OKLAHOMA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
TREASURY ¶ NOTES
October 6, 2009
Editor: Brian Bakeman, 1501 NW 24th St, Oklahoma City OK 73106
Phone: (405) 530-2067; Email:
bbakeman@okumc.org; Website:
www.okumc.org
CONTENTS
Use of the UM Cross and Flame
Computer Software
Connectional Giving for September
Ministry Protection Minute
Loans, Scholarships and Offerings
New Giving Opportunities
Use of the United Methodist Cross and Flame
Did you know that the Cross and Flame was a registered trademark of the United Methodist Church? The General Council on Finance and Administration is charged with the responsibility to supervise the use of the cross and flame and most of us are unaware of what that means. Let me share with you a couple of key points about the use from GCFA:
1. The insignia can only be used by official United Methodist agencies such as local churches, and Conferences.
2. The insignia cannot be altered or modified in any way.
3. Any commercial use of the design must be explicitly authorized in writing by GCFA. This means if you put the cross and flame on an item that you sell, such as a t-shirt, coffee mug, or other items, you must get permission to do that first.
4. You can get more information on use of the cross and flame from GCFA at their web site at: www.gcfa.org.
Computer software
This summer as I went around giving the August workshops, one of the questions we asked each of the churches is what accounting software they use. That is probably the number one question I get asked by local churches with the expectation that I have endorsed one software over another. I really do believe that some software is better for different size congregations than others and there is a big difference in the cost and complexity of the different software vendors.
To help churches in Oklahoma, Jan Polson put together a list of the church software used. The top five choices in order of popularity were: Church Windows, RDS, Shelby, Power Church and ACS. Please note that is was not a scientific survey as not every church indicated what they used, and most churches do not use church software that attended the workshop and some are using ledger sheets with handwritten entries. For those of you who asked, I hope this helps you.
Connectional Giving for September
Giving for the month of September was down again with apportionment receipts of $1,194,342 which brings our total giving for the year to 61.92%. The average percentage the past five years has been 65.74%. This is a substantial drop from last month. Total receipts have also dropped to nearly 2004 levels.
Please remember as you discuss giving and budgets in your church this time of year, to think about how you can participate in the special Sunday offerings of the Conference. This past Sunday was the World Wide Communion Sunday offering and next month is the United Methodist Student Day on November 22nd.
Ministry Protection Minute
By Rick Carlin
As your church prepares for Charge Conference, you should already have your internal accounting policies on paper and in place. The suggestions that follow should be added to your procedures if they are not in there already. Some of them are from the Book of Discipline.
v Enlist an independent review of financial records
v Require financial staff to take periodic vacations
v Have someone other than check signer review bank statement or prepare bank reconciliations
v Require that checks are signed by someone other than the person who issued the check
v Ensure that family members do not have oversight of each other’s duties
v Have two or more unrelated parties count offerings
v Never leave money unattended or in control of only one person
v Compare the budget to actual spending
v Document policies and procedures as required by the Discipline
v Perform an external audit
v Perform audits annually
The Book of Discipline also states that the treasurer should be adequately bonded. If your church is in the Oklahoma Conference Insurance Plan then you have the following coverages:
ü $100,000 blanket employee dishonesty – including volunteers as employees
ü Forgery and Alteration - $50,000
ü Computer Fraud - $100,000
ü Theft, Disappearance and Destruction - $25,000
o Money and Securities- Inside and Outside the Premises
o $50,000 on certain weekends (ex. Mothers Day, Palm Sunday)
If you have any questions or need more information please contact me at 1-800-460-5678.
Please remember, your church is never too small to be financially safe and secure.
UM Loans and scholarships and
UM Student Day Offering
Next month, on November 22nd, United Methodist churches around the world will be celebrating United Methodist Student Day. This is when we take up an offering to support the many scholarships that are awarded each year to thousands of United Methodist students to undergraduate and graduate schools.
Currently in 2009, there are 38 students from Oklahoma receiving scholarships and loans totaling $80,550 to attend schools from Harvard University to Oklahoma City University, from schools of theology to 2-year community colleges.
Since the application process has been placed online this last year, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of applications. It is important that you let members in your congregations know that deadlines for some of the scholarships and loans begin in February. If interested in information, contact the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry at www.gbhem.org or email them at umscholar@gbhem.org for scholarship information or umloans@gbhem.org for loan information.
Vanco – New Giving Opportunities
Sandie Weldon, Director of Accounting at the Conference Office is pleased to announce that you will soon be able to make payments through Vanco for Criminal Justice and Mercy Ministry (CJAMM), Volunteers in Mission (VIM), Camps, Project Transformation, and Bolivia.
Vanco is being set up to manage contributions to the general fund of each of these ministries of the conference and can be accessed through their websites.
