Lehigh Presbytery

Strengthening & Supporting Congregations

Lehigh Presbytery
710 N. Cedar Crest Blvd.
Allentown, PA 18104
(610) 391-9020

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You are here: Home / Resources / For Clerks

For Clerks

Annual Reading of Church Session Minutes

Lehigh Presbytery is entrusted with the responsibility to annually review the Minutes of Session for each of our 29 congregations. Each congregation must have its Session Minutes reviewed annually.

Clerks of Session Contact Info

Session Minute Review Form 2019

Copies of the following documents are requested for the Presbytery church files:

  1. Property deed (s)
  2. 2019 Annual Report
  3. Most Recent Directory
  4. Current By Laws and Standing Rules
  5. Current Sexual Misconduct Policy (G-3.0106)
  6. Current Child & Youth Protection Policy approved by your Session

 

Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS)

Preserve vital church records for free at the Presbyterian Historical Society. You can order digital copies of the records at a PC(USA) discount.  If you join their church membership program, you would receive even further digitalization savings.

PHS is here to serve your congregation. From preserving your history, to accessing historical records, to learning more about the heritage of American Presbyterianism, there is a lot to explore at www.history.pcusa.org!

Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
http://www.history.pcusa.org

 

Lehigh Presbytery Mission Grants for Churches

Mission Grants may be applied for by churches and members of Lehigh Presbytery. Eligible Mission projects should fall into the following categories:

  1. New Church Development – projects that reflect commitment to inclusiveness and diversity and/or include opportunities for partnerships with existing churches and/or the presbytery; outreach to unchurched communities will be considered.
  2. Education – opportunities for spiritual growth and theological understandings for groups, all ages, will be considered.
  3. Mission related travel – travel expenses for groups interested in peacemaking, evangelism, work camps, community revitalization, or addressing poverty will be considered.
  4. Seed money for new projects – projects that promote peacemaking, environmental stewardship and greening, poverty relief, community revitalization, and other local issues will be considered.

Please submit application 3 months before anticipated expenditure.

In general, the Presbytery will not grant requests for funding for personal expenses, capital projects, or equipment.

For more information, please see the grant application form.

Lehigh Presbytery Mission Grant Application

ON LINE GIVING PROGRAM THROUGH THE PRESBYTERIAN FOUNDATION

Your church can easily accept secure online donations through the Presbyterian Foundation’s online giving system.

  • Add a donation form to your website to accept gifts by electronic funds transfer, debit or credit card.
  • Simple, safe and secure.
  • No setup or maintenance fees.

Many Americans find that the only check they write is their offering to the church. Those in younger generations may not even use a checkbook–preferring to handle all of their contributions and bills electronically.  When your church passes the offering plate on Sunday morning — are you limiting your offering to pocket change from those who feel obligated to put something in, but would give more with an online account option?

Online Options to Simplify Giving

Through the Foundation’s Online Giving Program, your church can now accept secure online donations. You can add the donation form to your website to accept gifts by debit or credit card, and electronic funds transfer. Your members can even set up recurring gifts, adding predictability and regularity to your offering receipts.

No need to negotiate with credit card vendors, merchant services, banks or any other company. The Presbyterian Foundation will take care of processing all online gifts, validating and reconciling transactions for you. Online fund management tools allow you to :

  • Monitor donations and funds balances
  • Receive disbursements from money raised monthly
  • Thank donors and tell about the impact of their donations
  • Produce giving reports

For more information click here.

On-line giving program FAQs

Below are links to the program guide, application and basic sales sheet along with a sample pew card.  If you sign up with our online giving program, your church will receive a starter set of 100 pew cars as well.  Once you complete the application, you can submit it along with a voided check via email, USPS or fax.  it takes 5-7 business days once received from our home office for your site to be live.

If it would be helpful to schedule a zoom meeting with your finance committee and/or session to answer questions and provide a demonstration of what donors see, Rev. Ellie Johns-Kelley (Ministry Relations Officer) would be happy to do so.  Simply let her know and she will schedule a time.  There was a webinar on on-line giving that you can view at https://recording.join.me/yr2y78cGfUWuaVdVTblosQ. There is also a powerpoint presentation from this webinar below.

