OKLAHOMA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
TREASURY NOTES
February 16, 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
2009 Contribution Forms
Thank you for your support in 2008!
Professional Association of United Methodist Church Secretaries (PAUMCS)
End of Year Reports
IRA Charitable transfer
Ministry Protection Minute
2009 Contribution Forms
If you have not already done so, please download the new 2009 Contribution Form from the conference web site. Please, please do not use old forms and do use whole numbers on your forms. Your help in using the correct forms and eliminating decimals makes entering the information much more successful and timely.
The 2009 contributions are now up on the conference web site so be sure to check and see if we have posted your information correctly.
Thank you for your support in 2008!
Thank you for a spectacular 2008 for connectional giving on several fronts. First, on apportionments, we received $15,250,674 or 96.67% only slightly down from last year’s record of 97.36%. This year Cookson Hills and the Lydia Patterson Institute both received over 100% of their apportionments. In addition, Africa University received 100% of its apportionment. I thought that it was interesting that one mission here in Oklahoma, one in the United States, and one international mission received this kind of support showing that people in Oklahoma care about what is happening here and around the world.
Second, giving for special offerings for 2008 increased by $15,218.55 to a total of $96,409.58. These special offerings are over and above what people give to the budgets and just show that when given the opportunity people give to special needs. The amounts that were given in 2008 were as follows:
Human Relations $8,011.69
One Great Hour of Sharing $55,141.88
Peace With Justice $3,429.49
Native American Ministries $7,284.88
World Communion $13,995.21
UM Student Day $8,546.43
Two areas that we are going to try and improve our communication on are the assessments for the conference office building and the St. Paul Seminary at OCU. Several churches were confused by those last year and we are looking at different ways that we can show them for you. Those amounts are not included in your apportionment amounts and this caused some confusion. Any suggestions are welcome.
Professional Association of United Methodist Church Secretaries (PAUMCS)
The annual meeting of United Methodist Secretaries will be April 30 through May 3 in Des Moines, Iowa this year. Early registration for the event is March 30, 2009. If you are interested in more information about this event, contact Barbara Kingsley at
barbkin@rochester.rr.com.
End of Year Reports
As of this writing, we still have churches that have not completed their end of year reports for the statistical tables. It is critically important that those reports be completed as quickly as possible. If you are having any trouble or have any questions, please contact your District Statistician who is the Administrative Assistant in each of the District Offices.
IRA Charitable transfer
Late last year Congress approved the continuation of the tax provision that allows individuals to contribute portions of their IRA’s to charitable organizations. This provision allows individuals who are 70 ½ or older to transfer up to $100,000 directly to the church and deduct this distribution from their income. It is important to note, that since this isn’t recorded as income, there is no contribution credit for the transfer.
Ministry Protection Minute
By Rick Carlin
The focus of the Ministry Protection Committee this year will be to reduce the number of losses throughout the Conference. This will help reduce premiums and leave more money for the local ministry. In order to accomplish this goal, we will offer many Risk Management education opportunities throughout the year for local church trustees. We can not control the weather but each church can take some simple steps to reduce the chance of a loss.
We have been presenting classes at the district Local Church Leader Workshops which have been well attended. We will keep you informed of PACT webinars, which are held on the first Thursday of each month. These webinars will also be recorded, so you may watch them on your own schedule. We will also be at Annual Conference displaying Risk Management materials you can take back to your church.
We will use the Treasury Notes to keep you informed of all the upcoming opportunities to learn about Risk Management. Please pass this article on to the person or persons who will be responsible for the Risk Management at your church. The more we can all learn about reducing losses, the less likely you are to have a claim.
