When United Methodist congregations pay their apportioned askings, they participate in God's work around the world...and right in their own parish. The World Service Fund is the heart of our church's ministry together. Through this Fund you become a partner with the church's agencies to be in mission and ministry at home and around the world.
The effects of World Service ministry are making a difference across the globe. Consider the following examples:
1. A United Methodist pastor in Illinois has become a leading anti-gambling activist. With support from the General Board of Church and Society, he helps annual conferences and local churches to oppose the spread of legalized gambling.
2. Congregational teams learn how to create a year-round stewardship plan in seminars offered by the General Board of Discipleship. The workshop emphasizes the faith foundations of stewardship and presents practical ideas and methods for increasing giving in the local church.
3. Following the devastating war in Burundi, United Methodists volunteered their services through a program coordinated by the General Board of Global Ministries. Professionals in medicine, construction, aviation, and other fields shared their time and service.
World Service is God's people reaching out in love and compassion in the name of Christ. It represents a call and a challenge to each United Methodist. As The Book of Discipline states, the full payment of the World Service Fund is each congregation's "first benevolent responsibility" (¶912).
General Observations
The General Council on Finance and Administration views this budget as one which exhibits responsible fiscal restraint. On the one hand, the Council has carefully reviewed the general funds receipts through 1994 and recognizes the economic constraints under which many local congregations and annual conferences are operating. On the other hand, it also recognizes that significant ministries may be eliminated, merged, or reduced as a result of this proposed budget, and services offered by the general agencies to the church-at-large may be curtailed. The Council, therefore, has offered what it deems to be both a realistic and feasible challenge for mission and ministry in the next four years.
World Service Prior Claim
General Council on Ministries. As part of the total mission of the Church, the General Council on Ministries facilitates the Church's program life as determined by the General Conference. Its task is to encourage, coordinate, and support the general agencies as they serve on behalf of the denomination (The Book of Discipline, ¶1004). The Council receives part of its budget as a prior claim and part through on-ratio funding from the World Service Fund. GCOM also administers receipts from the prior claim line item that is dedicated to the funding of the Joint Training Events in which annual conference chairpersons of the various program areas receive training. These events have been funded previously through World Service contingency grants.
Interpretation Resources. The Division of Program and Benevolence Interpretation of United Methodist Communications uses prior claim funds to provide resource materials to interpret the World Service Fund and the ministries it supports.
General Council on Finance and Administration. The Council is accountable to The United Methodist Church through the General Conference for receiving, disbursing, and reporting all general funds. The Council receives income from an on-ratio allocation in the General Administration Fund, earnings on invested funds, and, as needed, prior claims in proportion to each fund's receipts. Prior claims are charged to all other general funds except the General Advance and the World Service Special Gifts funds. This line item is an estimate of the World Service Fund's share of the Council's expenses for the quadrennium.
Program Agencies
The World Service Fund provides basic financial operating resources to four general program boards and for three general commissions. Allocations were developed with the General Council on Ministries following the procedures described in ¶ 906.1b, The Book of Discipline.
Through the World Service Fund, United Methodists:
*Undergird a network of missionaries and others who serve in the name of Christ and The United Methodist Church. (The General Board of Global Ministries)
*Strengthen evangelism efforts, stimulate church growth, expand Bible studies, and nurture spiritual development. (The General Board of Discipleship)
*Support specific local church work with children, youth, singles, students, adults, and older persons. (The General Board of Discipleship)
*Enrich our congregational life with worship resources, leader training and stewardship development. (The General Board of Discipleship)
*Continue nearly 200 years of commitment to quality school, college, and university education. (The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry)
*Provide the means to equip and nurture our ordained, diaconal, and lay leaders through education and professional support. (The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry)
*Assure that United Methodists speak and work to help build a more ethical, just, and humane world. (The General Board of Church and Society)
*Continue a proud tradition of cooperation and dialogue with other faith traditions through interdenominational and ecumenical work. (The General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns)
*Express our commitment to God's reign through ministries of peace and efforts to build a church and a society that are truly inclusive of all persons regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender. (The General Commission on Religion and Race, The General Commission on the Status and Role of Women)
The total allocated to World Service for the quadrennium equals an amount that would be produced by an average annual increase of less than one percent (1%) compounded yearly. There are certain lines in the program agency portion of the budget that are restricted to special use by the administering agency.
HANA Scholarship and Grants are administered by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. HANA stands for "Hispanic, Asian, and Native American," and the scholarships and grants made possible by this fund are used to help United Methodist persons of Hispanic, Asian, and Native American heritage prepare themselves to give leadership in The United Methodist Church, higher education, and their communities.
