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                                Connection
COMMITTEES
What Does the
Trustee Board Do?
12
PRESBYTERIAN
SPRING 2023
presbyterian.ca
  Part 2
By the Trustee Board
The Trustee Board of The Pres- byterian Church in Canada is in- corporated by an act of the Par- liament of Canada. The act states “all lands and premises and per- sonal property and assets which have been...held by any trustee or trustees for any congregation of The Presbyterian Church in Canada which shall have ceased to exist shall vest in the Board upon trust to sell.” When a con- gregation of The Presbyterian Church in Canada ceases to exist, the real property of the congrega- tion becomes the responsibility of the Trustee Board to sell for the fi- duciary good of The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
The Trustee Board fulfills this responsibility through the Com- mission on Assets of Dissolved and Amalgamated Congregations (for short, the Commission on Assets), which is a sub-com- mittee of the Trustee Board. The Commission on Assets is made up of the Convener of the Trus- tee Board, the Chief Financial Of- ficer of The Presbyterian Church
in Canada (the Secretary of the Trustee Board), and the Clerk of the General Assembly (a member of the Trustee Board).
There are three ways a congre- gation of The Presbyterian Church in Canada may cease to exist as a congregation of the denomination.
First, amalgamation is a pro- cess by which two or more con- gregations are joined together into one congregation. The amalgam- ating congregation presents a Mission Plan to the Commission on Assets describing how the proceeds realized from selling the excess assets (church buildings, manse, etc.) will be distributed. The amalgamation cannot be completed until the Commission on Assets agrees to the plan. A portion (usually 10–15%) of the proceeds are to be given to mis- sions or ministries of The Presby- terian Church in Canada beyond the amalgamated congregation, the rest of the money realized from the sale of assets flow to the amalgamated congregation for their ministry. In an amalgama- tion, the congregational trustees handle the details of the sale of
the real estate, under the over- sight of the presbytery.
A second way a congregation may cease to exist is by dissolu- tion. In dissolution, the congre- gation closes its doors without amalgamating with another con- gregation. All the real property becomes the responsibility of the Trustee Board, and the Com- mission on Assets manages its disposal, including the sale of the church building. As the Book of Forms directs, prior to church buildings being listed for pub- lic sale, attempts are made to determine if another Christian community can purchase and use the church building for the furtherance of the gospel mes- sage of Jesus Christ (See Book of Forms 200.11.1). Another Christian community seeking to purchase the building is required to buy it for fair market value. If no interested Christian commu- nity is willing or able to pay fair market value, then other reason- able and appropriate offers are considered. When the proceeds from the building’s sale come to the Commission on Assets and
all the remaining expenses of the closed congregation, including outstanding debts to the courts and boards of the church and the building’s sale, have been paid, the net proceeds are distributed in the following way:
60% to the presbytery of the closed congregation for mis- sion initiatives,
10% to the Indigenous Minis- try Fund of The Presbyterian Church in Canada,
30% to the New and Renewing Ministries Fund of The Presby- terian Church in Canada.
That is the present formula,
which has been altered by Gen- eral Assembly from time to time.
A third way a congregation may cease to exist as a congrega- tion of The Presbyterian Church in Canada is through voluntary withdrawal. Voluntary withdrawal is a process adopted by the 2022 General Assembly, and imple- mented for a limited period of time, allowing congregations that follow the process to withdraw from the denomination due to the outcome of Remits B and C, 2019. Once the combined value of the building and
congregational financial assets and liabilities have been deter- mined, the Commission on Assets becomes involved to distribute the net assets between the withdraw- ing congregation and The Presby- terian Church in Canada according to the General Assembly’s Vol- untary Withdrawal process. (For more information on the process, contact the local Clerk of Presby- tery or the Clerks of the General Assembly.)
The Commission on Assets re- ports to the Trustee Board at each meeting of the Board. In the case of the dissolution of a congrega- tion there is frequently a period between the last worship gather- ing and the sale of the building be- ing completed. The Trustee Board is responsible for maintaining the building in the interim as part of its fiduciary responsibility in not allowing the asset to deteriorate.
For a more detailed discussion of amalgamation or dissolution, readers should turn to Policy for the Amalgamation or Dissolution of Congregations, available on The Presbyterian Church in Can- ada’s website.
 Save the date — and join in this special celebration!
• Conferral of degrees upon the Class of 2023
• Special recognition of the Classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022, who graduated under COVID restrictions
Find more information at knox.utoronto.ca/convocation.
KNOX COLLEGE CONVOCATION
Saturday, May 27, 2023: 2pm at Convocation Hall
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Read part 1 of “What Does the Trustee Board Do?” in the Winter 2022 edition of the Presbyterian Connection newspaper, page 36. Visit presbyterian.ca/connection.

























































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