1. Unfinished Business of the 1992 General Conference.
2. Cost of Study Commissions and Special Task Forces.
3. Number and Expenses of General Agency Personnel at 1992 General Conference.
4. Cost Analysis of Special Sunday Offerings.
5. Environmental Justice for a Sustainable Future.
6. Investment Ethics.
7. Proportional Payments for Pastoral Support.
8. Zimbabwe Annual Conference Pension Funding.
9. Monitoring of Use of United Methodist Insignia and Name.
10. Administrative and Judicial Procedures Manual.
11. Telecommunications.
12. Central Ordering System.
13. Annual Accessibility Audit.
14. Study on Strengthening the Small Membership Church.
1. Unfinished Business of the 1992 General Conference. The 1992 General Conference adopted a motion directing "that any unfinished business of the General Conference be referred to the Council of Bishops, the General Council on Ministries, and the General Council on Finance and Administration."
GCFA, in consultation with the Council of Bishops and the General Council on Ministries, has reviewed the General Conference record, as recorded in the Daily Christian Advocate. In the course of the concluding plenary session, the General Conference adopted a series of omnibus motions which effectively took action on or referred all of the calendar items on its agenda. As a result, the General Conference reached adjournment having completed its business, leaving no "unfinished business" to be referred to the three councils.
2. Costs of Study Commissions and Special Task Forces. The 1992 General Conference established a Site Selection Task Force to select a new headquarters site for the General Board of Global Ministries. This task force consisted of thirteen members, six of whose participation was to be funded from the General Administration Fund Contingency Reserve. The other seven (three from GBGM and two each from GCFA and GCOM) were to be funded within the budgets of those agencies. Staff services by GCOM and GCFA were provided within the budgets of those councils.
Projected through December, 1995, the costs funded through the General Administration Fund Contingency Reserve will be approximately $375,000. This includes travel and meeting expenses for six members and consultant fees. The costs funded by the three agencies during this same period will be approximately $112,000, primarily for travel and meeting costs for their members and staff.
Other study commissions created by the 1992 General Conference, such as the Study of the Ministry and the Baptism Study, were assigned to an agency and funded within the budget of that agency.
Looking forward to the 1997-2000 quadrennium, as a service to the General Conference, GCFA offers the following cost estimates to assist delegates in estimating meeting costs of special study commissions or task forces which may be created by the 1996 General Conference.
*Average round-trip air travel costs to a centrally located city in the United States (21-day advance purchase with Saturday night stay):
* From a U. S. departure point $ 300
* From a departure point in Africa 3,800
* From a departure point in Europe 800
* From a departure point in the Philippines 1,500
* Hotel, meals, and miscellaneous costs:
* $130 per day, per participant
As an example, using these cost estimates, the meeting costs per meeting for a study commission composed of twelve members (nine from the U. S. and one each from Africa, Europe, and the Philippines), for a three-day meeting, would be calculated as follows:
* Travel costs:
9 x $300 $2,700
$3,800 + $800 + $1,500 6,100
$8,800
* Hotel, meals, and miscellaneous:
12 x $130 x 3 (three days) 4,680
$13,480
Thus, if such a study commission met five times in the course of the quadrennium, the meeting costs would be $67,400 (5 x $13,480). In addition, for some Central Conference participants, there may be additional travel time, with corresponding costs, due to flight constraints and local conditions within the country of origin.
Additional costs (such as postage, printing/copying, fax/telephone) would be in addition to the meeting costs.
3. Number and Expenses of General Agency Personnel at 1992 General Conference. The thirteen general agencies paid expenses totalling $195,926 for 148 staff and agency members to attend the 1992 General Conference as follows:
General Board of Church and Society 9 persons $9,788
General Board of Discipleship 12 persons 13,768
General Board of Global Ministries 39 persons 53,000
General Board of Higher Education and Ministry 24 persons 24,661
General Council on Ministries 10 persons 15,091
General Council on Finance and Administration 9 persons 15,547
General Commission on the Status and Role of Women 3 persons 4,528
General Commission on Archives and History 2 persons 2,119
General Commission on Christian Unity and
Interreligious Concerns 5 persons 6,315
General Commission on Communication 5 persons 6,600
General Commission on Religion and Race 6 persons 8,620
General Board of Pension and Health Benefits 24 persons 35,889
United Methodist Publishing House 0 persons -0-
Expenses for all staff members who worked for the Secretary of General Conference, the Treasurer of the General Conference, and for the production of the Daily Christian Advocate were paid as part of General Conference expenses from the General Administration Fund.