Minority Group Self Determination funds are administered by the General Commission on Religion and Race. Administration includes developing the guidelines for the distribution of the funds, evaluating the proposals that are submitted for funding, and assigning staff to monitor each project funded. From these funds, grants are made primarily to locally planned and administered projects designed to assist and empower racial/ethnic minority persons as they seek to realize their potential and to be in ministry in their communities. Grants are made consistent with the goals of leadership development, education, advocacy, and research related to empowerment and self-determination. Direct administrative costs are allocated from the grant program and are monitored by The General Council on Finance and Administration.
The Mission Initiatives Fund was created as a separate apportioned fund by the 1992 General Conference to provide support for certain new or expanded ministries approved by that Conference. Based on advice from GCFA that it did not expect to recommend continuation of the Mission Iniatives Fund, the General Council on Ministries recommended that support for these ministries be continued for 1997-2000 by inclusion in the World Service budgets of the General Board of Church and Society, the General Board of Global Ministries, the General Board of Discipleship, and the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry within the World Service allocations to these boards. The budgeted support for the quadrennium for the National Plan for Hispanic Ministries will be: the General Board of Church and Society, $375,000; the General Board of Discipleship, $375,000; the General Board of Global Ministries, $1,675,000; the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, $375,000 within the World Service allocations to these boards. The budgeted support for the Native American Comprehensive Plan will be $1,075,000 within the General Board of Global Ministries World Service allocation. Funding for the Committee on Older Adult Ministries will be cared for in the Board of Discipleship World Service allocation. The General Board of Global Ministries will provide funding from within its World Service allocation for Deaf Ministries and Substance Abuse and Related Violence. The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry will provide funding from within the World Service allocation for on-going work in campus ministries.
Other Ministries
Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century funds will be administered by the General Council on Ministries (GCOM). The 1992 General Conference directed the GCOM to establish a special study panel to evaluate the church's effectiveness in strengthening the Black Church for the period 1973-1993, to assess the future visioning, and to call for action related to "Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century." The plan envisions establishing Congregation Resource Centers chosen from identified vital congregations for the purpose of working with partner congregations in training for greater vitality in all aspects of ministry. An inclusive coordinating committee will guide the work.
United Methodist Communications: General Services. The general services budget of United Methodist Communications includes production and distribution of audiovisual resources, public relations, InfoServ, the news service, and agency administration.
United Methodist Communications: Telecommunications. Telecommunications includes production of television programs, consultations, workshops, and cooperative projects with annual conferences.
United Methodist Communications: Interpretation Services. Interpretation services include the editorial and administrative cost of interpreting and promoting the general funds of the church, interpretation field staff, Interpreter magazine, and other interpretative services.
Pension and Salary Aid. Funding for several salary and pension assistance programs is combined in this item. The proposed budget for these purposes is:
1997 1998 1999 2000
Ethnic Minority Conference Aid $1,120,000 $1,231,000 $1,331,000 $1,404,000
Special Unfunded Pension Aid 368,000 389,000 412,000 444,000
Temporary General Aid -0- -0- 25,000 17,000
Total Salary and
Pension Aid $1,488,000 $1,620,000 $1,768,000 $1,865,000
Ethnic Minority Conference Aid. Representatives of the two ethnic minority conferences, the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits, the General Board of Global Ministries, and the General Council on Finance and Administration conducted actuarial and other studies and agreed on the following recommendations to help meet salary and pension needs of these conferences.
Pension Aid 1997 1998 1999 2000
Oklahoma Indian Missionary $223,000 $250,000 $254,000 $257,000
Annuity Rate (186) (198) (210) (223)
Rio Grande 463,000 491,000 520,000 551,000
Annuity Rate (240) (250) (260) (270)
Salary Aid
Oklahoma Indian Missionary 116,000 160,000 216,000 243,000
Rio Grande 318,000 330,000 341,000 353,000
Total $1,120,000 $1,231,000 $1,331,000 $1,404,000
Special Unfunded Pension Aid. These budgeted payments provide pensions for certain persons in a variety of fields whose pensions were not previously funded. Allocations are as follows:
1997 1998 1999 2000
General Church Retire-
ment Allowance $ 89,000 $ 89,000 $ 89,000 $ 89,000
European Service 68,000 70,000 73,000 75,000
¶1606.15 payments 20,000 20,000 21,000 24,000
Cuba Service I 95,000 109,000 126,000 146,000
Cuba Service II 37,000 42,000 44,000 51,000
Evangelical United Brethren
Missionaries 59,000 59,000 59,000 59,000
Total $368,000 $389,000 $412,000 $444,000
The General Church Retirement Allowance is for former Evangelical United Brethren general church officers who are participants in an unfunded pension plan.
