“Everything worth doing comes with a cost,” Joey Bailey, of the General Assembly Mission Committee told commissioners during the opening session of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Bailey was explaining to commissioners that most items of business before the assembly have financial implications, or costs that will affect the two budgets of the denomination — the mission budget and the per-capita budget.

Both the per-capita budget and mission budget, said Bailey are before the assembly for approval by the assembly. Both have already be reduced this year, and have been carefully prepared reviewed and approved the Committee of the Office of the General Assembly and the General Assembly Mission Council.

Bailey said that both budgets may go up based on the implications approved by the General Assembly.

For the mission budget, Bailey estimated the financial implications of all proposed actions before the assembly for the 2010 budget as $155,099; the 2011 budget, $2,117,755, and the 2012 budget $ 2,654,844

Estimated financial implications for the per-capita budget for 2010 is $207,212; for 2011, $590,750; and 2012, $238,040.

“Each item with financial implications needs to be carefully considered,” said Bailey, because funds are not available.

He requested that commissioners ask themselves before they vote on business with financial implications, “Is this important enough to stop doing something else to start doing this? Please remember that.”