4. Cost Analysis of Special Sunday Offerings. The 1992 General Conference adopted a motion asking that the General Council on Finance and Administration prepare a cost analysis showing the expense/receipts ratio for each Special Sunday Offering. The following chart indicates that the cost of promotion and interpretation varies widely, and can be as little as seven cents and as much as twenty-seven cents of every dollar contributed. In contrast, the amount spent for promotion and interpretation of the apportioned general funds averaged seven-tenths of a cent per dollar received on apportionment in 1993 and 1994. Promotion expense refers to United Methodist Communications expense and Administrative expense refers to General Council on Finance and Administration administrative charges.
Report on Special Sunday Offerings
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
Human Relations Day
Receipts 560,965 608,423 526,476 510,372 498,823 480,881
Administrative expense 12,061 12,859 10,803 13,276 13,426 12,572
Promotion expense 125,000 124,000 124,000 124,000 140,000 141,000
Administration as percent 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.6 2.6 2.6
Promotion as percent 22.3 20.4 23.5 24.2 28.1 29.3
One Great Hour of Sharing
Receipts 2,782,501 3,342,188 2,888,560 3,206,783 3,083,075 3,001,575
Administrative expense 59,825 70,639 59,270 83,413 82,979 78,471
Promotion expense 233,000 240,000 247,000 255,000 231,000 214,000
Administration as percent 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.6 2.6 2.6
Promotion as percent 8.4 7.2 8.5 7.9 7.4 7.1
World Communion
Receipts 1,133,742 1,098,453 1,001,935 953,720 955,722 1,036,243
Administrative expense 24,376 23,217 20,559 24,808 25,723 27,091
Promotion expense 134,000 134,000 134,000 134,000 140,000 140,000
Administration as percent 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.6 2.6 2.6
Promotion as percent 11.8 12.2 13.3 14.0 14.6 13.5
United Methodist Student Day
Receipts 532,815 575,095 441,372 492,306 453,253 465,175
Administrative expense 11,456 12,155 9,057 12,806 12,199 12,161
Promotion expense 95,000 95,000 95,000 95,000 108,000 85,000
Administration as percent 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.6 2.6 2.6
Promotion as percent 17.8 16.5 21.5 19.2 23.8 18.2
Peace with Justice (1)
Receipts 269 ,724 283,550 342,890 328,650 350,030 296,120
Administrative expense 2,900 2,996 3,518 4,274 4,710 3,871
Promotion expense 75,000 74,000 74,000 75,000 92,000 80,000
Administration as percent 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.3 1.3 1.3
Promotion as percent 27.8 26.1 21.6 22.8 26.3 27.0
Native American Awareness Sunday (1)
Receipts 254,002 447,622 582,134 484,166 534,364 566,108
Administrative expense 2,730 4,730 5,972 6,297 7,191 7,400
Promotion expense 76,000 78,000 78,000 78,000 103,000 101,000
Administration as percent 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.3 1.3 1.3
Promotion as percent 29.9 17.4 13.4 16.1 19.3 17.8
(1) Annual conferences may retain 50% of receipts; the receipts shown are estimates based on the amount remitted to the general church.
5. Environmental Justice for a Sustainable Future. By action on Calendar No. 1350, Committee on Church and Society Report No. 146, the 1992 General Conference adopted a resolution entitled, "Environmental Justice for a Sustainable Future." Included in it was a recommendation calling upon the General Council on Finance and Administration to assist the church in its effort to be ecologically responsible for its own use of resources by collecting statistics on local churches' and general agencies' use of energy, water, paper, and recycling to monitor the progress of the church in these aspects of stewardship."
As an agency, GCFA seeks to model the environmental stewardship lifted up in the resolution and encourages general agencies, annual conferences, districts, and local churches to do likewise. However, it does not have either the resources or the ability to collect and analyze statistics from local churches on their individual efforts. We can, however, report first-hand evidence of effective environmental stewardship programs at work in individual congregations as our members and staff visit across the denomination.
Each of the general agencies which own their buildings are continually monitoring the heating, cooling, and ventilation systems to ensure they are energy efficient. Where financially feasible, modifications have been made and energy reduction procedures have been effected.
Use of paper by the general agencies has been greatly reduced with the introduction of electronic mail, data processing, and storage. The general agencies are presently expanding computerization which will further reduce reliance on paper. At the same time, the general agencies have moved to extensive use of double-sided printing to reduce paper consumption. Several agencies have reported that investigations into use of recycled paper have shown that the cost is still prohibitive for some uses. In addition, the general agencies participate in active recycling programs. As an example, the agencies headquartered in Evanston actively encourage recycling of aluminum cans and paper in their offices. Proceeds from the sale of recycled materials are contributed annually to a charitable or benevolence cause.
