2017 End-of-Year Stats Rev. Nate Berneking, Director of Finance and Administration Christa Daro, Executive Assistant

2016 General Conference New Tables for 2017-2020

3 Tables Each with a Different Emphasis

Table I People or “Membership & Participation

Membership Lines 1-6 Membership: Line 1 & 4 are meant to work together to show a change in membership. You begin in Line 1 with last year’s number. Lines 2a-3f then represent the changes incurred since last year. You will need the following to complete these lines: charge conference paperwork removing members and data retained with respect to membership numbers Demographics: Line 5a-g add up to produce Line 5 Gender: Line 6a-b represent the same. What about gender questions? We do not take a position, though we recommend for simplicity sake, to report the gender people claim/with which they identify.

A Word About Membership Table I retains an old emphasis on “Membership.” Professions of Faith: for the purpose of Table I, a Profession of Faith really has to result in “Membership.” You see this in Lines 2a & 2b. Because of lines 2a-f, Professions of Faith ends up with a very narrow definition, but its really anyone who becomes a “professing member” of the local church other than through transfer or restoration. Lines 3a-f represent members removed for one reason or another. These are people who have left membership, not necessarily those who aren’t coming. Experiments with Conference-specific reporting a possibility in 2018-19.

Attendance Line 7-8 Worship Attendance, Line 7. The Cabinet and Office of Finance & Administration released a new protocol. It isn’t mandated, so much as intended to be helpful in thinking about how to count. We encourage consistency and thoughtful intentionality. Online Worship, Line 7a. The new protocol offers a position on online worship. We encourage it and counting participants. But, local churches should also be intentional about how they count. Baptisms, Line 8a & 8b add up to provide Line 8. Line 9 is meant for people who underwent baptisms, but not the profession of faith/membership vows (i.e. children pre-confirmation and adults who chose only baptism, but not church membership). Line 10 is a broad catch-all for anyone who isn’t baptized but who somehow maintains relationship with the local church.

Participation Lines 12-23 Distinctions are made between Sunday School (Line 15), non-Sunday school small groups (Line 16) and short-term small groups (Line 17). These are numbers of groups, not people. The people, or average attendance, for all such groups is counted in Line 13. Missions: Note that Lines 20a & b ask only for UMVIM teams. If you send teams unaffiliated with UMVIM, you report those in 21 & 22, along with other forms of service ministry.

Table II Assets & Expenses (or the one to get right!)

Assets & Debt Lines 24-27 Why do we have to report these? They provide a sense of overall financial health, at least at a macro-view They can provide your church with another picture (though incomplete) of its financial health (i.e. value of assets over debt). Where can I find these numbers? If your church uses “accrual accounting,” they will be easy to obtain because your accountant will have needed the same information (value of property, etc.). If your church uses only a “cash-basis,” then you will need to discern the value of church property. Debt is easier. The creditor will tell you (i.e. bank). Please note that lines of credit owed to a retailer and credit cards are forms of debt, even if they aren’t large. So are debts owed to individuals. Use December 31 numbers for simplicity sake (unless you’re on a July to June fiscal year).

Money Sent to Conference 28a-36f These should grayed out because we will provide the information. If, for some reason, there is an issue, please call Christa Daro at 573.441.1770.

Expenses and Apportionment Formula Lines 39-57 These are the lines that are used to calculate a three-year average of expenses, which is then used to calculate both Conference & District apportionments. You do NOT want to over-report Staff expenses: Lines 39-54. Clergy staff require a little more effort. You must record pension and other non-health benefits in Line 39 and health benefits (at least $8,760 per clergy) in Line 40. Please note that there is now a request for housing information for any deacons who are not serving as lead or associate pastors. If you consider them an associate, you provide the information in Line 42b, not c. Line 43 provides for the accountable reimbursements actually provided. Please note, that this does not mean accountable reimbursements are actually compensation. This is just a means of collecting the data. Most churches will not have anything to report in Line 44. Program (Line 46) and Operating (Line 47) Expenses do NOT include “capital,” “debt payments” or amounts given for missions. They only include the amount spent on the programs. Those amounts are reported elsewhere.

Line 46a Used to be 56a. These are expenses associated with pre-schools and parents morning out programs. They are excluded from the apportionment formula. Make sure that you report any amounts in 46a and NOT in Line 46 or 47. This is the second most common reporting error affecting apportionments. This is a Conference-creation. Only the total gets reported to the General Church.

Capital & Debt Lines 48-49 What is a “capital” expense for Line 49? This is important because it effects apportionments. If it isn’t “capital,” then it must be “operating.” Operating expenses are included in the apportionment formula and capital expenses are not. The IRS standard tends to be more conservative than we’d actually recommend, but we won’t say much more than that. For example, if you paint a room, the IRS would not allow you to capitalize the paint, but if that painting is part of a renovation project or building upkeep, why not count it as capital here? Make sure that amounts counted as capital (HVAC replacement, renovations, roof replacement, etc.) are NOT also reported in Line 47. This is the most common reporting error affecting apportionments

Table III Income

Income Table III is the least changed of all the Tables. Most of the information is to be obtained during normal stewardship/generosity practices. If your church doesn’t have pledges, then all giving income is reported in 52b-c. We would just add that if you have income reported in 52f through building use fees, you should have a solid building use agreement that insures indemnification and adequate insurance. Note that income from the sale of assets is treated differently depending on intended use. Because of that, amounts reported in 52e will not include any amounts from the sale of a parsonage or the sale of a church building. Those get reported in line 53c. What’s the difference between 53d and 30-36? Remember, 30-36 is what the congregation sent to the Conference. Report in 53d what people GAVE for those offerings? If your church only sent what was given, they will be the same. But, if the church added from its general budget, then the amounts will be more in 30-36 than in 53d. What about insurance proceeds? Typically, insurance proceeds are immediately used to repair damage or restore the church. If that’s the case, then they are not reported as income. Remember: income does not effect apportionments.

Reporting Online Go to https://umcdata.net/MissionConnect/Public/MCWebApps/Statistics/#/index.html?conf=MO Username and Password: Username is GCFA number and password is Conference ID (on apportionment statement) If you forgot your username or password, call your district office. The district and conference office can see when you have started and when you have actually submitted. The district and Conference will try to call or email you if they see significant increases or decreases, especially in the expenses (Table II). If you fail to resolve an issue, it could affect apportionments with no means of changing that until the following year. These calls/emails are for the local church’s benefit. Please do not get frustrated if you get more than one call. Once apportionments are calculated, we cannot fix them, even if there was a reporting mistake. Reporting is the pastor’s (and local church’s) sole responsibility by Discipline. We do our best to catch mistakes, but we do not have access to the information needed to audit every report.

The Future As the bishop pushes towards a new vision and new goals, the Conference may find some additional data collection helpful. This may mean additional data collection. Survey for 2018 to create a baseline for the new information. Table IV—Maybe for 2019 Data collection to record professions of faith that are not linked to membership. Data collection to determine progress made on Conference-wide goals.