8 Florida United Methodist Review Online

Florida Conference leads in Second Mile Giving

By Michael Wacht

LAKELAND — For the first three quarters of 1998, the Florida Conference leads the Southeastern Jurisdiction’s (SEJ) 15 conferences in dollars given to the Advance for Christ and His Church, according to a report released by the Rev. Abraham Carey, field representative to the SEJ from the denomination’s General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM).

The $775,850 given by the conference so far this year represents an increase of nearly 30 percent over last year and is an estimated $26,000 more than second-ranked Western North Carolina Conference. Ministries within the United States received $83,391, $259,682 went to overseas ministries and $432,777 was given to the United Methodist Committee on Relief through Florida’s funds.

Heifer Project International, USA National Disaster Fund, Church and Community Workers, missionaries and World Hunger/Poverty were among the almost 2,000 ministries that received funding from Florida Conference churches.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Advance, an official, second-mile giving program of the United Methodist Church that relies on gifts designated to specific ministries by donors. Because administrative and promotional costs are paid by other sources of funding, 100 percent of every gift goes to the designated ministry.