6. Resolution on Investment Ethics. As adopted by the 1992 General Conference, the "Resolution on Investment Ethics" (The Book of Resolutions, page 427) includes the request that "GCFA ... publish the listing of the top 100 DOD contractors annually."
The General Board of Pension and Health Benefits maintains a list of the top 100 Department of Defense contractors. GCFA receives a copy of this listing and stands ready to share it with any United Methodist agency, institution, conference, local church, or other interested party requesting it.
7. Proportional Payments for Pastoral Support. Calendar No. 450, Committee on Financial Administration Report No. 26, was referred by the 1992 General Conference to the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits and the General Council on Finance and Administration. The report was in response to a petition seeking to amend ¶737.4 by substituting "church(es)" for "clergy" as the entities which would be deemed in default on payments for pension and benefits programs, in the event that the disciplinary requirements for proportional payment on clergy support programs were not met.
GCFA has conferred with representatives of the board on this matter and has concluded that this is a pension-related matter, and that it would therefore not be appropriate for GCFA to express a judgment about it.
8. Zimbabwe Annual Conference Pension Fund Request. By action on Calendar No. 945, Committee on Financial Administration Report No. 223, the 1992 General Conference referred to the General Council on Finance and Administration a petition from the Zimbabwe Annual Conference requesting a grant of U. S. $300,000. The petition stated the Conference's intention to invest the funds, with the interest to "be used to improve the pension of our retired pastors who worked for many years under a non-contributory scheme."
The General Council on Finance and Administration has considered this request. The Council is sympathetic to the need for increasing the level of pension support for pastors in annual conferences in the Central Conferences. However, it also recognizes that to grant a request from one such conference would set a precedent which would likely lead to similar requests from a number of conferences. The Council is not prepared to recommend either a funding source for such requests, which could easily reach several million dollars, or a uniform basis for evaluating them. For those reasons, it recommends that the request be denied.
9. Monitoring of Use of United Methodist Insignia and Name. The 1992 General Conference adopted Report No. 9 of the GCOM, which included the following recommendation:
"3. That GCOM, UMCom, and GCFA develop a training kit for unofficial groups about legal implications of their use of both the name and insignia of the denomination. The kit will be distributed to unofficial groups that relate to the four program boards, as well as to other groups and organizations identified as using the name and insignia of The United Methodist Church."
4. That during the 1993-96 quadrennium, GCOM review with UMCom and GCFA the possibility of amending ¶2502 to provide responsibility for monitoring and enforcing ¶2502.
In response, GCFA and UMCom, in cooperation with GCOM, have developed a training kit for official and unofficial groups within the denomination about the legal implications of the use of the Cross and Flame insignia. The kit includes guidelines for use of the Cross and Flame insignia, a brochure entitled, "A Mark Known the World Over," camera ready art of the insignia, and an application for permission to use it. In addition, GCFA and UMCom are submitting legislation to the 1996 General Conference to transfer responsibility for protecting the name and insignia to GCFA. This responsibility will be handled directly by the GCFA legal department, which is responsible already for protecting the legal interests of the denomination.
The issues related to monitoring the use of the name of the denomination and enforcing ¶2502 are more complex than those related to the use of the insignia. ¶2502 seeks to restrict the use of the words "Methodist" and "United Methodist" by business firms or organizations to "corporations or other business units created for the administration of work undertaken directly by The United Methodist Church."
Among the issues which need to be addressed are ecumenical relationships and legal concerns. The word "Methodist" occurs in the name of a large number of churches which share our Wesleyan heritage, both in the United States and worldwide. Seeking to restrict use of the word "Methodist" to enterprises directly related to only one of those churches, The United Methodist Church, would be neither desirable nor feasible.
From a legal perspective, GCFA, annual conference chancellors, and others struggle with the issue of how to define "corporations or other business units created for the administration of work undertaken directly by The United Methodist Church" (emphasis added). It is clearly desirable to seek to prevent entities with no relationship to any Methodist or United Methodist body from claiming or implying such a relationship. However, some agencies, institutions, and groups that use the words "Methodist" or "United Methodist" in their name are in varying ways related to the denomination and its agencies and conferences but probably are not undertaking work directly for the denomination. These relationships run the gamut of possibilities, from outright ownership and/or direct amenability, to United Methodist membership on boards of directors, to historical participation by predecessor bodies in their founding, with almost every imaginable gradation along the way. United Methodist financial support for such agencies and institutions ranges from total to none.
