Presbyterians, Lutherans slash budgets

Apr. 06, 2009
By Daniel Burke, Religion News Service

The Presbyterian Church (USA) and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America both have slashed their 2009 budgets, cutting programs and laying off scores of personnel as denominations continue to suffer from the recession.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in American (ELCA), the nation's largest Lutheran denomination, announced a $5.6-million reduction in its 2009 budget on Tuesday (March 31). The cut was necessary in part because regional synods plan to decrease their contributions to the denomination by $2.4 million this year, church leaders said. the rest