Fulfilling the mission God has given us obviously requires money. And
the money comes through local churches through a process of apportionments.
To make sure the
apportionments are distributed as fairly as possible, a formula is used.
The formula compares what your church paid with the total of what all
churches in the conference paid on certain items for the past three years.
The items are:
base compensation for pastors and associates; utilities and other housing
related allowances for pastors and associates; travel allowance for pastors
and associates; other cash allowances to pastors and associates; total
compensation for diaconal ministers; other staff compensation; current
expenses for programming; and other current operating expenses not included
in the programming.
The total that
all the churches in the conference paid for these items is divided into the
total that your church paid for the same items. This produces your
church's decimal. Then each item in the conference's budget is
multiplied by your decimal to determine your church's fair
portion--apportionment.
Your church's
apportionments are based on what you spend for yourself in your local
church. It is not based on your membership or capital expansion or
benevolent costs.
(From 10-25-02 UM Contact)
