I was hired by Synod’s Board of Trustees in February 2010 to be the new denominational controller. I work in the Trustees Office with RPCNA treasurer Jim McFarland.

I’m from central New York and was born into the Syracuse RP Church, one of many blessings I enjoyed as a result of godly parents and grandparents who were also members there. I graduated from Geneva College (following in the footsteps of my dad and also my uncle, Dr. Jack Pinkerton, who was an engineering professor at Geneva until he passed away in 2009). In 2007, I moved to Pittsburgh to begin my career in public accounting. I worked as an auditor for 2½ years, was licensed as a certified public accountant in 2009, and was thrilled to leave public accounting behind to work for the RPCNA.

Many people have somewhat fearfully asked what I’m “controlling” within the denomination, since I am an accountant and not a well-known theologian. I usually ease people’s fears by telling them I’m the financial controller. Not much can happen in our society without a link to money, and our denomination is not an exception. Some of the things I do as part of my regular controller work include processing the payroll, depositing contributions, paying bills, keeping track of congregational mortgages, paying monthly pensions to our retired pastors, missionaries, and their spouses, sitting in on the financial discussions at board meetings, completing tax paperwork, working with our auditors, and making sure there is enough money in our bank accounts to fund everything the RPCNA is doing with and through its boards.

Speaking of our boards, I want to share some of what I’ve learned since taking this position.

Strength Through Unity

First, the RPCNA does an incredible amount considering its size. I’m increasingly convinced that God has blessed the RPCNA through its close-knit community and family atmosphere across the denomination. Most denominations are heavily congregational—congregations make almost all the decisions, doctrinal and financial. A blessing of Presbyterianism, particularly in the RPCNA, is that we can pull together and pool our resources at the Synod level—intellectual, spiritual, and financial—to make things happen on a much larger scale. That resource pooling has allowed us to have our own seminary, college, retirement home, publication house, mission works in a number of countries over the years, and many other ministries.

Not Catchy, But Good

Second, I’ve learned that financially minded RPs are not creative people. Jim and I are cases in point. Thankfully, in accounting, lack of creativity is generally considered a good thing! Decades ago, when the financial powers-that-be in the RPCNA decided that pooling our financial resources at the Synod level would enable us to have all the missions and ministries I listed above, they tried to come up with a catchy name for it. After much debate, they settled on…Synod’s Budget. Later, that catchy name was changed to the less-than-creative name of Reformed Presbyterian Missions & Ministries (RPM&M).

Unfortunately, that name is frequently confused with other RP enterprises. For example, many people assume that RPM&M is either the program that sends out short-term mission teams (which is actually RP Missions), or the board that does all the missions work (RP Global Missions), or something RPs eat when they get a craving for chocolate.

In truth, RPM&M was a groundbreaking idea. Many RP works raise some of their own funds, such as Geneva College, the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, the Reformed Presbyterian Woman’s Association, and RP Global Missions. But, some RP works don’t do much fundraising on their own, such as the Home Mission Board, which aids church planting in all presbyteries, and the Education & Publication Board, which publishes not only the Reformed Presbyterian Witness but also produces our psalters, psalm recordings, and many other materials. These boards need RPM&M in order to do their work for Christ’s kingdom. In addition, fundraising success varies year to year for RP works such as Geneva College, the RP Seminary, the RP Home, and RP Global Missions. When one of these works has low donations for the year or extra-heavy ministry burdens, RPM&M functions as a financial backstop by providing the additional funding it needs to continue doing its work for Christ’s kingdom. And, just so you know, RPM&M money does not go toward paying denominational overhead. It was put in place to directly support the missions and ministries of the RPCNA.

A Valuable Option

Third, I’ve learned about the cooperative way that Synod distributes money. One of Synod’s many committees is the Finance Committee. This group consists of the RPCNA treasurer (Jim McFarland), the president of Synod’s Board of Trustees (currently attorney John P. Edgar), the chairman of the Business of Synod Committee (currently Jerry Porter), three at-large members elected by Synod, and one representative from each of the six North American presbyteries. This capable committee is responsible for deciding how to distribute the RPM&M money and other funds each year. Having attended the meetings in which they make those decisions, I can say that it is not an easy task!

You may ask, “Is this article a plea for money?” The answer is no! Giving to RPM&M was great in 2010. You are a generous people, and $356,719 was raised and distributed to missions and ministries of the RPCNA.

Rather, my point in telling you about RPM&M is so that you may have a better understanding of what RPM&M is, how RPM&M money is parceled out, why it is important to give to RPM&M, and to make you aware of this broad denominational giving option. Sometimes it is hard to know where your contribution is most needed. If you struggle with that question, RPM&M is a great solution because the RPCNA Synod’s Finance Committee makes funding decisions after meeting with all the denominational enterprises and hearing their needs and requests.

I want to end with two important prayer requests. First, pray that God will give the Finance Committee wisdom as they handle a significant part of the RPCNA’s budget. And second, pray that God will bless the work of our hands so that we can continue to give generously as individuals and congregations.

P.S. If RPM&M sounds like the denominational giving solution for you and/or your congregation, you can make your check out to RPM&M and send it to Jim and me at:

Trustees of Synod of the RPCNA 7408 Penn Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15208

—Heather (Pinkerton) Blocki

Heather Pinkerton is the RPCNA controller. She is a member of North Hills (Pittsburgh, Pa.) RPC. A Trustees of Synod feature appears semiannually in the Witness.