Online Giving through the Presbyterian Foundation

10928.PFD-Online Giving Program Guide.F

Online Giving Application 7.19 Form F

10910.PFD Online Giving Sales Sheet – Rebrand.F (002)

GivePlus_Mobile

Pew Giving Rack Card

Rev. Ellie Johns-Kelley
Ministry Relations Officer
Presbyterian Foundation
855-251-8212

Resources

  • Board of Pensions
  • Board of Pensions Forms
  • Board of Pensions 2021 benefits update
  • Board of Pensions Ministers Choice 2021
  • Board of Pensions – New Benefits for 2021- Minister Choice
  • Board of Pensions benefits – informational documents
  • Board of Pensions – Understanding Effective Salary
  • Book of Order 2019-2021
  • Book of Order 2019-2021 – Korean
  • Book of Order 2019-2021 – Spanish
  • Book of Confessions 2016
  • Book of Confessions – Korean
  • Book of Confessions – Spanish
  • General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sample Policies

Samples you may edit to fit your church:

  • Child Protection Policy for Smaller Churches
  • Child Protection Policy for Churches

Honorariums for Moderating & Pulpit Supply

Pulpit Supply List-Lehigh Presbytery

2021 Honoraria for pulpit supply & moderating

Standard IRS Mileage Rate – information on current IRS mileage rate

 

Moderate a Session
or Congregational Meeting
$75 + travel expenses*
Supply Preaching
       One Service $150 + travel expenses*
       Two Services (Same Day) add $50 to the above for each additional service on the same day
* Travel includes mileage at IRS rate (2021 rate – $.56/mile) + tolls

 

2021 Minimum Terms of Call

Salary & Housing: $49,432
Full Pension & Medical:$18,290
(37% of Salary & Housing: Medical 27% [minimum dues basis for medical is $44,000], Pension 8.5%, Death & Disability 1% [dues based on actual effective salary], Temporary Disability 0.5%  )
Reimbursement: Transportation @ IRS approved rate – $.56/mile, Continuing Education – two weeks + $750 [may accumulate to six weeks and $2,250], Vacation – one month

Per Capita – 2021

$39.13 per member
Breakdown: $27.75 Lehigh Presbytery; $8.98 PC(USA) General Assembly; $2.40 Synod of the Trinity

2021 Stated Assemblies of Lehigh Presbytery

 

Forms

  • Clerk of Session Form 2020
  • Church Per Capita & Mission Remittance Form
  • 2021 Mission Support PLEDGE FORM
  • Lehigh Presbytery Mission Grant Application
  • Interim Pastor Contract Template
  • Temporary Supply Contract Template
  • Pulpit Supply Contract Template
  • Pastoral Call Form – 2021 – for new calls
  • Terms of Call Form 2021 – Fillable– reported annually
  • Session Minute Review Form
  • Statistical Reports – information and latest report on Lehigh Presbytery

Important Announcements

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Annual Report to the PA Department of State

Churches should submit an Annual Corporation Report to the PA Department of State to help reserve your corporate name and doing so will exempt you from the Decennial Filing in 2021.

You can verify that your church is correctly registered with the state by going to the PA Department of State site – and doing an entity search – https://www.corporations.pa.gov/Search/corpsearch

By doing this you will know the correct corporate name to use when filing the report.  You may view the online fillable form by clicking the link below….

http://www.dos.pa.gov/BusinessCharities/Business/RegistrationForms/Documents/Updated%202017%20Registration%20Forms/Domestic%20Nonprofit%20Corporation/15-5110%20Annual%20Statement-Nonprofit%20Corporation.pdf

We encourage every church to do this annually. It’s FREE!

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2021 Standard Mileage Rates for Business, Medical and Moving Announced

IR-2020-279, Dec. 22, 2020

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2020 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2020, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

  • 56 cents per mile driven for business use, down 1.5 cents from the rate for 2020.
  • 16 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes, down 1 cent from the rate for 2020.
  • 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

To read the entire notice visit their website at:

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-issues-standard-mileage-rates-for-2021

 

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Important Federal Court Ruling on Failure to Report Child Abuse

Published in Church Law & Tax Report, January/February 2016, pg. 12, Senior Editor Richard R. Hammar, Christianity Today, publisher.