How to define the degree of relationship which justifies legitimate use of Methodist terminology, while at the same time minimizing the risk of legal liability for actions of these entities is a question to which there is no easy answer. GCFA continues to study the issue, but is not prepared to make a specific recommendation at this time.
10. Administrative and Judicial Procedures Manual. The 1992 General Conference adopted a report of the Task Force to Study Chapter Eight of The Book of Discipline, asking that GCFA and GBHEM prepare an "Administrative and Judicial Procedures Manual."
GCFA, in consultation with GBHEM, has developed and distributed the Administrative and Judicial Procedures Manual. The purpose of the manual is to assist those charged with the application and interpretation of the denomination's administrative and judicial processes. Approximately 1,200 copies have been distributed free of charge to bishops, district superintendents, chairpersons of boards of ordained ministry, Judicial Council members, annual conference chancellors and others. GCFA is exploring the need for and feasibility of translating the manual into Spanish and Korean and notes that the Discipline is available only in English. It is anticipated that the manual will be updated and disseminated again following the 1996 General Conference and then again at least on a quadrennial basis. Feedback on the manual has been very positive.
11. Telecommunications. In its action to adopt Calendar No 1001, the 1992 General Conference approved recommendations that: 1) asked "UMCom, GCOM, GCFA and The United Methodist Publishing House [to] continue to coordinate efforts related to telecommunications," and 2) stated that "GCFA is encouraged to continue in efforts with regard to Computer Information Standards."
Responding to the call from General Conference, an interagency task force, working with a telecommunications consultant, developed a request for proposals from the major providers of long distance telephone service to combine the service at a reduced rate. Proposals were received from the three (3) major providers of long distance service.
After careful evaluation, AT&T was selected to be the provider of service. A comprehensive contract was negotiated, with GCFA and The United Methodist Publishing House representing the general agencies in the talks. Contract discussions resulted in the general agencies securing the largest discount offered by AT&T to any of its users, and the agreement included the opportunity to include all United Methodist entities in the program. It was determined that oversight of the program and the AT&T contract would be the responsibility of GCFA, and that The United Methodist Publishing House would provide day-to-day administration of the program for participants.
The contract start date was June 1, 1995. During the first five (5) months of the program, a total of 212 United Methodist entities enrolled in the plan.
General agencies participating in the program are GCFA, UMPH, GBPHB, GCCUIC, GCORR, GCSRW, GBCS, and GCOM. GBHEM and UMCom participate for calling card and inbound 800 service only, and, at the time this report was prepared, GBOD was participating for inbound 800 usage only. Long distance service for GBHEM, UMCom, and GBOD will be included in July, 1996, when existing contracts expire.
In addition, the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, four (4) annual conferences, 38 districts, and 153 local churches are presently included in the program. Two agencies - GBGM and GCAH - are not participating because they are tied into long distance plans offered by the site where they are located.
Savings realized by the long distance agreement are substantial. For example, during the first four (4) months of the program, The United Methodist Publishing House realized savings of $45,556, and GBOPHB experienced a cost reduction of $8,504.
At the conclusion of the first year of the program, the following cost savings are anticipated:
UMPH $114,372
GBPHB 42,282
GBCS 16,544
GCFA 4,241
GCSRW 1,218
GCOM 7,952
GCORR 1,623
GCCUIC 3,960
GBHEM 700
UMCom 10,813
GBOD 10,080
Total First Year Savings $213,785
Because of the growth of the program and its success in the initial months, GCFA and The United Methodist Publishing House have notified AT&T of the desire to revisit terms of the agreement in order to negotiate even greater savings.
Based on the terms and conditions of the initial contract, anticipated savings for the new quadrennium are:
UMPH $457,488
GBPHB 169,128 GBCS 66,176
GCFA 16,964
GCSRW 4,872
GCOM 31,808
GCORR 6,492
GCCUIC 15,840
GBHEM, GBOD, UMCom 358,720
Total Projected Savings $1,127,488
At the same time, local churches in the program are realizing an average savings of more than $50.00 per month in their long distance charges. Based on a projectedparticipation level among local churches of 1,000 congregations during the new quadrennium, anticipated savings amount to $2,400,000 for local churches.
GCFA is also providing leadership in the development and maintenance of computer information standards. Responsibility for the process and recommended standards rests with the Computer Information Systems Committee (CISCo), which includes representatives from annual conferences, districts, and local churches, as well as all general agencies.
