916. General Church Special-Day Offerings--The following are the special days with offerings to be used in support of general church causes:
1. Human Relations Day--A Human Relations Day shall be observed during the season of Epiphany on the Sunday before the observance of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday with an offering goal recommended by the General Council on Finance and Administration and adopted by the General Conference. The purpose of the goal is to further the development of better human relations through funding programs determined by the General Conference upon recommendation of the General Council on Finance and Administration after consultation with the General Council on Ministries. Net receipts from this observance shall be allocated as predetermined on ratio (see 275.1), with the funds being administered by the general boards under which approved programs are lodged.
2. One Great Hour of Sharing--There shall be an annual observance of the One Great Hour of Sharing as a special offering for relief (275.2). The observance shall be under the general supervision of the General Commission on Communication (1906.12) in accordance with the following directives:
a) The One Great Hour of Sharing shall be observed annually on the Fourth Sunday in Lent. All local Churches shall be fully informed and encouraged to receive a freewill offering in behalf of the relief program.
b) Insofar as possible, the planning and promotion of the One Great Hour of Sharing shall be done cooperatively with other denominations through the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., it being understood, however, that receipts of the offerings shall be administered by The United Methodist Church.
c) Receipts from the offering, after payment of the expenses of promotion, shall be remitted by the treasurer of the General Council on Finance and Administration to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (1460.7) to be administered by that committee.
3. United Methodist Student Day--The United Methodist Student Day offering, taken annually, the last Sunday in November, shall be received for the support of the United Methodist Scholarships and the United Methodist Student Loan Fund (275.4). Receipts from the offering, after payment of the expenses of promotion, shall be remitted by the treasurer of the General Council on Finance and Administration to the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry to be administered by that board.
4. World Communion Offering--In connection with World Communion Sunday there shall be a churchwide appeal conducted by the General Commission on Communication in accord with the following directives:
a) Each local Church shall be requested to remit as provided in 916.8 all the Communion offering received on World Communion Sunday (on the first Sunday of October) and such portion of the Communion offering received at other observances of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper as the local Church may designate.
b) The net receipts, after payment of promotional costs, shall be divided as follows: 50 percent to the Crusade Scholarship Committee, 35 percent to the Ethnic Scholarship Program, and 15 percent to the Ethnic In-Service Training Program, the last two administered by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry in consultation with the various ethnic groups (275.3).
5. Peace with Justice Sunday--Peace with Justice Sunday shall be observed on the Second Sunday of Pentecost. The observance shall be under the general supervision of the General Board of Church and Society (see 275.5). There shall be a churchwide appeal and offering. The net receipts from the offering will be distributed as follows:
a) The annual conference treasurer shall retain 50 percent of the moneys for Peace with Justice Ministries in the Annual Conference to be administered by the Annual Conference Board of Church and Society or equivalent structure.
b) The annual conference treasurer shall remit the remaining 50 percent of the moneys to the General Council on Finance and Administration.
c) Net receipts from the offering, after payment of the expenses of promotion, shall be remitted by the treasurer of the General Council on Finance and Administration to the General Board of Church and Society for Peace with Justice Ministries.
6. Native American Awareness Sunday--Native American Awareness Sunday shall be observed annually on the Third Sunday of Easter. The purpose of the churchwide appeal is to develop and strengthen Native American ministries in the annual conferences, in target cities of the Native American Urban Initiative of the General Board of Global Ministries, and for scholarships for Native Americans attending United Methodist schools of theology (275.6).
7. Promotion of all authorized general Church special Sunday offerings shall be by the General Commission on Communication in consultation with the participating agencies. Expenses of promotion for each offering shall be a prior claim against the receipts of the offering promoted. In each case such expenses shall be within a budget approved by the General Council on Finance and Administration upon recommendation of the General Commission on Communication after consultation with the participating agencies. In the promotion of these offerings there shall be an emphasis on the spiritual implications of Christian stewardship.
8. Receipts from all authorized general Church special Sunday offerings shall be remitted promptly by the local Church treasurer to the annual conference treasurer, who shall remit monthly to the treasurer of the General Council on Finance and Administration. A special-gift voucher for contributions to the offerings will be issued when appropriate. Local Churches shall report the amount of the offerings in the manner indicated on the annual conference report form.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
1992 Book of Discipline: ¶ 916
1996 United Methodist General Conference