The General Council on Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church reports that twenty annual conferences paid 100% of general Church apportioned funds, Shared Services Department begins work throughout the connection
Nashville, TN – The board of directors of the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) met in Nashville, Tennessee February 20-21 for the first quarter meeting of 2014.
GCFA reports that 20 annual conferences paid 100% of their general Church apportioned funds for 2013. This represented an 89.73% apportionment payout, which was only slightly behind the 2012 payout of 90% – the highest in several years. The 20 annual conferences are Alaska, Baltimore-Washington, Central Texas, Desert Southwest, East Ohio, Greater New Jersey, Holston, Illinois Great Rivers, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma Indian Missionary, Peninsula Delaware, Red Bird Missionary, Tennessee, West Michigan, West Ohio, West Virginia, and Western Pennsylvania. General Secretary Moses Kumar said “The commitment shown by each of the annual conferences to The United Methodist Church ministries is reassuring. The connection of United Methodists is strong.”
Bari Watson, Chief Officer of Episcopal Services and Operations for GCFA, presented the board with a plan for the new Shared Services Department. The department will work internally with the staff and board and externally with annual conferences and general agencies of the Church to develop and support shared initiatives. Watson said, “We are excited about this new phase of working together in the United Methodist connection. Our Shared Services team members – and all the staff of GCFA – are ready to work to achieve our goals of providing an excellent customer experience for all who interact with GCFA. This supports and expands our foundational ministry of administration to the Church.”
Watson also shared the development of an integrated marketing and communications plan that will expand the agency’s connection with the Church through the use of all forms of communication including social media. She also announced that GCFA will integrate its website into the newly revised umc.org. The new site will launch later this spring.
The board received a thank you from General Secretary Barbara Boigegrain of the
General Board of Pension and Health Benefits (GBOPHB) for GCFA’s support of the
Central Conference Pension Initiative (CCPI) to fund pensions for clergy throughout the global United Methodist connection. With the Central Conference Pension Initiative reaching its $25 million fundraising goal, she reported that clergy around the world, including every eligible central conference pastor, now have reliable pension support through their conference and/or government program. Boigegrain commented that it was the work of several entities of the Church that steered this program to its fruition. Boigegrain and Tim Koch, Chief Financial Officer of GBOPHB, presented GCFA with a plaque commemorating its work in the support and implementation of the initiative.
The second quarter meeting of the board will be held in Nashville in May.
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The General Council on Finance and Administration coordinates and administers financial resources, safeguards the legal interests and rights of the Church, and provides administrative resources to enable the fulfillment of the mission of The United Methodist Church.
www.gcfa.org