November. Please return the pledge card to this office at your earliest convenience. We encourage each Session to thoughtfully consider our request. The information provided when a church returns their pledge card, no matter the response, is essential to our effective management of the presbytery’s financial resources. So, we urge treasurers, Clerks of Session, and pastoral leaders to make sure that their church has returned their pledge card to this office. If you have any questions about mission pledge, Per Capita, or other benevolences, please let us know (304-744-7634, treasurer@wvpresbytery.org).

2024 PWV Budget

At the stated meeting of the Presbytery on August 17, the 2024 budget was approved.  The 2024 final, approved budget can be found here.

Board of Pensions: New Medicare Advantage plan replaces Medicare Supplement

The Board of Pensions will offer enhanced medical coverage to retired members through the Humana Group Medicare Advantage PPO plan, starting Jan. 1, 2024. Retired members pay no monthly subscription rate to participate in the new plan, which replaces the Medicare Supplement Plan. Find out more here.

2023 Special Offerings Calendar

Here is this year’s calendar for the four churchwide Special Offerings of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), of which one remains.

CHRISTMAS JOY: Dec. 3 to Dec. 24

God has blessed the Church with incredible leadership in every time and place, but those leaders often need to be supported by their communities as well. This Offering addresses the support needed by some of our leaders, including supporting leadership development for communities of color, and providing support for Presbyterian church workers in their time of need.

NOTE: Donations to the four Special Offerings are accepted at any time. The dates above are for times of special emphasis on the offerings. Click here for more information or to order resources, or call the PC(USA) Store at 800-533-4371.