Version 1.0 of The United Methodist Computer Information Standards was published in May 1992. Version 1.1, produced in September 1992, was primarily an editorial correction of the first document. Version 2.0 was made available in April 1994 and includes extensive reworking of the legal and operations guidelines and incorporates the finance guidelines, which previously existed as a separate piece.
With the advent and increasing use of the Internet and its subsequent modification of information and processing standards, CISCo is scheduled to conduct another intensive review of the computer information standards in early 1996.
12. Central Ordering System. GCFA has worked with the General Council on Ministries and The United Methodist Publishing House in developing a response to this referral and supports the report of the General Council on Ministries on this subject.
13. Annual Accessibility Audit. By action on Calendar No. 1731, Committee on Global Ministries Report No. 74, the 1992 General Conference adopted a resolution calling for "all United Methodist churches (to) conduct an annual audit of their facilities to determine what barriers impede full participation of persons with handicapping conditions." The resolution included the directive that "the Accessibility Audit for Churches, available from the Service Center, ...be used in filling out the annual church/charge conference reports."
GCFA's Committee on Official Forms and Records included the following question in the "Annual Report of Trustees" form: "Has an annual accessibility audit for churches been conducted? (Attach report.)"
14. Study on Strengthening the Small Membership Church. The report of the Study on Strengthening the Small Membership Church included two recommendations referred to GCFA. The recommendations and the responses to them are as follows:
"1. That GCFA design and provide Charge Conference forms and statistical report forms which will incorporate the basic organization structure for churches with small membership."
With regard to Charge Conference forms, to the extent that church size and organization structure are factors in the design of the forms, the Administrative Council option and other organizational options available to small membership churches have been fully reflected in the forms since the 1981-1984 quadrennium, when the General Conference first approved alternate organizational patterns. Among the forms currently included in the Charge Conference Record System, only the "Minutes of the Charge/Church Conference" makes references to organizational structure, and those references are to both organizational options defined in The Book of Discipline.
Statistical report forms (Local Church Report to the Annual Conference) contain no items which refer to the local church's organizational structure.
"2. That GCFA list every local church by name in the General Minutes."
With respect to the recommendation that every local church be listed individually in the General Minutes, some background information is in order. The listing of clergy appointments by pastoral charges is a practice which pre-dates the formation of The United Methodist Church by a number of years, in both the Yearbook of The Evangelical United Brethren Church and the General Minutes of The Methodist Church. In the EUB Yearbook statistics were printed as conference totals only. In the Methodist General Minutes statistics were by pastoral charge, and that practice was continued in The United Methodist Church.
As GCFA considered the possibility of listing each local church by name in the General Minutes, there seemed to be three options: including each local church's name in the appointment listings, including a separate line of statistics for each local church, or both. It was determined that adding a line to the appointment listings for each local church with a name different from the pastoral charge name would add approximately forty pages to the General Minutes; a similar change in the statistical sections would add approximately another 120 pages.
Consultations with the printer yielded two pieces of information. First, adding pages increases printing costs at the rate of approximately $35 per page. Some computer programming costs would also be required to effect a change. Because of the low volume of sales distributions, printing costs for the General Minutes are not fully recovered even now, and, while some price increase relating to the additional information might be justified, it is likely that any change would increase the amount by which printing costs are subsidized from general church funds.
Secondly, the printer advised us that the present size of the book (more than 1350 pages) is the maximum that can be sustained using the present method of binding. If the size of the book were to be increased, either a less durable paper stock would need to be used, or a more expensive type of binding would be necessary, or the book would have to be split into two volumes. Since the General Minutes is used primarily for reference purposes, the first option would not be wise. Either of the other two options would increase the cost of printing, binding, and distribution to a much greater extent than the $35 per page.
With this information in hand, GCFA offers the following observations:
1. Appointment listings typically appear in annual conference journals with a full listing of individual church names comprising each pastoral charge.
2. The computerized listings maintained by GCFA for mailing purposes include the name and, where available, separate mailing addresses for each individual church. Authorized agencies and officers requesting mailing labels from these files have the option of requesting separate labels for individual churches.
3. Statistical data in annual conference journals is usually printed for each individual local church.
4. The same statistical data, taken from the annual "Local Church Report to the Annual Conference," is recorded and stored on electronic media by GCFA in full detail for each individual local church. Annual conferences, church agencies, and others who need access to that data for research or planning purposes may request that data, and GCFA will make it available to them.
Considering the additional cost involved in increasing the size of the book and the fact that the information is readily available electronically, in other ways, or from other sources, GCFA recommends that the requested change in church listings not be implemented in the General Minutes.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
Petition Text: 21121-FA-NonDis-O
1996 United Methodist General Conference