Money
Dreamstime.com Photo
In August, the board of the General Council on Finance and Administration unanimously approved changes in the formula used in calculating U.S. apportionments — the requested giving from U.S. annual conferences.
The board made the changes based on the recommendations of the Apportionment Sustainability Task Force, which has been examining the ramifications of long-term trends on the denomination’s financial future.
The task force focused on the denomination’s shrinking worship attendance and membership in the United States. While the multinational denomination is growing overall, U.S. United Methodists still provide more than 90 percent of the funding for general church operations worldwide.
Group Proposes How to Divide Slashed Budget
The goal is to keep more money in local churches, but that’s not guaranteed because each conference sets its own formula for the apportionments it requests of its congregations.
In November, despite a request from the Connectional Table to reconsider, the finance agency board pressed ahead with plans to reduce requested church givingfrom annual conferences.
General Conference, the denomination’s top lawmaking body, will have final say on the size and allocation of the denominational budget at its 2020 session.
Based on current estimates, the 2020 General Conference is looking at a proposed general church budget of $498.65 million for the years 2021-24.
Heather Hahn is a multimedia reporter for United Methodist News Service.