The South Georgia Conference calculates apportionments using the statistics provided by the local church each year through the Statistical Tables. The intent of our apportionment formula is that larger churches will pay a greater share than smaller churches, and churches with more financial resources will pay a larger share than churches with fewer financial resources. We determine larger or smaller using the final membership number reported by the church. We determine financial resources by the reported spending of the local church, adjusted as indicated below.
The 2024 apportionments assigned to each local church in the Conference are determined by the following formula:
A. FINANCIAL FACTOR - 65%
The figures for 2021 and 2022 of the total expenditures of each local church as reported in the Conference Journal, minus the following items:
- amounts paid on apportionments,
- the amounts paid on principal and interest on indebtedness, loans, mortgages, etc.,
- the amount paid for building and improvements (not including loans and mortgages),
- other benevolences paid by the local church,
- and the amounts paid on General and Conference Advance Specials.
(If you look at your church's annual Statistical Report, we use lines 39-47.)
The adjusted total of the expenditures for each local church shall be divided by the adjusted total expenditures of all local churches in the Conference for the years 2021 and 2022 (omitting the same respective items) to find the percentage of total expenditures by the local church. This percentage figure will then be multiplied by .65 to furnish the financial factor.
NOTE: We do not consider church assets nor income in calculating the apportionments. We only look at certain expenditures.
B. MEMBERSHIP FACTOR - 35%
The membership of each local church at the end of 2021 and 2022 shall be divided by the total membership of the Conference at the end of those same years to find the percentage of total membership in the local church for each of these years. This percentage figure will then be multiplied by .35 to furnish the membership factor.
(If you look at your church's annual Statistical Report, we use line 4.)
C. FINAL DETERMINATION
The membership factor and financial factor for each year are added together. The factors for the two years are averaged to arrive at the percentage to be used in figuring the church’s share of each apportionment for 2024.
District apportionments are calculated the same way, except we use the figures for the district instead of figures for the conference. So, a church's finances are divided by total district finances, and a church's membership is divided by total district membership.
The District Budgets which are apportioned are set at District Conferences, where each local church has voting delegates.