What is It | How it is Used
PER CAPITA has been part of our funding history for over 150 years. When Presbyteries, Synods, and the General Assembly meet, they conduct the church’s legislative and judicial business and incur necessary expenses. Certain administrative expenses are necessary to enable these ecclesiastical, legislative, and judicial functions to be performed. Historically, per capita funding has supported these initiatives. Importantly, per capita funding allows governing councils to make decisions about distributing mission dollars without being funded by those same dollars.
The entire church shares in these expenses, as every member benefits from this system of church governance. Per capita provides for the financial participation of all local churches as part of a connectional and representative church, thus ensuring unity and mutual responsibility within the church.
Each member’s contribution is divided between:
Your Per Capita dollars directly enable:
When congregations fulfill their Per Capita commitment, they ensure that our Presbyterian system of governance continues to function effectively, regardless of a church’s size or financial resources. All congregations are encouraged to include Per Capita in their annual budgets or through special appeals to their members.
Per Capita is charged per member on the congregational rolls, as kept by Session and managed by the Clerk of Session. The charge is made annually for the last full year of reporting from each church: for per capita assessed in 2025, the last full year of membership reporting is 2023, so per capita paid in 2025 is based on the number of members officially on the rolls in the church for 2023. The General Assembly, Synod, and Presbytery each charge a portion of per capita. The monies are collected by the Presbytery and distributed to the GA and Synod upon that apportionment.
In the Presbytery of Cincinnati, the per capita apportionment helps cover essential operating expenses, including administrative costs, staff salaries (for the Presbyter, Stated Clerk, Financial Secretary, and Office Manager), insurance, legal services, the annual audit, and committee support. These are detailed in the Presbytery’s annually approved budget.
Ministry programs, such as the One Hopeful Fund, the Center for Learning, and our New Worshipping Communities, are funded separately, as are independent mission funds. To avoid raising the per capita rate, the Presbytery also supplements its administrative budget with investment income managed by the Trustees.