wfn.org | United Methodist dialogue addresses budget woes, opportunities

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Nov. 27, 2002	 News media contact: Joretta Purdue7(202) 546-87227Washington
    10-71B{555}

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - Finances, a topic that often engenders
misunderstandings, provided the basis for surprising discoveries of common
ground when representatives of various groups gathered to talk about the
United Methodist Church and funding.

The Nov. 21-22 dialogue was organized by the denomination's General Council
on Finance and Administration and served as a prelude to the agency's regular
annual meeting that continued through Nov. 23.

For the first time people who work within the church's financial structure at
conference (regional), churchwide and agency levels brought their different
perspectives on a perceived "disconnect" between the churchwide budget voted
by General Conference delegates every four years and the understanding of the
rest of the church.

Together with members of the monetary agency-- also a cross section of
denomination members -- the participants gathered in dialogue groups to
brainstorm about financing the mission and ministry of the church and share
their mutual concerns about this task from local to global budgets.   

Representatives of almost every annual (regional) conference in the United
States including conference treasurers, heads of conference councils on
finance and administration, district superintendents, pastors and lay
leaders, found financial similarities with the officials from the 16
churchwide agencies. 

"We are more alike than different," said the reporter from one dialogue
group. 

All levels of the church are struggling with the rapid acceleration of
insurance costs, noted another as the groups sought to identify what the
agency termed "budget drivers." Health care is an issue that is not limited
to the church, commented others. The dialogue participants urged the
denomination to address the issue throughout society, where more people are
finding themselves without health benefits, as well addressing the issue as a
budget item related to church personnel and retirees.

Several groups said they wanted to see the church's budgets reflect core
values for ministry instead of being driven by fixed costs, such as increases
in health and liability insurance. Many noted the need to prioritize and
delete items that are low in priority rather than crippling every program
with across-the-board cuts.

Concern about demographics and membership was partly an expression of a sense
of mission and partly anxiety about the income side of budgets. The need for
membership growth was noted, along with various possible strategies to reach
the baby boomer generation and younger generations.

"Are we losing members because of confusion about who we are?" asked one
group. 

Tension between what appears to be an increasing desire to do mission locally
and the church's calling as a global church was highlighted. Several groups
affirmed the importance of having a churchwide structure to do the things
individual congregations or even individual annual conferences could not do
effectively, such as creating curriculum, establishing Africa University or
launching "Igniting Ministries." 

The need for better communication was a frequently heard plea. In many ways,
people said that the church and its agencies need to speak the "language of
the pew" and reiterated their confidence in the support that comes from
church members when reliable, clear information is shared.

The dialogue groups expressed a desire for more stewardship education for
clergy and laity, more leadership training in the theological basis of
stewardship, and fresh ways to retell the good news to new generations and to
share traditions with new members from non-Methodist backgrounds.  

"Every agency and ministry is important," said Bishop Alfred L. Norris,
Houston, in opening the day and a half of dialogue. 

As president of the finance agency, Norris lamented the anti-institution
attitude abroad in the land; but he declared, anything that has two or more
people involved is an institution. He cited marriage as an example. The
question is how to best serve Christ, he said.

The Rev. Bruce C. Birch, dean of Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington,
asserted that all the people participating in the dialogue share concern for
being the best stewards of the church's resources.

"The role of steward begins with a vision," he said. Because this is a broken
world, "the vision always needs renewal." When Moses was told to go bring his
people out of Egypt, he was inclined to count the cost rather than serve the
vision, Birch observed.

"Deliverance is not straight into the Promised Land; it's into the
wilderness," he pointed out. That wilderness was a place of hardship and
struggle, but it was also a place of renewal, Birch added. The story of God's
manna teaches that "abundant life is not the life marked by excess but by
enough," he said while emphasizing that institutional structures are not an
end but exist to serve the mission.

As the small groups began looking at the church's budgetary problems,
similarities were recognized --whether in a small local church or in a church
agency-- and some statements of appreciation were sounded. At one point a
group of churchwide agency representatives said they wanted local churches to
know their contributions were appreciated and that the agencies do not take
budget issues lightly. Another group noted that many budgets are more than 50
percent personnel costs, and that it is important to recognize and value the
church's workers. 

When one dialogue group made its final report, its spokesperson praised the
respectful tone of the conversations, and added the hope that it carries over
to the 2004 General Conference.

Sandra Lackore, the denomination's treasurer and the finance's agency's top
executive, said the agency is working with several annual conferences to help
them assess their financial health.

In dealing with traditional business, voting members authorized the staff to
implement a program of electronic fund transfer across the five U.S.
jurisdictions. The plan, which has been tested in a pilot program since June,
will offer individual church members a method of giving contributions to
their local churches by checkless bank transfers just as many households use
this method to pay bills.

The finance agency also took the following actions:

7	Approved financial plans for the fourth Global Gathering, the fifth
Historical Convocation, a national adult ministries event and JUSTPEACE
conflict transformation team training and gave contingent approval for
another JUSTPEACE gathering;
7	Granted approval of spending plans for 2003 for the churchwide
agencies and programs with a few stipulations;
7	Approved sets of loan guidelines including those to assist annual
conferences with legal expenses, central conference bishops and general
church agencies; and
7	Agreed to a special offering for the World Methodist Council on May
18, 2003, and referred the matter to the executive committee of the Council
of Bishops for their approval.

Voting members approved several personnel matters affecting employees of the
churchwide agencies. One proposal would have added to the ethics statement
that all church agency employees sign requiring agreeing to adhere to the
ethical standards of the Social Principles. It was defeated after some floor
discussion. Objections included a lack of clarity about how the principles
relate to the work of employees, whether this would preclude employment of
non-Christians in support or custodial positions and if it might lead to
witch hunts.

# # #

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org