921. The Ministerial Education Fund--The council shall recommend to the General Conference the sum which the Church shall undertake for the Ministerial Education Fund and the method by which it shall be apportioned to the annual conferences, in accordance with the provisions adopted by the 1968 General Conference in establishing the Ministerial Education Fund. The purpose of the fund is to enable the Church to unify and expand its program of financial support for the recruitment and education of ordained and diaconal ministers and to equip the annual conferences to meet increased demands in this area.21 The maximum amount possible from this fund shall go directly for programs and services in theological education, the enlistment and continuing education of ordained and diaconal ministers, and the courses of study.
1. Of the total money raised in each annual conference for the Ministerial Education Fund, 25 percent shall be retained by the annual conference which raised it, to be used in its program of ministerial education as approved by the annual conference and administered through its board of ordained ministry. The boards of ordained ministry and diaconal ministry will confer concerning use of the ministerial education fund. Administrative costs of the boards of ordained and diaconal ministry shall be a claim on the conference operating budget. No annual conference which had been participating in a 1 percent plan or other conference program of ministerial student scholarships and loan grants prior to the establishment of this fund shall receive less for this purpose than it received in the last year of the quadrennium preceding the establishment of the fund, provided the giving from that conference for ministerial education does not fall below the level achieved in the quadrennium preceding the establishment of the fund.
a) "Service Loans" from the various conferences' portion of the Ministerial Education Fund may be considered repaid if the recipients served five (5) years in the connection in appointments approved by their bishop.
b) In case the recipients of these loans do not satisfy the terms of the "Service Loans" by service in the "connection," they would make arrangements to repay the loans with the conferences from which they received their loans.
2. Of the total money raised in each annual conference for the Ministerial Education Fund, 75 percent shall be remitted by the conference treasurer to the treasurer of the council for distribution to the Division of Ordained Ministry and the Division of Diaconal Ministry for support of ministerial education and administered by the Division of Ordained Ministry. It shall be distributed as follows:
a) At least 75 percent of the amount received by the divisions shall be distributed to the theological schools of The United Methodist Church on a formula established by the Division of Ordained Ministry and Division of Diaconal Ministry after consultation with the theological schools. All the money allocated to the theological schools shall be used for current operations, not for physical expansion.
b) The remaining portion of the amount received shall be used for supplemental distributions to the theological schools and for board use in its program of ministerial enlistment and development. The Division of Ordained Ministry and the Division of Diaconal Ministry will consult and recommend to the general secretary of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry appropriate funding for divisional programs of ministerial enlistment and development.
3. This fund shall be regarded by annual conferences as a priority to be met before any additional benevolences, grants, or funds are allocated to a theological school or school of religion.
21See Judicial Council Decision 545.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
1992 Book of Discipline: ¶ 921
1996 United Methodist General Conference