The European Service line funds the pensions of displaced persons who were clergy in Europe and were brought to the United States after World War II.
¶1606.15 payments cover the pensions of retired clergy members of missionary conferences. The cost is borne one-third by the annual conference, one-third by the General Board of Global Ministries, and one-third by this fund.
The Cuba Service I line item provides pensions for Cuban clergy who came to the United States after autonomy. The pension annuity rate for this service is $170 in 1997 with 4%, 4.5%, and 5% increases the three succeeding years.
During the 1988-92 quadrennium the Cuba Service II line provided funding for pensions for clergy who stayed in Cuba after autonomy for service in the annual conference prior to autonomy. Although the money was allocated by the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) for payment through the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits (GBPHB), the payments were not made because of currency restrictions between Cuba and the United States. During this quadrennium, methods for overcoming these restrictions were discovered and implemented. Payments have been made throughout this quadrennium and are proposed to be made in the 1997-2000 quadrennium in the amount of $174,000.
The Evangelical United Brethren Missionaries allocation provides pensions for Evangelical United Brethren missionaries who had ten or more years service as missionaries and no funded pension for that term of service.
The Temporary General Aid Fund. The Temporary General Aid Fund was created in 1964 to help provide pension and minimum salary assistance in conferences which resulted from mergers of geographic and Central Jurisdiction annual conferences in The Methodist Church. It was a separate apportioned fund until 1988, and since then has continued as a line item in the World Service Fund budget. Allocations to qualifying annual conferences were to decrease in accordance with formulas adopted by the 1964 and succeeding General Conferences. When the apportioned level of salary or pension assistance dropped below $2,500 per year, that assistance was to be discontinued. During the 1993-96 quadrennium, that point was reached for all annual conferences in the salary assistance program. By the end of 1996, eleven annual conferences will remain eligible for pension assistance.
Because of the complex nature of the formula for determining salary assistance, the loss of eligibility occurred earlier than had been anticipated by certain conferences. One conference which had anticipated receiving additional support applied for and received grants from World Service Contingency funds for salary assistance in the amount of $35,000 each for 1994 and 1995. As a result of this discontinuation of grants, there will be an accumulated balance of approximately $245,000 remaining at the end of 1996. These are funds collected as directed by previous General Conference action as salary assistance but which could not distributed for that purpose under the terms of the approved distribution formula.
In consultation with the General Commission on Religion and Race and the General Board of Pensions and Health Benefits, the General Council on Finance and Administration recommends the following:
1. That $70,000 of the remaining estimated balance be returned to the World Service Contingency fund as reimbursement for grants made from that fund in 1994 and 1995 for salary assistance, as described above.
2. That the General Conference designate the remaining balance of approximately $175,000 for Temporary General Aid Fund pension assistance, to be used as partial funding toward the $217,000 needed for that purpose during the 1997-2000 quadrennium. This would reduce the allocations needed for Temporary General Aid pension assistance to $25,000 in 1999 and $17,000 in 2000. By the year 2000 only one conference would be eligible for pension aid, and it is recommended that the Temporary General Aid Fund be ended after that year.
Iglesia Metodista Autónoma Afiliada de Puerto Rico Block Grant. The Puerto Rico Conference became an affiliated autonomous church in 1996. Instead of pension and salary support during the 1993-1996 quadrennium they received a block grant to support their move to autonomy. The same amount for 1997-2000 is being recommended as a block grant.
University/College Fund. The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry makes grants from this fund to aid United Methodist educational institutions which could benefit from temporary assistance as they take steps to develop stable funding patterns and/or to reexamine their educational mission. The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry reports on the use of the fund to the General Council on Finance and Administration annually.
Project Equality. This organization is a national interfaith program for affirmative action and equal employment opportunity. It is used extensively by general agencies and others to screen vendors, hotels, and banks with which agencies do business.
Contingency Fund. The Contingency Fund for World Service provides funding for emerging needs in World Service agencies that occur during a quadrennium. The uses of contingency funds have varied from helping the American Bible Society place Bibles in Russia to providing the General Council on Ministries funds ($200,000 per year this quadrennium) to allocate to program agencies for new programs to address unanticipated needs.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
Petition Text: 21111-FA-NonDis-O
1996 United Methodist General Conference