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February 28, 2005

"Tightening Our Belts,
Loosening Our Wallets"

Both of our Conferences here in the Indiana Area are tightening our financial belts, making cuts in spending plans, and trying to balance our budgets in 2005. The reason for this action is that both Conferences ended 2004 in the red. That happened, not because of over-spending, but because of our lowest receipts of apportionments in history. North Conference apportionments came in at 80%, and South Conference apportionments came in at 77%. North went into the "red" by about $60,000, while South dipped into reserves at a level of $500,000. The CCFA's (Conference Council on Finance and Administration) in both Conferences have taken actions to reduce expenditures in 2005, because both CFA's have declared that we will not spend more than we receive this year. For example, the South CFA has cut about $130,000 in administrative costs and over $800,000 in ministry and program costs (in cooperation with the Conference Council on Ministries). Those cuts are painful, but necessary. With over 20% of our budgets going to provide insurance and pensions for our retired clergy, and with another 20% going to support our worldwide ministries through the general church apportionments, there really is not much flexibility in our budgets. In spite of these limitations, both Conferences are working hard to be fiscally responsible by tightening our belts.

But in addition to tightening our belts, we also need to loosen our wallets. The economy in Indiana has rebounded to a large extent from the 2001-2002 recession, and we United Methodists are not poor people. We simply must improve our level of apportionment receipts in both conferences in 2005 and reverse the downward trend of the past several years. I ask for your continued and improved generosity, and I expect our pastors and lay leaders to provide leadership in dealing with this issue. How can we improve our financial situations? Several steps are being taken:

1. We are doing a better job of saying "thank you" to those who are being faithful in their full support of our shared ministries. It helps to remember that nearly 900 of our churches in Indiana paid 100% of their apportionments in 2004. I have written and personally signed letters of appreciation to all of those churches. I have also written to our churches which did not reach 100% but which improved in 2004. And I have written different letters of encouragement to our churches which did not pay or improve in 2004. We must keep encouraging and thanking one another.
2. Both Conferences are sponsoring a "Stewardship Academy" with nationally- known leaders to help our pastors and lay leaders help improve the stewardship level of our churches. This "Stewardship Academy" is not remedial work for bad churches, it is an opportunity for good churches to do even better with their stewardship. Several of our churches in the Dakotas attended a previous Academy, and some of them saw increases of 20% in their giving the next year. I encourage our pastors and lay teams to register and attend the Stewardship Academy in each conference, because it will make a difference in your local church financial strength.
3. Both Conferences are considering changes in our apportionment formulas, moving toward a "tithe" method of apportionments. This is part of a total plan to emphasize tithing by our pastors, our lay leadership, and our churches. It seems to offer a more Biblical and a more fair way of receiving apportionments based upon the income and economic strength of each church, rather than a formula which might seem to punish churches for growing in membership. Those new apportionment formulas will be brought to the Annual Conference Sessions for a vote this June. The North CFA is even proposing that we not adopt an actual budget during our June session, but rather we will spend our time "conferencing" on these issues, voting on a new formula, and then voting on a final budget next fall at a called Special Session.
4. Both Conferences are involved in on-going discussions about structure for the future. Whether this will include an actual merger is hard to predict, but we are looking for ways to cooperate, to reduce overhead costs, and to be more effective in ministry. Those changes will likely take time, perhaps even years, but the discussions are moving forward. We can't simply keep doing business as usual, without considering how to be better stewards of our resources.
5. Perhaps our biggest need is to do a better job of celebrating our shared ministries. I find that very few of our United Methodist members know much about the many and valuable ministries which are supported by their apportionments. I am committed to doing a better job of sharing how our mutual ministries are making a difference in Indiana and around the world. The overwhelming response to the recent tsunami disaster shows how generous we United Methodists can be when we know the need, understand how to help, and have an opportunity to do our part.

If we tighten our belts and loosen our wallets, then we can help both Conferences return to financial stability and to faithful service and outreach.

from Bishop Michael J. Coyner

Indiana Area of the United Methodist Church
"Making a Difference ... in Indiana
and around the world"

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