In response to concerns raised by eleven churches in the Presbytery of the Pacific Northwest, the EPC Office of the General Assembly (OGA) has agreed to make significant changes in financial reporting.
In a statement released on November 13, the OGA described the commitments they have made to expand and improve financial transparency:
- In addition to quarterly financial reports with details of the overall budget, the GA office will also include a link to the EPC Connect website with more detailed information on quarterly and year-to-date accounting, equivalent to the report received by the National Leadership Team.
- Quarterly financial reports will include a narrative to provide context and to explain actual-to-budget variances of more than 10 percent.
- Annual financial reports to General Assembly will create a separate set of financial reports for the three corporations within the EPC: General Assembly, World Outreach, and Benefit Resources, Inc. Previously, these had been grouped together making it difficult to understand.
- There will be several changes to budget presentations at General Assembly. In addition to the annual audit report, the GA staff will include a narrative to help explain income and expenses. The narrative also will include metrics to connect spending with outcomes.
- In addition, the National Leadership team agreed to address questions related to how unrestricted reserves are spent and how these expenditures are reported. The NLT agreed to discuss potential guidelines for such reporting, and to offer possible Acts of the Assembly to the 46th General Assembly to establish a threshold and standard for such reporting.
The agreement followed an October 13 meeting held in Gig Harbor, Wash., between the OGA and the eleven churches. The OGA was represented by Stated Clerk Dean Weaver, CFO Pat Coelho, Moderator David Struck, Moderator-Elect Jack Cathey, Julie Hawkins, and Joe Kim. The churches were represented by teaching and ruling elders John Carpenter, Brad Tedrow, Bill Hemming, and Mike McMillan.
The churches first raised concern about financial transparency in October 2024. In February 2025, the churches sent a letter to the National Leadership Team. In particular, the churches wanted to know why the OGA had failed to give 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.
During the 45th General Assembly, the churches met privately with representatives from the OGA and agreed to hold a future meeting to answer questions and discuss financial concerns.
“The extensive effort to meet face-to-face was well worth it,” said TE John Carpenter. “The conversations were substantive and there was much agreement around increased reporting that would be helpful to understand the mission and vision of the EPC.”
Moderator Dave Strunk praised the eleven churches for bringing the financial issues to light. “I’m grateful to these fellow presbyters for lovingly pushing us to be better, and for desiring that these conversations take place face-to-face.”
The statement released by the OGA indicated that there is still one point of disagreement regarding the degree of disclosure of individual GA staff compensation.
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