The Mission Committee has been a standing committee at Westminster since the inception of our congregation.
One of the early commitments of our church was to spend 20% of its income on
mission activities, one-half through the denomination and one-half to local missions.
This goal has been met every year of our existence as Westminster congregation.
At times, issues have arisen over the measurement of this goal ... i.e., should food baskets and special offerings
(One Great Hour of Sharing for example) be included in the 20% mission giving. Also debated was the inclusion of Presbytery
support as income.
Currently, "income" has been defined
as pledges and loose offering for purposes of computing our 20% mission giving. In addition, special
offerings, food baskets, and other similar activities are considered as mission activities and reported to the congregation
as such.
The present duties of the committee are:
- Authorizing the payment to the Presbytery of 10% of our income.
- Reviewing and evaluating local mission opportunities and allocating 10% of income among:
- Local agencies previously approved by the Session.
- New agencies requesting support with Session approval.
- Individual needs with Session approval.
- Emergency needs outside our area considered worthy by the Committee with Session approval (for example, Gallatin Church
Fire).
- Oversee the Meals of Wheels program.
- In cooperation with the Men's Group, administer the Food Baskets program.
