UMC giving goes up 53.6% during 2005

United Methodist News Service
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—During a year of natural disasters, United Methodists increased their total giving to the church’s ministries by more than 50 percent during 2005 over 2004.
The denomination has much to celebrate in “the overwhelming generosity of the people of The United Methodist Church, who increased giving by 53.6 percent compared to 2004,” said Sandra K. Lackore, top executive of the General Council on Finance and Administration in Nashville, Feb. 15.
Total giving in 2005 was $244.7 million, which is $85 million more than in 2004, she said. Of that, $80 million was for tsunami and hurricane relief efforts. Total giving in 2004 was $159.3 million.
Individuals, churches and organizations contributed significantly to the United Methodist Committee on Relief for immediate and long-term hurricane recovery efforts, and initiatives are being developed with assistance by local people in both Mississippi and Louisiana, she said.
“It is not being driven by UMCOR’s design but being driven by local design,” Lackore added.
The 50 percent giving increase reflects that the church has given people new and different ways to contribute, Lackore said.
“The connectional covenant is present in the faithfulness of so many local congregations and conferences in meeting their commitment to the apportioned general funds in 2005,” she said. “These funds drive the financial mission statement of our denomination.
“By working together and fully participating in the general apportioned funds, we make possible the mission and ministry of Christ.”
Through the end of 2005, she said, 30 percent of the giving was done by online contributions or direct giving—“giving that did not come through annual conference treasuries.”
That, she said, is “significant in the life of our denomination.”
The finance council is researching donor identities “to discern whether that giving is coming all from United Methodists, whether it is coming from persons interested in what The United Methodist Church is doing, whether it is coming from persons excited by what we are doing, especially in our relief efforts, and could … want to be part of United Methodist congregations,” she said.
In the last 10 years, the level of giving to church-related causes has been “steady,” Lackore said. “The blip has been online giving.”
The fiscal council is trying to determine what that means for the financial health of the denomination, which is tied to local church and annual conference giving. Lackore defined the health of the denomination as “good” but said membership loss is a continuing concern.
United Methodist membership in the United States for 2004 was 8.1 million, a loss of 66,402 people, or 0.82 percent, over 2003, council statistics showed.
Despite the long-running decline in U.S. membership, Lackore said that gains continue in the 59 annual conferences in Africa, Europe and the Philippines. About 1.9 million additional United Methodists live in those areas, called central conferences, and the fastest growth in membership is occurring in Africa.
Membership losses will be reduced if U.S. annual conferences “open ourselves to really learning from the central conferences … so that we can grow our membership in the jurisdictional conferences,” Lackore noted.
Lackore noted generous giving by United Methodists for both ongoing financial needs of denominational ministries throughout the year and second-mile causes during times of crisis.
She paid special tribute to the leadership of 15 conferences that “demonstrated the power of our connection by participating at the 100 percent level of all apportioned funds.” That was an increase of three conferences over 2004.
Seven additional conferences—including Southwest Texas—were recognized for giving 90 percent or more to church-related causes and ministries.
Apportionments are the contributions requested of each of the 63 U.S. annual conferences for the support of denominational ministries and administration. The apportionments are determined by the church’s top legislative assembly. Each annual conference sets apportionments for its local congregations, and the amount includes support for conference projects, programs and ministries.