A federal court in Pennsylvania ruled that a local church and denominational agency could be sued on the basis of the legal principle of negligence per se by a victim of child abuse as a result of their failure to report. …..  This means that a mandatory child abuse reporter’s failure to comply with a state child abuse reporting law’s requirement to report a known or reasonably suspected incident of child abuse would render that person automatically liable for monetary damages without a need for the victim to prove actual negligence.  [Doe v. Liberatore, 478 F.Supp.2d 742 (M.D. pa 2007)

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Act 153

There have been significant changes to the Pennsylvania State Child Abuse Law. Click here to view the changes and how to comply.

There has been a change in who is identified as a Mandated Reporter. According to the law, “An individual, paid or unpaid, who, on a regular basis of the individual’s role as an integral part of a regularly scheduled program, activity or service, accepts responsibility for a child…” This means any individual, who meets the above definition, which includes clergy, staff and volunteers is a Mandatory Reporter.

As a result, a church must:
  • Require all clergy and other employees, who accept responsibility for a child, to take three (3) hours of Department of Human Services approved training no later than June 30, 2015
  • For new employees, who will bear responsibility for children, this training must be taken within 90 days of hire or the beginning of volunteer service
  • All employees over the age of 14 and adult volunteers (who are responsible for children) must complete background checks. All must complete the PA STATE POLICE CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD. All must complete the PA STATE POLICE CHILD ABUSE HISTORY CLEARANCE.  All employees and any volunteer who has lived in PA for fewer than the last ten continuous years must complete the FEDERAL CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECK (with submission of fingerprints)
  • Volunteers are currently not required to undergo Mandated Reporter training, but it is recommended.

Board of Pensions – 2021 Traditional Benefits Package

The Board of Pensions traditional benefits package is 37% of effective salary (Medical 27%; Pension 8.5%; Death and Disability 1%, and Temporary Disability .05%). If the effective salary is lower than the Medical participation minimum of $44,000., then the medical portion would be based on the Board of Pensions minimum effective salary.

The Pension (8.5%) and Death and Disability (1%) are based on the persons actual effective salary.

Board of Pensions – Understanding Effective Salary

2021 Board of Pensions benefits update

Board of Pensions – New Benefits for 2021- Minister Choice

Board of Pensions Ministers Choice

 

Upcoming Events

  1. Committee on Shared Gifts

    February 2 @ 10:00 am - 11:30 am
  2. Committee on Preparation for Ministry

    February 2 @ 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
  3. Committee on Ministry

    February 2 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

View All Events

Recent News

  • When Can We Go Back to Church? Resources for Session Decision-Making
  • Let’s Canoe the Mountains Together!
  • How might we adjust?
  • A Word from our Transitional Leader on Stewardship
  • Change, Transition, and Hope: September Presbytery Assembly Looks to the Future

Lehigh Presbytery is called by God to nurture its congregations as they grow in every way into communities whose head is Jesus Christ, so that they will go out to make disciples, baptizing and teaching in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to witness, through their actions, to the love of God. cf. Ephesians 4:15 and Matthew 28:18-21

Learn more…

Lehigh Presbytery
710 N. Cedar Crest Blvd.
Allentown, PA 18104
Tel (610) 391-9020

Monday – Friday
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Presbytery Quick Links

  • 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
  • Amendments to the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
  • Information for Church Clerks
  • Information for Church Treasurers
  • IRS Standard Mileage Rate

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  • Helping Hands Care Team
  • Knowing Your Present To Live Into God’s Future
  • Presbyterian Women of Lehigh Presbytery
  • Kirkwood Camp & Retreat Center »
  • Today’s Mission Yearbook Reading »

 

Thank You for Visiting

You’re invited to learn more about Lehigh Presbytery and our faith community.

Be sure to read our blog and check out the Presbytery Calendar – we would love to see you at one of our events!

If you feel called, please make a donation today →

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