Vol. 4 • No. 6
February 17, 2005
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Second Confirmation Retreat Filling Up Fast
With the first Join the Journey Confirmation Retreat just behind us, we are gearing up for number two! Join the Journey 2 will be March 4-6, 2005 at Epworth By The Sea for 5th graders and above. Cost for the event is $30. There are already 450 confirmands registered and maximum capacity is 500. So if you are thinking about bringing a group from your church , register online . Mailed in registration cannot be guaranteed spots at this point. Hurry...it's filling up fast! Check out the details here .
General Church Giving Grows in 2004
(Newscope) UMs increased their giving to church-wide funds in 2004, according to reports from the General Council on Finance and Administration. Giving to all apportioned funds and special Sunday offerings in 2004 increased 3.7%, or $4.3 million, from what was received in 2003. Contributions to the World Service Fund, the primary support for connectional programming, increased 4.3%, or $2.6 million, from the previous year. The Episcopal and General Administration funds received even greater percentage growth in receipts, with giving increasing by just under 5% for each fund. The Episcopal Fund continues to receive the highest percentage of all apportionments paid. In 2004, that amount increased from 90.2% in 2003 to 91.6%. Every other apportioned fund also received a greater percentage of amounts paid, for a total of 88.1% of all apportioned moneys. In 2003, 86.7% of all apportionments were paid.
Special Sunday offerings received mixed results. While One Great Hour of Sharing, Peace with Justice Sunday, and UM Student Day had gains of 3% or less, the remaining special Sundays received less moneys than in 2003. Giving to the Human Relations Day offering declined by 9.1%, World Communion Sunday declined by 6.9%, and the Native American Ministries Sunday offering received 4.4% less than the year before. Overall, special Sunday giving declined by less than 1% to $6.2 million. The total amount received for all apportioned funds and special Sunday offerings in 2004 was $123 million. When General Advance gifts and giving to other outreach funds are included, general church giving in 2004 rises to $159 million.
U.S. Church Membership and Attendance Continues Its Decline
(Newscope) UM membership in the United States declined by more than 65,000 people from 2002 to 2003, according to the latest data available from the General Council on Finance and Administration, the agency responsible for collecting such data. The February issue of Background Data for Mission, published by the General Board of Global Ministries, analyzed this data by conferences along with statistics on worship and church school attendance.
According to the report, every annual conference
in the North Central, Northeast, and Western jurisdictions reported a decline in membership. Of the 13 annual conferences with membership growth, ten are in the Southeast. Meanwhile, seven annual conferences reported worship attendance growth. However, GBGM's Office of Research says some of these increases, along with some of the decreases, are due to reporting inconsistencies. The office's analysis claims only four annual conferences (Western Pennsylvania, Peninsula-Delaware, Mississippi, and Alabama-West Florida) had actual increases.
Church school attendance is less consistently reported than worship attendance. Nevertheless, three jurisdictions (Southeast, South Central, and Western) reported an increase in such attendance. A final statistic reported by the GBGM newsletter examined the number of local churches in each annual conference. Across the United States, an overall decline of 186 churches occurred, leaving 35,273 churches in 2003. Every jurisdiction reported a decline in the number of local churches. Average membership of local churches remains at 231, with attendance at 97. According to the report, half of U.S. churches have membership of 110 or less and an attendance of 51 or less.
South Georgia United Methodists Help Feed Those in Need
Through gleaning and potato drops, South Georgia United Methodists helped distributed over 340,000 pounds of produce to needy people throughout South Georgia. According to Art Shoemaker, South Georgia Hunger Relief Advocate for the Society of St. Andrew, this equates to 1,020,000 servings of produce. South Georgians also contributed nearly $20,000 to the Society of St. Andrew, putting the South Georgia Conference 5th in giving in the U.S.
The Society of St. Andrew saved 31.2 million pounds of food in 2004. To date, 467.8 million pounds of food, 1.4 billion servings, have been saved and distributed since 1983. The society is an Advance Special of the United Methodist Church . More information on the Society of St. Andrew is available here . Your support for this great ministry is deeply appreciated.
New and Revitalized Congregational Development Looking for Accountant
New and Revitalized Congregational Development is looking for a missionary-minded accountant/CPA who is willing to help our Hispanic pastors with filling in tax information. It could be a retired person who wants to help with Kingdom work. If this person is you, please contact Tim Bagwell at TBagwell@cox.net or 478-471-7087.
Audio & Video Tapes of Winter Camp Meeting Available for Purchase
Good News Television has made available videos, DVDs, CDs or cassette tapes of Winter Camp Meeting sessions. If you are interested in purchasing any of these, check out the GNTV website .
"Mission Moments and More": New resource for local church pastors
The Connectional Giving Team at United Methodist Communications has developed a new resource for local church pastors called 'Mission Moments and More." This electronic resource provides a mission moment for worship, nuggets for the church newsletter and an offertory prayer for each Sunday of the year focused on our United Methodist connectional giving. These weekly resources will focus on the apportioned funds, the six churchwide special Sundays with offerings and the Advance for Christ and His Church. Mission Moments and More: http://umcgiving.org/content/mission.htm .