The United Methodist Church’s financial leaders are sounding the alarm that the denomination is about to be in a world of financial hurt, declaring ‘The church’s financial house is on fire’ during the UMC’s Finance and Administration meeting last week.
The ominous comments were made by Bishop David Graves, General Council on Finance and Administration board president, who added ‘My intent is not to create fear but to address the reality with honesty and urgency.”
The UMC has lost more than 7500 churches over the last three years, the result of church mass departures and disaffiliations over the denomination’s all-out celebration of gay marriage and the LGBTQification of the church.
These defections, in turn, led the UMC to propose its smallest budget in 40 years, nearly half of what it was a decade prior, prompting leadership to “rethinking ministry expenses at all levels of the denomination” as they wrestle with “the biggest budget drop in the denomination’s history.”
Graves was quoted in the UMNews as warning:
“When a house is on fire, the first thing you do is focus on what matters most. For us, that is people, mission and ministry. That means every church and conference doing its part through apportionment giving — not because of obligation alone, but because ministry depends on it.”
Apportionments- giving above and beyond a church’s singular needs to fund United Methodist ministry and operations- are massively down, and are not expected to meet their goal.
As of the end of October, U.S. conferences had given about 51.8% of the year’s requested apportionments — or about $45 million so far. Conferences in Africa, Europe and the Philippines overall have paid about 40.7% of requested apportionments — or about $623,400 so far.
Fewer funds means fewer opportunities to spread their noxious brand of progressive poison, and we can only pray that mass layoffs and continued shrinkage is in their near future.
