News

Rev. Ron Carlson, Northwest District Superintendent hosted the fourth episode of the Good Idea Webinars on April 2, 2020. The guest speaker was Rev. Dr. Katharine Yarnell the Executive Director of the Iowa United Methodist Foundation. She shared her insights and ideas around faith and finances during difficult times.    Yarnell shared three main points:  ·       Start with following Jesus. ·       Why do we give?   ·       How should we give?   Start with Following Jesus “As we turn to our faith...

The Iowa Annual Conference (IAC) received $600,101 in total apportionments for the month of March from local churches; that is a total of $1,694,434 for the year 2020.  Based on past receipts as of March 31, we project to receive 63.7% of the total 2020 budget of $13,127,917.  That would be over $4.7M less than budgeted.   The IAC has taken a number of steps to continue reducing the expenses of the IAC, and CF&A instituted the Contingency Plan which puts in place restrictions on the types of ...

IMPORTANT YEAR END INFORMATION FOR APPORTIONMENT AND MISSION GIVING The last day to have your 2019 apportionment and mission giving reported to 2019 is January 8, 2020. After this date, apportionment payments can still be applied to 2019 balances, but they will not show on your December 2019 statement. They would instead show on your January 2020 statement. Once we have everything recorded through January 8, we will send a notification that the preliminary statement is available on our website. ...

A New Way to Support Camping Iowa United Methodist Camps are excited to launch the Kindling Club, a new way to ensure the sustainability of camping across the state for the next generation of youth and adults. Okoboji, Pictured Rocks and Wesley Woods United Methodist Camps have impacted hundreds of thousands of lives over the past 100+ years. Many people, myself included, look at their time at camp as the single most formational faith experience of their lives. If you weren’t already aware,...

The status of Pictured Rocks United Methodist Camp has been a topic of conversation at the Pre-District Conferences around the state. To help provide clarity on the current status, answers to the following Frequently Asked Questions are provided below. Q: What is the status of Pictured Rocks United Methodist Camp? A: The Board of Camps has voted to recommend a sale of Pictured Rocks United Methodist Camp to Camp Courageous. The Board of Camps cannot execute a sale as it is the property of the ...

The Budget Team has completed its work. According to the Rev. Bill Poland, Budget Team Chair and Director of New Communities of Faith, several recommendations have been reviewed and approved by the Bishop’s Operational Team, the Cabinet Operational Team, the Conference Connectional Ministries Council and the Council on Finance and Administration. Poland notes that one of the questions that the Budget Team continued to ask all the way through its meetings was how to become a better-connected ...

Iowa Conference boards and agencies had the opportunity to come and offer suggestions to the Budget Review Team on the newly released recommendations to cut approximately $1.3 million from the 2020 budget. About 16 members from various boards and agencies came to the Conference Office for the discussion." "We've been entrusted by Jesus with a mission to make disciples throughout the world," said Rev. Bill Poland, chairperson of the Budget Team, "so that we - us, in our congregations, and around...

“…for I was hungry and you gave me food…” – Matthew 25:35 Carma Mohler Grant is NOW open!   Carma Mohler was passionate about helping and feeding those in need. She decided to establish this fund to make an impact on hunger issues presented every day. The Iowa United Methodist Foundation is seeking applicants from United Methodist-affiliated groups or non-profit organizations based in Iowa that are creating projects to relieve hunger. Such projects could be community gardening, food or cooking ...

An expressed desire to be able to interact with Conference leaders and people in mission and being partners in ministry marked the conversation at the second of the fall 2015 “town hall” meetings.   A modest sized group of more than a dozen lay and clergy gathered at Eldridge United Methodist Church for the Thursday evening “town hall,” which was the second in the series of 10 scheduled for November. Conference Treasurer Terry Montgomery and Director of Communications Dr. Art McClanahan, lay and...

Conference moves to replace Bishop’s residence   Within the next two months the Conference will replace the Bishop’s residence.  The collaborative efforts of the conference Board of Trustees, Committee on the Episcopacy, and Council on Finance and Administration will secure a different home for our episcopal family.   The current residence, in Norwalk, has experienced repeated water problems over the years – it was built and occupied in 2007 – and the difficulties have escalated in recent ...

An audit can be a scary thing.  At the very least, an audit is a huge piece of work.   The Finance team of the Iowa Conference is out to help with that!   Terry Montgomery, Conference Treasurer, and Emily Graber, Senior Staff Accountant, will be presenting a webinar on Tuesday, February 24 aimed at presenting a strategy to help congregations to De-Scarify Audits for the Local Church. Click here to learn more about the webinar and register   The Book of Discipline requires every church,, to have...