GCFA requests apportionments from each U.S. conference based on a formula that includes its local church net expenditures, the economic strength of the conference and a base percentage approved by General Conference.
The GCFA board is asking the coming General Conference to drop the economic-strength part of the formula and substantially reduce the base percentage.
Budget planning is a multistep process, and the GCFA board’s votes on Dec. 1 represent just a start. The next step is allocations.
Apportionments support seven denominational funds.
On Dec. 1, the GCFA board made recommendations on the distribution of two — the Episcopal Fund, which supports the bishops, and the General Administration Fund, which supports General Conference, the Judicial Council, Archives and History and the finance agency itself.
Now, it’s up to the Connectional Table, a church leadership body, to recommend allocations among the five other funds.
Those funds include the Ministerial Education Fund, which supports United Methodist seminaries and clergy development; the Black College Fund, which supports 11 historically Black church-affiliated schools; the Africa University Fund, and the Interdenominational Cooperation Fund, which supports ecumenical work. The largest is the World Service Fund, which supports the work of eight general church agencies and the Connectional Table itself. The World Service Fund also supports the work of United Methodist News.
Under the current budget proposal, the Connectional Table has about $294.8 million to distribute among those five funds. That’s about 37% less than allocated to the five funds under the budget approved by the 2016 General Conference.
The Connectional Table plans to bring its revised allocations to a joint meeting with the GCFA board in May.
The Economic Advisory Committee, a group of United Methodist financial forecasters, will next consider updating projections in June.
Based on those projections, the GCFA board and Connectional Table usually continue to make budget adjustments up until General Conference meets.
Ultimately, General Conference has final say on the shape of the denominational budget.
This article originally appeared here.
